• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, February 25, 2025

Connected commerce is a hot buzzword in retailing. In 2024, 90.7% of retailers increased their spending on it, and 92.5% expect to allocate more in 2025, for a total of $112 billion, according to a new study from Winterberry Group.

But there are a couple of issues — including the question, just what is connected commerce? The study defines it as the “seamless integration of online and offline retail channels to create a unified shopping experience for consumers across physical and digital touchpoints.”

The goal of this is to reach audiences with tailored messaging and offers, the study notes. But that is a challenge, given the need for accurate measurement and attribution. 

Of the marketers polled, 39.3% say their firm lacks a consistent understanding of the consumer journey across retailers. 

Then there is the fact that retail media networks, now account for 59.9% of all spending in this area. But “brand strategies are fragmented and marketers are overly reliant on these platforms,” the study notes.

“Retail Media Networks (RMNs) operate as media organizations while merchants prioritize sales leading to conflicting objectives. This is just one of many disconnects that can dilute campaign effectiveness and opportunities for synergy,” says Michael Harrison, managing partner at Winterberry Group. “Brands also face inconsistent metrics, formats, and capabilities across platforms, which hinder performance evaluation and budget optimization making it harder for marketers to connect the dots between online and offline channels.”

So where do connected commerce fit in? It was preceded in the marketing continuum by traditional shopping, catalog and teleshopping and e-commerce.

The latter entails a mix of digital and social media, email and mobile commerce. But in connected commerce, social commerce and influencer marketing are the critical strategies, along with omnichannel campaigns across physical and digital. 

• Acquisition — 45.3% 
• Awareness — 41.6%
• Frequency/loyalty — 54.7% 
• Consideration — 47.7%
• Conquesting — 10.7%

Winterberry Group conducted interviews between September and December 2004. In addition, it surveyed 214 enterprise and middle-market leaders from the U.S. (72%) and the U.K. (28%).