PayPal Shifts Advertising Focus from Attention to Transactional Data

Major retailers including Adorama, Best Buy, and Etsy are moving away from traditional retail media networks toward PayPal’s cross-merchant ecosystem. Unlike platforms limited to a single retailer, PayPal tracks purchase behavior across categories and merchants, identifying how, where, and when consumers actually spend money. This approach allows brands to target high-intent shoppers based on verified commerce signals rather than browsing history.

Adorama utilized these tools to reach new customers, reporting a 7.3x return on advertising spend and a 14.9% increase in transaction lift. Notably, over half of the buyers reached through the campaign had not shopped with the retailer in the previous year. Best Buy similarly reported improved efficiency, achieving dwell times 22% above platform benchmarks by applying similar purchase-based targeting.

Etsy is currently expanding this integration by testing PayPal’s Conversion API. By feeding conversion data back into the Transaction Graph, Etsy aims to create a closed-loop system that refines audience accuracy with every campaign. According to Mark Grether, SVP and GM of PayPal Ads, this focus on transactional history provides chief marketing officers with the objective data required to justify expenditures directly against the bottom line.