PayPal Ads is helping brands achieve measurable business growth through transaction-driven advertising. Unlike traditional advertising methods, PayPal Ads uses real purchase behavior to help marketers reach consumers with stronger buying intent. As a result, brands can focus on revenue, customer acquisition, and return on investment. Today, marketers face increasing pressure to prove advertising effectiveness. Therefore, many brands are moving beyond impressions and engagement metrics. Companies such as Adorama, Best Buy, and Etsy now use PayPal Ads because it connects campaigns directly to actual purchasing activity.
The PayPal Transaction Graph combines cross-merchant purchase signals from more than 25 billion transactions across over 400 million PayPal and Venmo accounts. Furthermore, it captures how consumers search, shop, and share products across different merchants and categories. Unlike traditional retail media networks, which operate within a single retailer’s environment, the PayPal Transaction Graph provides a broader view of consumer spending patterns. Consequently, marketers gain deeper insights into what consumers buy, where they shop, and how they spend.
“For years, advertising has been measured by attention. But chief financial officers want outcomes they can see in the numbers. The PayPal Transaction Graph is the CMO’s edge,” said Mark Grether, SVP & GM of PayPal Ads. “Built on what people actually buy, it provides real, cross-merchant purchase behavior across PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Honey, which is why the brands working with us aren’t measuring success in impressions. They’re measuring campaigns in return, incremental lift, and new customer acquisition. When audiences are built on transactions, the results show where every budget decision is made: the bottom line.”
Adorama Reaches High-Intent Buyers with PayPal Ads
Adorama, a leading photography and electronics retailer, wanted to connect with consumers actively seeking cameras, lenses, and related equipment. At the same time, the company aimed to engage buyers before they explored competing retailers. Using PayPal Storefront Ads and audiences powered by the PayPal Transaction Graph, Adorama reached four highly relevant buyer segments across the web. Additionally, the retailer showcased products directly within the advertising experience. The campaign generated a 7.3x incremental return on advertising spend (ROAS) and a 14.9% increase in transactions. Moreover, 56% of purchasers had not purchased from Adorama during the previous 12 months, highlighting strong new customer acquisition.
“We needed to reach consumers who were looking for new camera and video equipment but were not shopping at Adorama,” said Yoav Shargil, Chief Marketing Officer, Adorama. “PayPal’s Transaction Graph helped us reach a high-intent audience we weren’t capturing through our existing marketing channels. The ability to target based on real purchase behavior gave us a meaningful lift in both new customers and overall returns.”
Best Buy Improves Advertising Efficiency at Scale
Best Buy also utilized PayPal Storefront Ads to engage high-intent shoppers more efficiently. Powered by the PayPal Transaction Graph, these shoppable ad experiences targeted consumers based on actual purchasing behavior in electronics and home technology categories. As a result, Best Buy achieved a 6.25x ROAS. In addition, consumer dwell time exceeded platform benchmarks by 22%, demonstrating stronger engagement and improved campaign efficiency.
“PayPal’s Transaction Graph adds incremental signals based on real shopper behavior across our key categories,” said Amy Adams, Vice President of Media, Best Buy. “When combined with our customer intelligence, it builds on our capabilities to give us a more complete view of the customer—helping us better reach high-intent shoppers and drive more efficient conversion.”
Etsy Tests Conversion API Integration
Etsy continues to help small businesses connect with relevant shoppers through data-driven marketing strategies. To strengthen campaign performance, the company ran PayPal Storefront Ads using audiences powered by the PayPal Transaction Graph. Additionally, Etsy is testing integration with PayPal’s Conversion API (CAPI). This solution sends Etsy conversion data back into the Transaction Graph. Consequently, audience targeting and campaign measurement become increasingly accurate over time.
The combination creates a closed-loop advertising framework that continuously improves campaign performance through real commerce and conversion signals.
“With better data, we can better match Etsy sellers with the shoppers looking for their special items. The PayPal Transaction Graph gave us audiences built on real commerce behavior,” said Gabe Trumbo, Director of Performance Media, Etsy. “We’re excited to be the first to put the full stack to work, testing Conversion API to help close the loop on every campaign and enable our sellers to reach the right shoppers where they are.”
PayPal Ads continues to provide marketers with access to transaction-based audience insights that other media networks cannot replicate. As demonstrated by Adorama, Best Buy, and Etsy, brands are increasingly using purchase-driven data to improve advertising performance, strengthen customer acquisition efforts, and achieve measurable business outcomes.
Want more marketing excellence stories? Visit MarTech News for insights, trends, and expert updates.
News Source: Businesswire.com
