Retail media advertising is becoming an important marketing frontier! Amazon, Walmart, and Target lead the way

It is learned that according to the latest research by MediaRadar, retail media advertising is becoming the main marketing battlefield for brands and retailers. Amazon, Walmart and Target are the retail websites with the highest advertising expenditures, attracting more than US$2.3 billion in advertising expenditures from May last year to January this year.

The study examined ad activity on 22 major retailer sites, which together spent more than $3 billion on ad buys, with a sample size of nearly 38,000 brands promoted by 24,000 companies. A large portion of that money (88%) went to native ads, while 11.5% was spent on display unit ads.

In addition, consumer goods accounted for 17% of the total advertising, accounting for about $500 million in spending. Reckitt Benckiser, Kellogg and Mondelez were the largest consumer goods advertisers, which indirectly reflects how large marketers are adjusting their media strategies amid the accelerated development of e-commerce business.

Retail media advertising has been a hotly debated topic within the industry, with many retail companies building ad networks and vying for brand dollars that have historically flowed to Facebook and Google Ads.

Retail media advertising stands out in a hyper-competitive ad market that is becoming even more crowded, even raising questions about whether there will be an eventual shakeout.

In the short term, brand interest in retail media advertising is expected to remain elevated as COVID-19-driven e-commerce shopping habits continue and marketers shift their ad targeting strategies to target platforms closer to the point of sale due to the abolition of third-party cookies.

MediaRadar not only looked at the total amount of ad spend on retail sites, but also at the consistency of advertiser groups. Of the companies that bought retail media ads in January 2022, 14% have continued to buy every month since May 2021. Overall, advertiser retention in retail media networks from December to January was 59%.

But within the year, advertisers' spending on retail media ads has fluctuated. Last year's data showed that May 2021 had the lowest spending, with ad spending hovering around $218 million. Spending was highest in December, reaching $426 million. January, which is usually quiet, saw spending reach $343 million this year, suggesting that strong momentum has continued from the fourth quarter into 2022.

With the surge in retail media advertising activities, major retail websites have also begun fierce competition. Amazon and Walmart have begun to list advertising sales revenue separately in their quarterly reports. Walmart's media division, WalmartConnect, generated $2 billion in revenue in 2021. Amazon's advertising division had revenue of approximately $31.15 billion for the full year, with $9.7 billion in the fourth quarter alone.

Ad offerings in retail media are expected to grow as investment levels increase. According to MediaRadar, native and display unit ads still account for the majority of brand ad spending, but these ad types may be approaching saturation point on large retail sites. This year, some brands are focusing on other ad units, including video ads, shoppable media, and customized landing pages.

Editor ✎ Xiao Zhu/

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