Data Drop: Retail Media Is the Growth Engine of Digital Advertising

The rapid ascent and proliferation of retail media has become a familiar narrative in the advertising ecosystem. But examining the channel’s four-year trajectory in the context of overall digital ad spend brings its impact into sharper focus. Here are three charts illustrating how retail media ad spending is poised to shape the future of digital advertising.

Digital ad spending will increasingly depend on retail media for growth

As retail media spending picks up momentum, its traditional digital advertising counterparts will lose steam. The growing share of retail media ad spend means that its performance will begin to steer the trajectory of the total digital advertising landscape. Growth rates in traditional search will decelerate over the next five years until they are nearly flat YoY in 2028. Display advertising, apart from retail media, will follow a similar deceleration pattern.

Click here to view our full forecasts for retail media ad spending and digital ad spending in the US.