The rise of retail media is one of 2022’s top 5 retail trends

Join us to hear more from Insider Intelligence’s Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst, and Blake Droesch, eMarketer analyst, as they reveal the top five retail trends to watch in 2022 in our upcoming live Meet the Analyst Webinar, “Retail Trends 2022: Predictions for 5 Key Inflection Points in the Year Ahead.”

We recently released our Retail Trends to Watch in 2022 report, outlining the five key trends that will most shape the retail landscape in the year ahead: the bridging of digital and physical retail, same-day delivery, viral commerce, sustainability, and retail media.

Below are some highlights on the rise of retail media. Tune in to our Meet the Analyst Webinar to find out more about this and the other four trends.

US digital retail media advertising will reach $41.37 billion in 2022, growing nearly $10 billion from this year. We expect it to be one of the fastest-growing segments of digital advertising at 31.4%, on par with connected TV (CTV) (32.3%) and podcast advertising (30.2%). By 2023, retail media will surpass $50 billion and represent nearly 1 in 5 digital ad dollars.

Retail media is evolving from performance ads to brand-building ads. The low-hanging fruit of retail media has been bottom-funnel search ads. But various retail media networks are evolving their ad offerings to include more upper-funnel, awareness-driving formats like digital display and video. Several also have their own demand-side platforms (DSPs) or partner with other DSPs to deliver targeted ads beyond their owned and operated sites, including in ad-supported CTV.

Amazon is the dominant player in retail media today. The ecommerce giant currently accounts for 77.7% of US digital retail media spend, but its share will get trimmed beginning next year amid growing competition.

Dozens of other retail media networks have now entered the space, and Walmart and Instacart have emerged as ones to watch in 2022 as they vie for consumer packaged goods and other advertisers’ budgets. Both are expected to increase their share of retail media ad spend in the coming years.