Retail media spending grew 10% in Q3: report

Wouldn’t it be nice if, after all those bills, you opened up an envelope from the electric utility or oil company and it was a…check?

That is, in essence, what’s happening with retail media these days. Advertising, which for generations had strictly been an expense for major retailers, is now a major source of revenue, as brands dig deep to advertise on retailers’ e-commerce sites and apps to get better exposure with shoppers searching and browsing.

Retail media is here to stay, and it’s growing:

• Retail media spending amounted to an estimated $101 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $160 million by 2027, according to a 2022 report by Group M.
• Retail media spend accounted for 18% of digital ad spending and 11% of all ad spending last year, Group M found.

A new report from Skai, an omnichannel marketing platform, suggests that retail media is still growing like gangbusters:

• Spending on retail media in Q3 grew 10% over Q2.
• Retail media impressions increased 6% QoQ and 9% YoY.
• Clicks on retail media ads grew 3% QoQ and 12% YoY.

The data is based on about $9 billion in advertising spend on the Skai platform over the last five quarters, encompassing brands with retail media programs like Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, and Kroger.

“So far 2023 has been remarkably consistent in that advertisers are continuing to grow spending in the key walled garden publishers from month to month and from quarter to quarter,” Chris Costello, senior director of marketing research at Skai, said in a statement.