Retail media went from being the awkward wallflower at the marketing party in 2019 (just 10% of total media spend) to tripling its way to nearly 30% of overall media budgets in 2024, the latest data from Keen Decision Systems—a SaaS platform that enables enterprise companies to predict, optimize, and measure their marketing spend—shows. The big takeaway is retail media’s appeal lies in its effectiveness and certainty to drive sales.
In some ways, it’s the same story, because Amazon still takes the top spot. However, rivals are crashing the party and brands are now smart enough not to put all their eggs in one basket. Brands are spending more display ad dollars at Walmart, Target, and Instacart, Keen shared in its findings.
Meanwhile, Amazon Search is still flexing, but it’s starting to “lose share” with competition lurking on its territory, Keen data showed. Amazon Search’s market share has dropped from 52% to 50% over the last 52-week period through July 9. Although, overall, search ads deliver more ROI to most retailers surveyed compared to display ads.
However, big money riding on search ads doesn’t necessarily translate to high impact.
Amazon’s return on investment for search ads is on the decline despite heavy investments, coming in at $1.21. Supermarket chain Kroger leads ROI on search ads with a $2.50 return on every search dollar spent and $2.06 ROI on display ads.
Meanwhile, Walmart delivers $1.51 on every display ad dollar spent, higher than Target’s ROI for display ads, which delivers $1.36.
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