Retail media networks have become a critical and growing part of advertiser budgets. The ability to reach shoppers when they are receptive to product messaging continues to drive robust growth in this space. EMARKETER forecasts that US retail media ad spending will reach $88.34 billion in 2027, growing 18.7% year over year, outpacing the 13.0% growth projected for overall digital ad spending. Retail media will account for approximately 18.7% of total US digital ad spending, approaching one-fifth of the market and underscoring its increasingly central role in advertisers’ media strategies.

As advertisers look for additional ways to expose their products on retailer websites, they will find that it requires them to work with the major retail players offering this unique ad space and highly engaged audience. Large players in the retail media space such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Instacart see an increasing wave of retail media entrants offering unique audiences and heating up competition for advertiser dollars.

The ability of retail media to introduce new customers to an advertiser’s products makes it a clear winner among consumer-facing brands. But for advertisers, choosing between retail media platforms is complicated by there being little standardization across retailer websites, making performance tracking an important strategic component of success in this medium. Also, the “walled garden” nature of advertising on a retail platform means marketers aren’t always getting the information needed to improve results for their campaigns. Brands looking for exposure and lift through the use of retail media ads are in need of KPI benchmarking as they extend their efforts across multiple retailer websites.