The Toronto-based Amazon Advertising has been building since 2015, aiming to leverage its massive trove of first-party consumer data for ad products aimed at verticals like CPG and financial services. Amazon’s demand-side platform (DSP) is powered by this data. It’s also an emerging search player, especially for digital shoppers.

The retail industry is transforming at both physical stores and in digital. This report examines 10 trends that will most shape retail in the year ahead.

Amazon’s programmatic revenues are continuing to accelerate, thanks to buyer interest in rich purchase data on property and off property via Amazon Advertising Platform (AAP). And by year’s end, we predict Amazon will join Facebook, Amazon and Oath as one of the top four US companies in terms of programmatic ad revenues.

Utilizing marketplaces is one way for a seller to expand reach. But for some manufacturers and distributors, that increased reach is not worth the competitive threats that they may face on a marketplace.

“Although year-round advertising is critical to product discovery, having an Amazon advertising strategy in place for Prime Day will be pivotal for maximizing sales and profits, both during and immediately following the event.”. Brands understandably worry about sinking a lot of money into ads around Prime Day only to see their profit margins erode.

For Daniel Knijnik, co-founder and CEO of Amazon advertising agency Quartile, it also means that brands can’t afford to not sell on Amazon, even in countries where it may not be the leading ecommerce platform. That will become even more important as Amazon expands its Prime membership program internationally.

Global trends shifting shopping, including omnichannel selling, the rise of “New Retail,” cross-border ecommerce, social commerce, and top ecommerce players like Amazon and Alibaba and why marketplaces are dominating worldwide.

For more information on Amazon advertising, see our September 2018 report “Amazon Advertising 2018: The New No. 3 US Digital Ad Firm.”. As competition heats up, advertising offerings are evolving quickly to draw a more direct line from exposure to conversion. For search, several strategists point to a shift from text ads to shopping ads on Google, a trend that Google’s Calvo acknowledges.

If you're selling in Germany, translate to German,” said Daniel Knijnik, co-founder and CEO of Amazon advertising agency Quartile. “But it has to be done by someone local so it makes sense.”.