Retail Media: What's New in 2024

Retail media proved in 2024 it isn’t just a buzzword – it’s buzzworthy.

Retail media ad spend will account for nearly a quarter of total media ad spend by 2028, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast. This growth highlights the sustained and growing interest in first-party data, and is fueled by retail media search, non-endemic expansion, and off-site placements.

Over the course of the year, the retail media landscape experienced significant transformations, with major players like Amazon Ads and Walmart Connect introducing notable updates, and other retail media networks expanding their offerings.

Here’s a roundup of updates and new features that made headlines in 2024:

Amazon Ads

Amazon continued to dominate the retail media sector, maintaining its position as the leading platform for advertisers seeking to leverage its vast customer base and sophisticated targeting capabilities.

Amazon Marketing Cloud: This is likely the most impactful update from Amazon Ads in quite some time and was announced at Amazon unBoxed in October – Amazon Marketing Cloud for everyone.

Many more updates were announced at unBoxed, as well as Amazon Accelerate, most of which centered around the use of AI. Amazon’s AI creative studio allows for creation for images, video, and audio to be used in ad creative.

Interactive Video Ads: Amazon unveiled a new suite of video ad formats allowing those streaming Prime content to easily learn more or add to cart with a click of their remote. These Interactive Video Ads offer a unique opportunity of aligning a traditional brand awareness play (streaming ads) with the conversion and measurement of performance marketing.

Prime Ads: Amazon introduced ads to Prime Video in early 2024, allowing customers to opt-out for a higher subscription fee. This move provides more ad inventory across their growing network.

Content Growth: Their growing network of content hit an all-time higthis year with the announcement of additional streaming sports coverage, such as the NBA, and additional investment in entertainment content, including Reacher, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Cross.

Amazon Haul: Amazon launched Haul, a new discount webstore to combat Temu and SHEIN. You can find it along the top navigation, providing a shopping experience limited to items $20 and under.

Walmart Connect

Walmart Connect made significant strides, solidifying its position as a formidable competitor in the retail media space. Key developments included:

Increased Advertiser Adoption: According to eMarketer, the platform saw a substantial rise in usage, with 46% of marketers utilizing Walmart Connect in 2024, up from 24% in 2023.

Vizio Acquisition: Walmart completed its $2.3 billion acquisition of Vizio, aiming to enhance its advertising business and compete with competitors, like Amazon.

Brand Term Targeting: A major update in Walmart Connect’s ad center hit headlines in January – brand term targeting. Prior to this roll-out, targeting branded keywords was not permitted. Meaning, advertisers had no need for Brand Defense campaigns nor the capability to conquest competitors.

More updates from additional retail media networks coming soon!