Amazon—the largest driver of spending in this channel—has recently seen modest retail media revenue growth relative to its past performance. As a result, we have revised our retail media forecast down from where it was in H1 2024.
Retail has come off its lengthy run of outperforming overall US ad spending growth. While growth will dip below the average for all industries in 2024, the pace is set to pick up again in 2025 and 2026.
60% of USretail professionals say charging customers for returns has resulted in an increase of adoption in their free return methods, while 54% say it has cut down on return rates, according to a September 2024 survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Happy Returns.
Walmart dominated the USretail landscape in 2024: The mass merchant’s ability to offer savings and convenience won over shoppers, and its growing ecommerce and advertising businesses are helping it make inroads against Amazon.
USretail and ecommerce sales will maintain stable growth over the next five years, with pockets of opportunity emerging from new digital consumers and mobile-first online shopping trends.
46.6% of US internet users are also Amazon Prime members, nearly two times as many as Costco (25.1%), the No. 2 biggest retail membership , according to data from Comscore.
Social commerce is the fastest-growing USretail channel, and retailers will need to offer a seamless payment experience to maximize the opportunity. Understanding payment preferences will be key to ensuring conversion at checkout.