In China, ecommercechannelad spending represents over 38% of total digital ad spending, and ecommerce search spending accounts for 64.0% of total search. Could the US figures reach similar heights?
As China’s retail media advertising market begins to mature, off-site channels—including WeChat and Douyin, TikTok's sister app in China—will increasingly drive growth.
Connected TV (CTV) has emerged as the fastest-growing ad channel tracked by ĢAV. Its ad spend outpaced other digital ads, search, social media, and retail media in 2024.
China’s example would suggest that retail media has enormous headroom for growth in the US. Companies like Amazon have been growing their ad revenues by leaps and bounds, and yet ecommercechannelad spending will still only represent 14.6% of the US digital ad market this year. In China, the share will be 38.1%.
Retail media ad spending will be increasingly responsible for digital advertising’s double-digit growth. By 2028, the powerhouse channel will grow to represent nearly 1 in every 3 ad dollars spent.
Retail media will set the pace for digital advertising growth in the coming years as more retailers invest in monetizing the channel and more advertising options become available to media buyers.