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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.

Our annual Trends to Watch report for Canada highlights expected developments in the country鈥檚 media and advertising market for 2025. Next year, we anticipate a shift in media buying will favor domestic publishers and retail media channels, while large platforms will contend with the new Digital Services Tax.

Retail media will account for about 1 in 5 digital ad dollars this year. That鈥檚 about double the share it held in 2020. We expect it to surpass the one-quarter mark by 2028.

Digital ad spending growth in Canada is being driven in large part by a host of industries. Our rankings show that retail and consumer packaged goods continue to have the most ad spending share.

Our annual report on ecommerce in Canada highlights our most recent forecasts for all flavors of retail, including brick-and-mortar, digital buying, and mobile commerce.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss why US home improvement company Lowe's didn't work out in Canada, why Canadian athletic apparel retailer lululemon athletica succeeded in the US, and which Canadian brands would prosper in the US if they chose to fly south. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Paul Briggs and vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian.

In the first 100 days of his second term, President Trump has reshaped business strategy across retail, tech, healthcare, and media. Here鈥檚 how tariffs, regulation, and market volatility are forcing brands to rethink spend, growth, and planning.

In our exclusive survey with ESW, data from shoppers in 18 countries reveals new twists in the path to purchase, the rising momentum of marketplaces, and the resilience of age-old fundamentals.

Tim Hortons, for instance, gained traction in Q2 with initiatives like freshly cracked Canadian scrambled eggs, a $1 donut-and-coffee deal, and a new breakfast meal co-created with actor Ryan Reynolds. Krispy Kreme, by contrast, is prioritizing financial stability over aggressive growth.

Retail media鈥檚 17.4% increase in 2025 will once again exceed the growth rate for traditional search (12.2%) and display (13.3%). Every year, retail becomes a more important part of the digital advertising story. (Note that portions of retail media ad spending fall under both search and display, so retail is buttressing those umbrella categories as well as the larger digital total.).