Marketing & Retail Media Benchmarks 2025 – What the Data Says
$60.8B
U.S. retail media spending is projected to reach $60.8B in 2025 (36% of global) and exceed $100B by 2029, making up 20.4% of all digital ads. Amazon dominates with 77.3% ($47B) while Walmart holds 7% ($4.3B), leaving $9.5B for other networks. This fierce competition drove 19 networks to add 48 new tools this quarter to stand out and integrate digital with in-store campaigns.
33%
Global ad spending is set to hit $1.17 trillion in 2025, with $798.7B (73%) going to digital ads and the U.S. leading at $325B. Search ads alone will reach $334.4B, while social media accounts for 33% of digital spend ($276.7B by 2025) and mobile ads for $447B. Video ads are projected at $72B in 2025, boosting conversions by up to 86%, and email marketing still drives strong ROI with 50% of people buying from marketing emails at least once a month.
40%
Amid slowing holiday sales, 40% of U.S. shoppers now expect fewer discounts in 2025, up from last year. They’re shifting from brand sites (61% in 2023 to 40% in 2025) to multi brands retailer apps, with 43% planning retail apps, 12% brand apps and only 7% social media. Gartner advises brands to kick off promotions earlier and focus on personalized deals rather than heavy blanket discounts.1.6% growth.
20%
Meta is boosting its AI-powered ad solutions, expanding Reels trending ads that deliver around 20% higher brand awareness (beating TikTok Pulse’s 14%) and adding new Threads ad formats, while its Q2 2025 revenue jumped 22% to $47.5B and features like value rules and landing-page optimization are driving 2x more high-value conversions and cutting costs by 31%.
87%
September saw major shifts: Google launched Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, OpenAI rolled out GPT-5, TikTok capped posts at 5 hashtags, and ChatGPT citations shifted with Reddit up 87% and Wikipedia up 62%. Meanwhile, Meta’s new AI ad tools delivered a 20% lift in awareness and 2× more high-value conversions, while Google’s spam update and a WordPress flaw impacted over 700,000 sites. Amazon also returned to Google Shopping overseas — a clear reminder for marketers to stay agile.
7.9%
US holiday sales growth is expected to cool in 2025, with total retail sales projected to rise 3.6% versus 4.1% last year, as consumers focus on discounts amid inflation. Online sales are forecasted to grow 7.9% (down from 8.6% in 2024), while in-store sales are expected to rise 2.3% compared to 2.8% last year, highlighting the importance of pricing and early promotions.
$734.6B
In 2025, global digital marketing spend reaches $734.6B, with businesses earning $5 for every $1 spent and email marketing giving a 3600% ROI. SEO drives 53% of website traffic, social media ads exceed $230B, and programmatic ads will cover 87% of revenue by 2026. AI adoption is booming, 91% of Fortune 1000 companies invest in it, and mobile commerce now accounts for $3.4T in sales.