A recent report that looks at the digital advertising in the US is showing that while there should be good growth across most industries, retail is likely going to be the leader. Overall digital ad spend will go over $100 billion in the US this year according to eMarketer. This is a significant milestone as it is the first year this will happen.
The report predicts that of the roughly $107.3 billion being spent, $23.5 billion of it will come from retail businesses. This is the largest single segment. Automotive markets and financial markets are the second and third largest, each spending about $13 billion.
Not surprisingly, mobile ads are going to make up the bulk of this ad spend. 69.4% of all digital ads coming from retail businesses will be displayed on mobile devices. This is interesting because in 2017, 34.5% of e-commerce sales were made on mobile devices. Marketers are realizing, however, that even sales that aren’t made on mobile devices often start there with research.
In addition, by 2020 it is expected that more than 50% of e-commerce sales will be made on mobile devices.
Patricia Orsini, who is a senior analyst at eMarketer, said, “Retail brands spend far more than any other industry on digital advertising because, in retail, it’s increasingly about winning in search.”
While retail is certainly the leader in this, the overall outlook for digital advertising is very positive. Those who are publishers, marketers, or others in the industry will need to work hard to capitalize on this rapid growth.
