Q2 2024 Digital Market Index: Home & Garden Retail Media Heats Up for the Summer Months

Retail media has become an essential way for brands to reach potential customers in the age of online shopping. Walmart, the top retailer in the United States, also ran away from the competition when it came to retail media impressions. Its 11.7 billion impressions in the US were more than twice as many as the #2 retailer, Target. Sensor Tower’s Digital Market Index report dives deeper into retail media in the United States, including a look at top retailers, categories, and advertisers in Q2 2024.

Other familiar US retailers were among the top 10 by retail media impressions, including several home improvement stores (Home Depot and Lowe’s), pet supply store Chewy, and beauty retailers Sephora and Ulta.

Walmart was also the top retailer in terms of onsite retail media impressions (meaning these ads appear on Walmart’s website, rather than other channels like TikTok or OTT). Best Buy and Target actually received a higher share of their retail media impressions onsite at 36% and 32%, respectively. Nearly a quarter of Walmart’s retail media impressions were onsite.

Home & Garden Retail Media Heats Up

Personal Care was once again the top category by retail media impressions in the US in Q2 2024. The category is quite popular for a variety of retailers including Ulta and Sephora, as well as some general retailers like Target, Walmart, and Macy's.

Meanwhile, Home & Garden moved up from #4 last quarter to #2 this quarter as the weather warmed up in the spring. For example, The Scotts Company took advantage of the season to advertise with Home Depot and Lowe's for its products like Miracle-Gro. Lawn & Garden wasn’t the only subcategory to see strong growth in the Home & Garden category – impressions for Tools & Equipment, Building Products & Materials, and Major Domestic Appliances all climbed significantly quarter-over-quarter.

Discover Which Brands Worked Closely with Top US Retailers to Highlight their Products in Q2 2024

Looking at the top retailer / advertiser combinations can point to which co-branded partnerships were most successful in the quarter – and where your brand can find potential opportunities. 

The pet store market shows clear potential for retail media, with pet supply retailers taking half of the top 10 retailer / advertiser combinations in Q2 2024. Purina PetCare advertised its products with a variety of top pet supply retailers, including Chewy, Petco, and PetSmart. Chewy was also a top retailer for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Mars.

Identifying the top retail media advertisers by category can provide a more detailed breakdown for your vertical. For example, looking at the top combinations in the Computers & Consumer Electronics space revealed that Apple invested heavily in retail media with Target and Walmart. It faced more competition at Best Buy, where it trailed Hewlett-Packard and Samsung by impressions.

Want More Insights on the Digital Economy? Read the Full Report

Read the Q2 2024 Digital Market Index report highlighting the market leaders in mobile and digital advertising, spanning 21 markets in a dynamic, interactive format covering:

• Top Markets - countries in North America and Europe show growth opportunities for publishers while China’s mobile market bounces back

• Top Categories - Consumer spend increases in ALL top app categories with many seeing 20%+ growth

• Top Apps - TikTok sets consumer spend records and also leads by downloads

• Top Mobile Games - See how top launches like Squad Busters are reshaping the mobile gaming landscape

• Digital Advertising - US digital ad spend up 15% YoY, propelled by advertising on TikTok and Instagram

• Retail Media Networks - Home & Garden retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s ramp up retail media as the weather heats up