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Sensor Tower · Sensor Tower · February 2025
Retail Media Monthly: 2024 Year in Review
We’ve all heard the buzz about Retail Media’s explosive growth, but let’s take a look beyond the hype. We’ve crunched the numbers to reveal which retailers dominated, which advertisers went all in, and which channels saw the biggest shifts.
Walmart Dominated Retail Media by a Wide Margin
In 2024, Walmart firmly established itself as the leading force in retail media, generating nearly twice the impression levels of its closest competitor, Target. Beyond these two big-box leaders, the top Retail Media Networks (RMNs) spanned a diverse mix of industries, including pet supplies, electronics, home improvement, grocery, beauty, and more. In total, Walmart’s RMN hosted an impressive 1,608 advertisers in 2024.
Top Advertisers Leveraged an Average of 20 RMNs
Across all measured RMNs in 2024, no advertiser earned more Retail Media impressions than Nestlé (6.6B). Nestlé advertised at 25 different retailers to promote 36 different brands, led by Purina PetCare support at Chewy. Other industry leaders in CPG and Tech followed suit, promoting their expansive portfolios across a wide range of retailers. L'Oréal, for example, advertised 37 brands throughout the year, while prioritizing their partnership with Ulta. The top 10 advertisers were active on an average of 20 RMNs in 2024.
On Retail Media, Facebook’s Prominence Grew Across 2024
In 2024, Facebook emerged as the leading channel on Retail Media. The social media platform represented 29% of impressions overall, and interestingly, its dominance only grew as the year went on. By December, Facebook was earning three times the impressions of any other channel. Multiple retailers contributed to the rise of Facebook, led by Walmart, Chewy, Best Buy, Target, and more.
Channel Mix Strategies Varied Across Leading Retailers
While Facebook led overall, individual retailers leaned into their own preferred channels. At Walmart and Target, the two largest RMNs, OnSite Display ads reigned supreme, while TikTok ranked #2. At Kroger, over a quarter of all impressions ran on YouTube, demonstrating their emphasis on video content. Ulta took a different approach, earning nearly 1 in 5 impressions on Snapchat, aligning with their beauty-focused demographic.
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