Retail Media M&A Activity Picks Up in 2Q’23 With Transaction Value Being the Highest in the Last Five Quarters, Report Finds

Digital retail ad spend continues to grow and is projected to continue, according to a recent report from ComCap Holdings, LLC, a premier investment bank focused on the digital commerce, marketing, consumer and payments ecosystems. With coverage areas including Ad tech/Martech, Fintech, Web3, Logistics (software and physical), Digital Commerce, Automotive, Utilities, Government, Digital Health (B2C), In Store Retail Tech, Robotics in Retail and Security.

Retail media is one of the fastest-growing media markets in the U.S., with U.S. retail media projected to reach $61BN in ad spending for 2024, yielding a CAGR of ~33% from 2019-2024.

“Today’s retailers have realized that retail media markets are a powerful way to generate profits and invest those to create sustainable differentiation online and in store,” said Aron Bohlig, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, ComCap Holdings LLC. “This is why over the last few years, we’ve seen more and more retailers enter the space. With everyone from Amazon and Walmart to smaller retail stores looking to take advantage of retail media networks, our research shows that we can anticipate seeing the industry continue to reach new heights in both M&A and private sector investments as we look to 2024.”

• Sustained growth in global digital retail media ad spending
• Retail media is playing a pivotal role in shaping retailers’ global profits and enabling “virtuous cycle” investments in capabilities and margin enhancement
• In-store continues to be the preferred choice of RMN investment from brands followed by point-of-sale (POS) and digital
• Based on the increasing importance placed by CPGs on measurement tools focused on quantifiable ROI including sales growth and new customer acquisition, tools providing granular measurement are primed for growth and adoption
• Industry consolidation is reshaping retail media networks through M&A

In addition, top retailers, including Target, Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and others have recognized the opportunity to monetize their shopper loyalty program data and have launched their own Retail Media Networks. Certain highlights on their recent ad revenue activity include:

• Amazon: Amazon’s ad revenue grew 21% Y/Y as of H1’23 marking a similar Y/Y growth rate of 21% it saw in CY22 and pointing to a healthy trend of growth for its ad business
• Walmart: Contributing $2.7BN to Walmart’s total revenue, Walmart’s advertising business saw a significantly higher Y/Y growth of ~30% than the rest of the business in FY23; led primarily by Walmart Connect in US (41% Y/Y growth)
• Instacart: Ad revenue is a significant part of Instacart’s growth strategy with the technology provider generating 30% of its CY22 revenue from its advertising activities
• Carrefour: In CY22, Carrefour’s retail media activity ‘Carrefour Links’ saw increased momentum, expanding to 450 partner clients and contributing a growing proportion to results. Carrefour expects making increased investments in Links, as it looks to position itself as the European leader for data & retail media

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