Retail media investments grew by 18% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025, highlighting the confidence marketers have in the channel, according to analysis from Kenshoo Skai.
Alongside investment growing rapidly, click volume rose 16%, with clickthrough rates up 9%, and cost-per-click increasing by just 2%. A major driver beyond this growth, according to Skai, was publisher diversification.
“Retail media’s maturity and strategic importance have never been clearer,” said Michelle Urwin, Chief Marketing Officer at Kenshoo Skai. “The most recent quarter showcased that marketers who align investment strategies closely with consumer engagement and use advanced, AI-powered targeting capabilities are well-positioned for sustained, efficient growth, especially in competitive environments.”
Skai’s analysis also found that paid search spend held steady in Q2 2025, with marketers leaning further into AI-first campaign types. More than 85% of advertisers now use or plan to use generative AI for video ad creation.
On the social front, TikTok reached 46% adoption among paid social advertisers, growing its share of spend by 13%, despite the platform’s ongoing regulatory uncertainty.
The commerce media-focused omnichannel ad platform analysed more than one trillion impressions, 8.2 billion clicks, and $8.7 billion of activity across retail media, paid search, and paid social in Q2 2025.
