J. G. Navarro
Research expert covering advertising and marketing with a focus on South America
Digital retail media advertising in Latin America – statistics & facts
If digital retail media is the future of advertising, Latin America is the future of digital retail media. In 2024, the region's online retail media ad spending will reach an estimated 1.46 billion U.S. dollars, up over 13 percent from the previous year. An even higher increase rate is expected for 2025. Although still attracting only a fraction of the ad dollars in this subsegment in North America and Western Europe, Brazil and Mexico collectively had a projected digital retail media ad expenditure of 1.23 billion dollars in 2024 or nearly 85 percent of Latin America's total. Perhaps more importantly, the two countries emerged as the fastest-growing online retail media ad markets worldwide in 2024, with forecast growth rates surpassing 40 percent.
Mercado Libre's reign in Latin America's digital retail mediascape seems to be just beginning. The company's ad services revenue skyrocketed by some 60 percent in 2023, exceeding 700 million dollars. Despite the exceptional expansion, ads' share in Mercado Libre's gross merchandise volume (GMV) remained below two percent, stressing the holding's status as a marketplace powerhouse and, therefore, its value as a medium for brand promotion. While Amazon still lags behind in the region, it also recorded a double-digit growth rate in online retail media ad revenues in Brazil, Latin America's largest ad market.
Where brands want to be
A 2023 survey among ad buyers in Latin America revealed that over half intended to promote their brands through retail media in the 12 months following the data collection. Less than 40 percent of respondents mentioned channels like out-of-home (OOH), digital audio, and connected TV (CTV). Around the same time, a study showed that over two-thirds of e-commerce professionals in Latin America planned to purchase ads in three key formats: on-site search, on-site display, and on-site video. Brands operating in the region also seem to have clear favorites when promoting their brands directly at marketplaces. In 2023, Mercado Libre alone concentrated nearly half of all investments in online retail media in Latin America. Amazon's platforms in Brazil and Mexico combined failed to reach 20 percent of the total, whereas Brazilian players such as Magazine Luiza (or Magalu) and Americanas rounded up the top five.Mercado Libre's reign in Latin America's digital retail mediascape seems to be just beginning. The company's ad services revenue skyrocketed by some 60 percent in 2023, exceeding 700 million dollars. Despite the exceptional expansion, ads' share in Mercado Libre's gross merchandise volume (GMV) remained below two percent, stressing the holding's status as a marketplace powerhouse and, therefore, its value as a medium for brand promotion. While Amazon still lags behind in the region, it also recorded a double-digit growth rate in online retail media ad revenues in Brazil, Latin America's largest ad market.
