Among the five industries in the UK that were tracked by eMarketer – automotive, consumer packaged goods and consumer products, financial services, retail, and travel – retail is forecast to continue to lead in share of digital ad spend throughout 2018, boosted by the largest spending gains among industries this year and next.

Retail is set to account for 14.2% of all digital ad spend in 2017, with investment up 13.4% to £1.55bn, driven by the growth of ecommerce in the UK, in particular in the food/ grocery sector and the resulting competition between merchants for digital shoppers.

Mobile advertising will reportedly drive the sector’s digital advertising growth, with investment growing by 31% to reach £1.04bn this year. This means that mobile will represent over two thirds of retailers digital ad outlays in 2017. 

"The retail sector has a wide array of product categories, ranging from household staples such as groceries to highly popular consumer electronics and gadgets,” said Monica Peart, eMarketer’s senior forecasting director.

“This helps to not only push retail ad spending above other sectors, but also makes it one of the fastest growing categories with pure-play ecommerce giants such as Amazon pushing advertising investments online and on mobile, where the shopper is increasingly making purchase decisions."