Shoptalk 2025: Big Opportunities for Marketers Ahead

By Darren Ellis, Director of Product and Partner Marketing

Just last week I attended the Shoptalk Conference for the first time, and I left feeling energized about the opportunities ahead for marketers. The conversations from the stage and among attendees were forward-looking, and three key themes stood out: retail media, social commerce, and artificial intelligence.

Retail Media: More Opportunities Off-Site
One of the biggest takeaways for me at this event is that retail media is expected to grow to $100 billion by 2030 as more brands increase spending in the channel. This means, as retail media networks (RMNs) grow, they will need to scale to off-site platforms. eMarketer noted that Walmart and Amazon have essentially already maxed out their own ad inventory today. As RMNs scale, they’ll generate sales across more stores providing opportunities to influence buyers beyond their own walls. Advertisers will need measurement partners like NCS who can help advertisers measure these incremental sales in the rest of the market.

Social Commerce: Still in Its Early Days
According to an eMarketer presentation, social commerce is set to grow at twice the rate of the overall digital ad industry. NCS’s own original research also shows strong social growth. Seventy-six percent of marketers in our State of the Industry report are increasing their investments in social media. Brands have an exciting opportunity to amplify their reach by tapping into influencer audiences and complementing their purchase-based strategies. Consumers have proven a willingness to buy from creators. In our e-book Connections that Click, we reported original research that 48% of consumers have purchased a product after seeing creator generated content. Sales Effect studies also show that sales are actually higher when brands combine creator content with branded content.

Artificial Intelligence: The Next Frontier in Personalization
AI-powered search is a hot topic, with brands looking to enhance the customer experience and drive loyalty. As AI advances, purchase data will become even more valuable for personalization. But let’s be real—many brands still struggle with the heavy lift of implementing cleanrooms and true one-to-one personalization. I also heard multiple speakers predict that marketing budgets will shift from traditional search to AI in the coming years.

Retail media, social commerce, and AI are evolving fast. The big question now: How will CPG brands take advantage? I don’t have a crystal ball, but I do know that NCS is well positioned to enable advertisers to find and innovate new methods to overcome challenges. A great way to get started is to read our 2025 State of the Industry report. Where there are challenges, there are opportunities.