Key stat: 40.4% of US shoppers started their shopping journeys in marketplaces in 2023, down from 51.5% in 2022, according to a February 2024 report from Attest. Over the same period, use of search engines, brand websites, social media, and voice assistants all increased.

Beyond the chart:

• Marketplaces are still the leading place where people start shopping, which is good news for retail media ad spend. Retail media accounts for a growing portion of US search ad spend, reaching 28.8% this year, per our October 2023 forecast.
• Marketplaces have seen a drop of over 10 percentage points, which could be attributed to the nature of self-reported data or search ads clogging results and damaging customer experience.
• TikTok could be playing a factor in the increase of product discovery on social media, especially with the launch of TikTok Shop in the US in late 2023.

Use this chart:

• Evaluate marketing spend across channels.
• Emphasize the importance of marketplaces.

More like this:

• For many Gen Zers, product and brand discovery happens on social media
• Why advertisers need to keep up with consumer changes in streaming, social search, and gaming
• Retail media will make up one-fifth of worldwide digital ad spend this year
• Guide to retail media: Rapid growth, expanding formats, and emerging opportunities

Methodology: Data is from the February 2024 Attest "2024 US Consumer trends report." 2,000 US internet users ages 18+ were surveyed online on the Attest platform during November 2023. Attest is a research company.