Skai, the leading omnichannel advertising platform for commerce media, today released its Q3 2025 Digital Marketing Quarterly Trends Report, revealing key shifts in budget allocation, platform consolidation, and the strategic role of GenAI across retail media, paid search, and paid social.

Key findings

• Retail media spend rose 21% YoY, led by Beauty (+45%) and Health (+35%)
• Amazon DSP adoption reached 48% of advertisers, representing 20% of total Amazon Ads investment
• Paid Search CPC’s climbed to a six-year high (+9%)
• TikTok now accounts for 13% of social spend across 46% of accounts
• AI-driven strategy queries by marketers rose 54% QoQ
   

Retail media consolidates as consumer priorities shift

Retail media spending rose 21% year-over-year in Q3, with clicks up 19%, yet investment concentrated on scaled, proven platforms. Smaller retail media networks grew modestly, signaling a shift from experimental diversification toward disciplined efficiency.

Category data underscores a shift in consumer priorities amid continued economic uncertainty.Beauty & Personal Care surged 45% year-over-year, while Health rose 35%. By contrast, ad spend in discretionary categories such as apparel declined 10% YoY. Spend on Amazon DSP maintained near-record highs, representing just over 20% of total Amazon Ads investment with ~48% account adoption.

Prime Big Deal Days demonstrates efficiency at scale

Amazon's October 7-8 sales event set new efficiency benchmarks. Click-through rates hit 0.32% (+74% YoY), the highest in three years, while CPCs fell to $1.80, also a three year low. The event reaffirmed shifting consumer behavior with average order value falling 11% to $38.72 and with most orders under $20 focused on essentials. Only 23% of purchases were holiday gifts. Meanwhile, Amazon DSP clicks rose 26% YoY, indicating broader adoption of mid- and upper-funnel tactics.

Paid search hits six-year CPC peak, while TikTok becomes standard

Paid search spend grew 9% year-over-year in Q3, with CPCs reaching their highest level in over six years (+9%). Performance Max adoption held steady above 60%, with spend share at 9%. Meanwhile, paid social increased 11% YoY, with impressions and clicks both up 18% while CPMs fell 5%. TikTok commanded 13% of social spend across 46% of accounts, establishing its role as a core, not experimental, component of most social advertising plans.

AI adoptions shifts from creative messaging to strategy and planning

Usage analysis of Celeste, Skai’s GenAI marketing agent, revealed a significant behavioral shift among marketers: strategy and planning prompts rose from 25% of total in Q2 to 38.6% in Q3, while creative and messaging queries decreased from 10% to 3% quarter-over-quarter.

"Our exclusive Q3 data shows a market in transition," said Michelle Urwin, Chief Marketing Officer at Skai. "Retail media is consolidating around scale, paid search performance is holding steady, and social commerce is continuing to expand, all while AI is reshaping how products get discovered. Marketers who used Q3 to stress-test their cross-channel strategies are the ones now best positioned for success in the critical Q4 holiday period."

To access the full Q3 2025 report, visit skai.io/quarterly-trends-hub.
 

Methodology

Analysis is based on over 1 trillion impressions, 8.2 billion clicks, and $8.6 billion of Skai platform activity across retail media, paid search, and paid social advertising in Q3 2025 (July 1 - September 30). Data is aggregated and anonymized across Skai accounts, including many of the world’s leading consumer brands and agencies. Year-over-year comparisons reflect the same period in Q3 2024. Only advertisers active on the Skai platform for the full duration of both periods were included to ensure consistency.