Retail media ad spending is booming in Latin America. Brazil and Mexico are leading the charge, with Mercado Libre outpacing in-market rivals. Here are the latest trends you need to know.

Despite the current duopoly between Mercado Libre and Amazon in Mexico’s ecommerce market, roughly 60% of online sales remain up for grabs for local, regional, and global retailers.

Amazon is investing $25 million in Colombian delivery app Rappi through a convertible note that could give it up to a 12% stake, signaling a push to strengthen its last-mile delivery capabilities across Latin America. With Rappi’s 35 million users, rapid “Turbo” delivery service, and superapp ecosystem, Amazon hopes to challenge Mercado Libre. While the partnership could expand Amazon’s reach from Mexico to Chile, it faces stiff competition: Mercado Libre is investing $13.2 billion this year alone, fueling a projected 22.7% sales jump and expanding its commanding market share.

From revolutionizing logistics and digital payments to capturing a major share of ecommerce and retail media ad revenues, Mercado Libre has profoundly reshaped Latin America’s digital economy.

Mercado Libre and Reddit will again lead in digital ad revenue growth. Those two, Walmart, and TikTok will make up the top four for the second year in a row, although in varying order. Mercado Libre and Reddit are still growing from small bases ($2.18 billion and $2.24 billion in 2026, respectively), which makes huge growth rates more achievable.

Smaller retail and ecommerce players will pursue strategic partnerships to stay competitive with Amazon and Mercado Libre. Those that don’t plug into larger ecosystems will struggle to maintain advertiser relevance. Alliances among dominant industry players will draw new regulatory scrutiny.

Mercado Libre. Publicis Groupe. Similarweb. Topsort. TREBEL. VTEX.

Mercado Pago, a Latin American super app associated with the Mercado Libre ecommerce platform, offers a wide array of financial products. In addition, some traditional incumbents run their own digital banks. Implications for banks: Nubank will have an uphill climb in the US, if its charter is approved.

Retail media—fueled by Mercado Libre—will be the fastest-growing channel, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.0% between 2025 and 2029. Connected TV (CTV) will also scale rapidly as viewing shifts to larger screens, but it will represent just 2% to 3% of the digital ad pie during the same period. Digital’s rise will reshape the competitive landscape.

In other markets, like Mexico and Brazil, homegrown Mercado Libre is more dominant than Amazon. In the UK, domestic giants, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons, operate RMNs and have limited Amazon’s dominance. The balance of the retail media market in Canada is highly fragmented, but many players are amassing significant audiences.