Retail advertising is becoming increasingly digital
Retail marketing is at a historic turning point. What was dominated for decades by printed brochures and traditional direct mail is rapidly transforming into a purely digital, data-driven discipline. In a special edition of the Marketing Monitor Retail 2025–2028, the European Retail Institute (EHI) in Cologne outlines this shift and makes clear that the era of “print” is fading in favor of “pixels” and “precision.”
The Decline of Print
The numbers speak for themselves: While print advertising accounted for about 55% of total spending in 2015, that figure had dropped to just 29% by 2025. By 2028, the figure is expected to shrink to 18%. This radical cutback on print advertising is creating space for digital marketing. Social media (owned and paid) and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) in particular are taking on the role of the new leading media. Data is becoming the new currency. According to EHI, the transformation is unfolding in three decisive phases:
From Print to Pixel:
The mere shift of budgets to digital channels is the first step.
From Pixel to Profile:
Here, data management takes center stage. Loyalty programs will serve as strategic “data anchors” in the future. They allow retailers to view customers not merely as an anonymous mass, but as individual profiles.
From Profile to Precision:
In the final phase, artificial intelligence ensures maximum efficiency. AI-based models will enable campaigns to be targeted with pinpoint accuracy.
Conclusion:
This transformation is not a short-term trend, but a structural realignment. Through digitalization and process optimization, marketing is becoming more measurable, more personalized, and significantly more precise. For retailers, this means: Those who want to remain competitive in 2028 must successfully complete the transformation from traditional retailer to technology-centric data manager. Companies in the printing industry must expand their service offerings accordingly to benefit from this transformation.
The EHI Marketing Monitor is available here:
https://www.ehi.org/produkt/studie-marketingmonitor-handel-2025-2028-pdf/
