// Amazon spent $16.9 billion on advertising and promotions in 2021, which likely made it the biggest advertiser in history, according to Warc
// The online retailer’s ad spend jump 55% year on year in 2021, more than double the 20.6% rise seen across the wider retail sector
Amazon became the largest advertiser in history after it spent $16.9 billion on advertising and promotions in 2021.
Ad spend surged 55% year on year, which is a $6 billion increase – the fastest rise in a decade.
Advertising intelligence firm Warc said the huge investment likely made Amazon the largest advertiser in history.
The firm said Procter & Gamble, a key challenger for the title of largest advertiser, lagged behind Amazon as its ad spend rose 12% to $8.2bn in the year ending June 2021.
Across all of retail, advertising spend rose 20.6% last year.
READ MORE: Amazon UK sales revealed: Brits spent £23.6bn at online giant in 2021
The advertising is paying off for online giant Amazon as global sales jumped 9% to £101.1bn in the quarter to December 31, 2021 whilst net profit doubled to £10.5 billion.
The online giant revealed it will raise its Prime membership fee for US customers by 17% from next month to offset rising costs.
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said it was hit by cost rises due to staff shortages and inflationary pressures.
He said: ”As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labour supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron. Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to feel optimistic and excited about the business as we emerge from the pandemic.”
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