General retail e-commerce static ads: what major brands are running
By Spencer Tribe · Last updated
In general retail e-commerce, the most common static ad layout is product hero (57.9% of ads) and the most common hook is benefit (52.1%). 39.7% of ads show a person, 93.4% show the product, and the median headline is 5 words. This is based on 121 ads from 11 brands in the Showfolk library as of 2026-10-09.
Which layouts do general retail e-commerce brands use?
| Layout | General retail e-commerce | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| Product hero | 57.9% | 46% |
| Lifestyle | 23.1% | 17.4% |
| Feature callout | 7.4% | 4.4% |
| Comparison | 5% | 4.1% |
| Before and after | 2.5% | 2.1% |
| Text only | 1.7% | 11.9% |
| Testimonial | 0.8% | 5.1% |
Product hero leads at 57.9%, 11.9 points above the all-industry figure of 46%. What each layout is.
Which hooks do they lead with?
| Hook | General retail e-commerce | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| Benefit | 52.1% | 34.7% |
| Offer | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Problem and solution | 9.1% | 25.9% |
| Curiosity | 7.4% | 4.3% |
| Social proof | 5% | 12.3% |
| Urgency | 3.3% | 1.7% |
Benefit leads at 52.1%, 17.4 points above the all-industry figure of 34.7%.
What formats and how much text?
55.4% of general retail e-commerce ads are 9:16 vertical. 26.4% carry little text, 70.2% a medium amount and 3.3% a lot. The median headline is 5 words, against 6 across all industries. Sizes and safe zones.
Which brands are in this sample?
The 11 brands include LEGO, Away, Cotopaxi, Nomatic, Ekster, BarkBox, Chewy, Lo & Sons. Every ad was running publicly on Meta when it was collected and was reviewed by a person before being added.
How do I make a general retail e-commerce ad like these?
- Start with the layout most brands in your category already use: product hero.
- Lead the headline with a benefit hook, in about 5 words.
- Make it 9:16 vertical first, then crop the other sizes.
In Showfolk you can filter the library to general retail e-commerce, pick one of these ads, and get it rebuilt around your product, logo and colors. Browsing is free. How it works.
How reliable are these numbers?
They describe a curated sample of established advertisers, not all of Meta, and they contain no performance data. Method, limits and downloads.