Of the US business and technology decision-makers polled, 61% cited training and development as a workforce challenge during the pandemic, according June data from TEKsystems.

Podcast listenership in the US has been soaring in recent years and advertising dollars are following. Podcast ad spending is a bright spot amid lackluster digital radio spending. According to eMarketer’s latest forecast, US podcast ad spending will surpass 20% of digital radio ad spending this year and cross the $1 billion mark next year.

China’s retail sector has been on a steady path to recovery over the past few months. According to June data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in China, retail sales experienced a year-over-year drop of 1.8%, reaching $485.30 billion (RMB3.353 trillion). That was an increase of 1 percentage point over the prior month.

As debate flares over the potential reopening of K-12 schools and universities this fall, 37% of US parents strongly disagree that their child would be just as successful with virtual/distance learning.

After launching in roughly 450 US Whole Foods locations—and partnering with New York City-based Italian restaurant Pomodoro Rosso last year—plant-based meat company Meatless Farm launched its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) site amid the pandemic, as consumer shopping behaviors continue to lean to ecommerce.

eMarketer junior analyst Nina Goetzen and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle discuss changing Spotify listening behavior and the company's podcast investments, and they break down how it makes money. Then principal analyst Mark Dolliver joins the show to talk about what young people want from brands, what retailers need to know about shoppers ages 50 and older and the many ways the pandemic is harming children's health.

UK consumers’ shopping habits have undergone a change that is unlikely to be reversed. According to our latest forecast, nonecommerce retail sales will drop by 16.0% this year, followed by a recovery in 2021. However, sales will never reach pre-pandemic levels.

Latin America will have the worst regional performance for ad spending overall this year, declining 10.0% collectively, although oddly, it will also have the best performance for digital ad spending growth at 5.0%.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss TikTok's chances of not getting banned, Spotify video podcasts, Pandora's interactive voice ads, HBO Max sign-ups so far, TV ads in console games, why American farmhouses are typically painted red and more.

Ecommerce has been a bright spot among retail channels during the coronavirus, as consumers became reliant on digital transactions amid physical store closures and fear of infection.

The pandemic has sparked new use cases for social listening, an underutilized tool in marketers' work belts. But some brands, like Johnsonville Sausage, were already well-acquainted with the concept. Stephanie Dlugopolski, the company's senior manager of PR and social media, said her team has utilized social listening for nearly a decade. It has allowed them to not only monitor conversations about the brand, but also see how consumers react to larger issues.

As consumers now spend much of their days at home, some have taken to wearing comfortable attire full-time. One in five US adults said they purchased clothing that is considered loungewear or leisurewear since the pandemic began, according to a June 2020 survey from CivicScience.

Consumers aren’t quite ready to book their next trip, let alone stay in a hotel. But many are taking note of what they’ll feel comfortable with when that time comes, according to May polling from Skift and Oracle.

Terry Kawaja, founder and CEO of strategic advisory firm Luma Partners, joins eMarketer co-founder and Insider Intelligence chief evangelist Geoff Ramsey to discuss the pandemic's effects on live events and the ad market, the importance of marketers taking a stand on social issues and using economic downturns to increase brand presence.

When US consumers started spending more time at home during the pandemic, they also started using social media more, providing an unexpected boost to engagement on these platforms.