Retail media has been buoyed by consumer packaged goods companies and grocery brands looking to get their products in front of shoppers closer to the point of purchase. But now, other categories are looking to join the party: nonendemic advertisers.

On a July 28 earnings call, Procter & Gamble CFO Andre Schulten emphasized retail media’s position as one of many marketing strategies.

More US consumers are engaging in money-saving activities (like using coupons or shopping for deals) in 2023 than they did in 2019. The number of US consumers doing more comparison shopping online in particular has risen by 17 percentage points from 2019 to 2023.

Shipt goes after Gen Z with latest membership offering: The Target-owned delivery service will begin offering college students discounted subscriptions as it faces growing competition from Uber and DoorDash.

Is TikTok Shop a must-have for US merchants? While TikTok commerce is gaining in popularity, the platform’s Shop feature has hit some roadblocks—our recent report investigates.

Chatbots are retailers’ favorite application of generative AI: DoorDash, Ssense, and Shopify are the latest companies to roll out AI-assisted chatbots to deliver more value to customers.

Digitally native brands look for a new D2C playbook: Brands are embracing wholesale, physical retail, acquisitions, and even selling on Amazon to regain momentum and achieve profitability.

National CineMedia (NCM) announced Monday that it will sell movie screen inventory programmatically starting in Q4 of this year. Most US programmatic display ad spend growth comes from video, which will grow 30.2% between 2023 and 2025 for a total of $96.98 billion, per our forecast. NCM wants in on that growth.

Caught off guard by new rules, manufacturers scramble to acquire import licenses. New measures support India’s self-reliance and production goals but could result in tech shortages.

TikTok aims to transform Gen Z engagement into product sales, challenging local shopping apps despite potential future regulatory issues and existing competition.

Google, Accenture under fire for allegedly violating labor laws: A labor dispute accuses Google of union busting. The outcome could affect how the tech industry relies on contractors.

Apple’s iPhone sales slump continues, subscriptions set record: Robust services revenue is helping to keep Apple afloat and pay for the AI R&D it’ll need to take on rivals.

Disney says goodbye to the metaverse: Division head Mike White left after the company laid off its 50-person metaverse team.

Most viewers can tolerate ads, actually: Only 16%–17% of viewers can't tolerate them, per Hub Entertainment research, suggesting room for further AVOD growth.

“Barbie” is the top-searched term on Amazon. Shopify has seen a 56% increase in doll sales. And despite a fall in Q2 Barbie doll sales, Mattel believes there will be significant growth for the property in the coming months and years. All of this has Greta Gerwig’s movie to thank.

Threads struggles to engage Gen Z: Meta faces challenge against the dominant TikTok.

The definitive guide to finfluencers: The quieter summer news cycle gave us time to do a deep dive into how and why “finfluencers” came into the world, what’s the secret behind their appeal to the TikTok generation, why investment advisors kind of hate them—and what financial services marketing teams can learn from them.

On today's episode, we discuss how a new era of social media is rising, whether folks want to pay for things with their hand, when the best time to email your co-worker is, how Walmart+ is getting on, what AI in the home might look like, the most popular cars in the US, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Ross Benes and Blake Droesch and forecasting director Oscar Orozco.

Total payment volume grew 11% YoY in the second quarter since restructuring, despite declines in active accounts