TikTok Shop became available across the US last week. The social video platform has a lot to gain in retail and ad revenues, but it risks facing the same challenges Meta has had with social commerce on Instagram—users' reluctance to actually complete purchases in app. But with sister app Douyin setting the blueprint for TikTok’s social commerce endeavors, the platform isn’t starting from scratch. Here’s a look at TikTok’s social commerce strategy and potential in five charts.
Temu overtook Target in US unique website visitors in January, but Walmart and Amazon remain on top (by a wide margin, in Amazon’s case), per Comscore Inc.
Flexport is in trouble: The logistics startup’s revenues fell 70% in the first half of 2023, while falling freight rates and growing competition from Amazon are weighing on its growth prospects.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether people will ever buy items they see in TV shows, if online ratings are broken, a relaunched Amazon Shipping trying to compete with UPS and FedEx, if CNN and sports can move the needle for streaming service Max, whether the continuing partnership between Target and Starbucks is boosting curbside pickup, where we got gas before gas stations, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Paul Verna.
Big Tech’s shift to support products longer and enable right-to-repair is becoming more important than feature upgrades and innovation.
Generative AI is driving healthcare IT spending: Health execs are scrambling to develop AI strategies in 2023 and boost their IT budgets. Vendors that don’t have the right solutions will be replaced.
Consumers globally experience discrimination in healthcare: It’s causing them to lose faith in medical institutions. Providers and marketers must work to rebuild patient trust.
Non-physician medical visits are increasing: Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are performing more patient visits, mostly for low-acuity conditions. The US healthcare system is inching closer to team-based care.
Despite ongoing Hollywood writer strikes, HBO's "Real Time" will return: Maher's choice may set new industry norms, amid significant dissent.
Stability AI launches "Stable Audio," a music generator using textual prompts: The versatile technology reimagines sound creation and could be a glimpse into the near future.
Unity’s pricing change has game developers fleeing: The popular game engine introduced per-download fees, sparking an industrywide backlash.
Will Google’s Gemini surpass OpenAI’s GPT-4? Anticipation mounts for the next AI evolution. Leading the sector may lure investors but also bring inevitable challenges.
The EU’s lead regulators are clamping down on Big Tech’s GDPR violations with substantial fines that could lead to more scrutiny and bans.
Salesforce is rehiring nearly 40% of its laid-off workers: Industry volatility risks financial losses and erosion of the workplace trust that is needed for innovation and product development.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss how advertisers should adjust their plans based on social video time's slowing growth, whether people will spend more social media time on connected TVs, and the ratio between ad spend and time spent on social networks. "In Other News," we talk about whether TikTok can become a more traditional social network and getting paid to watch ads on a new socially conscious social media app. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
WhatsApp rolls out Channels globally: Enhanced features, collaborations with celebrities, and added privacy are in focus.
Adobe Firefly exits beta: innovative AI art generation meets ethical responsibility.
US buyers’ most valuable metric when assessing campaign performance on retail media networks isn’t return on ad spend (ROAS) or ROI. It’s incrementality, according to May 2022 data from Criteo.
Key stat: 82% of US creators will earn income from sponsored content this year, down from 91% in 2021, according to Mavrck.
TikTok and Pinterest have different approaches to social commerce: While Pinterest leans into shoppable ads, TikTok spends big on building an end-to-end ecommerce ecosystem.