Investor excitement contrasts with customer hesitation, suggesting businesses must balance automation with user trust to maximize AI’s potential
In November, retailers made strategic moves across grocery, apparel, and beauty. Amazon turned Black Friday into a weeklong event and launched its Shein competitor, Haul. Meanwhile, e.l.f. Beauty strengthened its value proposition through a new Dollar General partnership, while Kroger announced plans for specialized Asian experience stores in North Texas. Here are our eight unofficial picks for the most interesting retailers in November.
Coca-Cola narrows its sustainability ambitions: The change dovetails with several other companies backing away from DEI initiatives amid shifting political winds.
Spotify has nearly twice as many US listeners as the next most popular digital audio platform, Amazon Music, at 103.6 million compared to 53.1 million, per our September 2024 forecast.
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AI’s role in Spotify Wrapped is slightly subdued: The platform’s yearly marketing event included AI, but stopped short of prominently featuring it.
Capable new models and supercomputer plans show progress, but releasing a breakthrough “any-to-any” model next year will test its execution under tight timelines
President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed 10% to 20% tariffs could cause double-digit price hikes across six retail categories, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) analysis from November 2024.
Steep discounts drove shoppers to spend on Cyber Monday: The Monday after Thanksgiving is poised to be the biggest online shopping day in US history.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether Bluesky can sustain this user growth momentum, how much of a threat it is to X (Twitter), and if in fact it is Threads that is actually about to snatch the microblogging crown. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.
Consumers are exploring AI-driven shopping tools, but interest varies by application. Image-based item searches and holiday deal assistance are gaining traction, but trust issues and preferences for human customer service agents still pose challenges. Brands must ensure their AI tools address consumer needs, provide transparency, and enhance personalization to build trust and drive adoption.
Bluesky drives three times more publisher traffic than Threads, some report: its open link-sharing policies offer an engaging alternative to restrictive platforms.
Carriers keep hiking up shipping costs: Rates are up nearly 26% since 2021, and that’s before factoring in holiday surcharges that will further eat into retailers’ margins.
Amazon, Target, and malls were among this year’s Cyber Five winners: Roughly 197 million people shopped this year’s sales, leading to a surge in online and in-store spending.
Shein and Temu delivery providers face barrage of lawsuits regarding labor practices: Several have been accused of underpaying workers, misclassifying them as independent contractors, and failing to provide overtime.
The company used its two-sided network to capitalize on the holiday weekend
But the payment method’s volume grew slower than overall retail sales, suggesting providers need to do more to amp up growth
The buy button has been on a growth tear since Shopify opened it up to enterprise customers outside of its ecosystem
Walmart’s advertising business gets a boost: The retailer closed its Vizio acquisition, giving it inroads into the lucrative CTV market.
Consumers are shopping online more for health and wellness: We explore which health product categories US consumers are flocking to online and examine how in-store retailers can respond.