Retail & Ecommerce

Dollar Tree misses expectations as lower-income consumers pull back spending: While the discounter is gaining grocery share, discretionary sales continue to be challenged.

Omnichannel approach triumphs in Black Friday marketing: Email and SMS take center stage during pivotal sales period.

Over half (53%) of US adults ages 18 to 29 will use TikTok for holiday shopping this year, per ESW.

Shoppers spent a record $12.4 billion this Cyber Monday: The lure of heavy discounts convinced cost-conscious consumers to open their wallets.

Madhappy turns to physical retail to build its brand: The D2C apparel brand wants its first permanent store to be a place consumers “spend a few hours,” not just browse.

Walmart is launching its first shoppable video series: The first episodes of the holiday-themed “Add to Heart” will be available on Roku, TikTok, and YouTube beginning on Dec. 2.

Shein’s long-awaited IPO is finally at hand: The fast-fashion retailer plans to go public as soon as next year, but competition from Temu and incessant government scrutiny could dampen investor enthusiasm.

Temu parent PDD Holdings posts 94% revenue surge in Q3: The company’s advertising blitz and pricing strategies are helping to win customers, but at a significant cost.

On today’s podcast episode, host Bill Fisher is joined by our forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood and analysts Paul Briggs and Matteo Ceurvels to examine the podcast landscape around the world, looking at changes in listenership and the advertising opportunities that the format affords.

The tight labor market has driven up store associates’ pay: That’s a solid investment given that well-paid staff typically have longer tenures, which helps them deliver a better customer experience.

We capture how payment providers are innovating to meet new preferences and capture this vital volume in four trends

Mobile apps are vital for commerce. In fact, among US smartphone users, 65.8% will use retail apps in 2024, putting the category behind only maps/navigation apps (72.8%) and weather apps (71.1%) in terms of adoption, according to our July 2023 forecasts.

37% of US Gen Zers and 32% of millennials have used a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service to make at least one purchase recently, according to Morning Consult.

As Cyber Monday rages on, let’s take a look at what’s already happened over the course of the Cyber Five weekend and what it means for both retail media networks and advertisers alike.

UK Black Friday sales fall as shoppers tighten their belts: Transactions and footfall were down YoY, although online sales were a bright spot.

Amazon is cementing its status as the US’ top delivery company: The retailer is on track to deliver more packages than UPS for the second year running.

Steep discounts drove record Black Friday online sales: Ecommerce sales surged on the day after Thanksgiving, while brick-and-mortar sales grew just 1.1% YoY.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss whether TikTok Shop will face the same challenges as Instagram's social commerce efforts, how much Amazon's partnership with Meta's social media platforms will affect TikTok, and if TikTok Shop is ruining TikTok. Then in a newish segment, "Loyalty Point, Counter Point," we discuss whether Instagram or TikTok has a better overall ecommerce experience. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Blake Droesch.

’Tis the season for a deluge of holiday ads, as everyone tries to score a piece of the $1.317 trillion holiday sales pie (per our June 2023 forecast). To break through the noise, brands need to zero in on what resonates with consumers—and maybe even have a little fun.

Brand loyalty vs. brand backlash: Consumers want companies to support social causes despite the corporate dilemmas that could result.