While the US economy contracted in Q1, consumers continued spending: Even with the Omicron wave restraining expenses on restaurants and travel, consumer spending rose 2.7%.
In the US, desktop computers had the highest ecommerce conversion rate of any device during Q4 2021, at 3.8%. Tablets followed with a 3.2% conversion rate, while mobile registered a substantially lower rate of 2.3%.
Amazon’s ad business was significantly larger than YouTube’s in Q1: Yet slowing ecommerce sales and rising costs meant the retailer posted its first quarterly loss since 2015.
On this episode of Reimagining Retail, our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian hosts resident apparel expert Sky Canaves. In "Pop-Up Rankings," they discuss several features from the inaugural apparel benchmark study that didn't rank as high as they would have expected. In the second segment, "What's In-Store," Sky and Suzy visit Nordstrom to check out its click-and-collect hubs, the mobile app scan feature, and different store activations.
US Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Robert Menendez sent a letter to Early Warning Services regarding how it’s handling rising fraud.
Consumers are growing frustrated with ineffective digital ads: A new survey shows that the ad industry’s lack of a proper targeting solution is alienating consumers.
Walmart+ doubled its fuel discount to 10 cents per gallon: Inflated gas prices provide Walmart with an opportunity to drive more people to its membership program.
Apple opens Self Service Repair to US consumers: It is also slowing hiring at certain retail locations for its Genius technical-support jobs, which could put a crimp in the customer experience.
Rising prices leave UK consumers with little cash to spare: UK retail sales are down for the first time in 13 months.
As concern over sustainability rises, shoppers re-evaluate their grocery options: A study by Kroger reveals some consumers are looking for sustainable ways to shop—and save money.
A growing number of brands and retailers are jumping on the bandwagon.
Big Tech squares off against unions: Momentum is on the side of workers seeking higher wages and transparency. How companies address brewing labor movements could be a red flag for regulators.
The tech giant appears to have switched Apple Cash over from Discover to Visa and enhanced fraud prevention features for Apple Pay.