As Amazon raked in more than $11 billion in Prime Day sales worldwide, health and beauty product sales boomed on the platform. In a survey conducted by Numerator throughout the event, 28.0% of US Prime Day buyers said they made a purchase in that category. Consumer electronics also made a spark: 27.5% of respondents reported buying tech gear and gadgets.
On today's episode, we discuss which pandemic personas will stick around, why brands are struggling to know who their customers are, and the most important ways consumer behavior has likely changed permanently. We then talk about how people will shop once businesses are fully reopen, two new in-store virtual reality (VR) experiences, and what Apple's new “buy now, pay later” service could do to the space. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Suzy Davidkhanian.
The QuickBooks Card Reader lets merchants accept contactless payments and chip cards—helping Intuit move further beyond accounting software and into in-store payments.
China’s wallets have gone mobile
There’s a lot of attention paid to direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands right now, and for good reason: in addition to the pandemic-fueled 45.5% growth from 2019 to 2020, US digital D2C sales are expected to grow another 15.9% in 2021, reaching $175 billion by 2023, according to our estimates.
Following a diminished need to refresh their wardrobe, consumers are excited to celebrate the holiday season in style. Watch Industry Voices: Holiday Preparedness with Banana Republic’s Jen Mullen, vice president and head of stores, to hear how the fashion retailer is applying learnings from last year to ensure a seamless holiday shopping experience.
We expect US social commerce sales to rise by 35.8% in 2021 to $36.62 billion. That’s only a slight deceleration in growth from 2020, when sales surged by 38.9% thanks to the pandemic-driven boom in ecommerce, increased social media consumption, and brands continuing to leverage these platforms to sell directly to consumers.
At Facebook, the social network is now a shopping network
On today's episode, we discuss which “digital habits” are just myths, whether travel has reached pre-pandemic levels, whether conversational commerce can take online shopping by storm, social audio getting some new big partners, which platforms creators want to create for, what it would look like if companies were mini countries, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Paul Verna, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.
Apple Pay’s large acceptance network and user base could make it a formidable player in the buy now, pay later space—posing a major threat to incumbent BNPL providers and credit cards.