The event will feature experiences and perks across a variety of categories, which should help Amex increase customer engagement and expedite travel & entertainment volume recovery as the US reopens.
On today's episode, we discuss how advertisers are adjusting as the pandemic eases in the US, whether Facebook Live Shopping can get off the ground, online shopping's deceleration, if faster delivery can really help retailers compete with Amazon, what to make of Snapchat's fourth-generation augmented reality glasses, and how much time we really have to enjoy life. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst Sara M. Watson, analyst Daniel Keyes, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.
Afterpay and Klarna affirm their dominance
Shortly after Amazon confirmed Prime Day for June 21 and 22, both retailers introduced coinciding sales events as competition continues heating up in the retail space.
We have Prime Day at home: Target and Walmart announced the dates of their summer promotions, which align with the new June timing for Amazon Prime Day 2021. But we don’t expect these efforts to diminish Amazon’s share of ecommerce sales during the event.
Volt lands white-label mortgage deal with AFG: The neobank’s partnership with the platform, which also includes an equity investment, continues its switch to Banking as a Service—and could grow its loan book before it builds out deposits.
Mobile payments have proven their value during the pandemic as a way to limit our risk to exposure instead of paying with cash or card. Last year, per our estimates, smartphone usage in the US surged to an average of 182 minutes daily (from 154 minutes pre-pandemic), which extended to payments.
Visa invested an undisclosed amount into biometric authentication startup LoginID and Amex linked its fraud detection system with platforms from Accertify, Microsoft, and Riskified.
The customer experience landscape has changed dramatically over the last year as pandemic-induced lockdowns and social distancing pushed many consumers to try new technologies and experiences, such as click and collect, proximity payments, and augmented reality.