Retail & Ecommerce

Latin American ecommerce giant Mercado Libre has benefitted immensely from the pandemic, as stay-at-home orders forced consumers to buy online. According to our inaugural forecast on Mercado Libre, the online marketplace’s sales will surge 46.5% in Latin America by the end of 2020, to $20.51 billion. And it still has room to grow in several key markets—even where it already dominates.

Walmart will host a shoppable livestream on TikTok, aiming to replicate the success of sister company Douyin—but it will be a while before social commerce in the US catches up to China.

We recapped five digital trends that will take place next year: how Big Tech will be reined in, despite not breaking up in the immediate future; why a federal privacy law will likely pass; how a retail media trio—made up of Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart—will challenge the duopoly; how advertisers will test new targeting and measurement techniques; and, how first party data will reign. Here are five other trends we think will happen in 2021.

Despite the hype, most US consumers won’t make a purchase via social media in 2021. Discovery and consideration, rather than direct transactions within social apps, will remain key opportunities for brands next year.