Retail & Ecommerce

While there are still cost and privacy hurdles to overcome, online biometric checkout bodes well for in-store adoption

But as it gets closer to a rollout, it will face its biggest hurdle—getting consumers to use it

Under Armour sees a brighter road ahead: While the company’s sales continue to fall, it is confidently embarking on a strategy of positioning itself as a premium brand.

US travel demand weakens as lower-income consumers pull back: Airbnb, Disney, and Hilton are among the companies expecting headwinds as uncertainty keeps more people rooted in place.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss standout data points from this year’s back-to-school season, creators' role in this shopping period, and what back-to-school is trying to tell us about this year's upcoming holidays. Listen to the conversation with our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sarah Marzano and Zak Stambor.

Walmart’s total US retail sales reached $533.96 billion in 2023, growing 6.9% YoY, according to the National Retail Federation and Kantar.

As consumers become increasingly cost-cautious, competition for dollars is fierce. Halloween costumes, decor, and party supplies may not be a top shopping priority, but specialty retailers such as Spirit Halloween still find a way to engage consumers and attract their dollars.

Instacart makes long-term bets on retail media: We expect the company’s advertising business to grow 16.1% this year and to continue expanding as it diversifies its offerings.

The RealReal’s revenues rose 11%: The luxury secondhand marketplace is on much firmer ground than ThredUp, which is exiting Europe and exploring strategic alternatives for Remix.

Shopify is bullish as merchant acquisition accelerates: The company credited its strong Q2 performance to more enterprise clients, strength in Europe, and offline growth.

Prestige beauty outperformed mass brands in the first half of the year: While consumers are happy to pay more for premium products, the category is not immune to economic uncertainty.

European etailer Zalando’s Q2 earnings surge: The business broke a streak of flat quarters thanks to faster delivery times, a more relevant product assortment, and a focus on quality.

Secured cards haven’t always had robust rewards offerings. That’s starting to change as issuers try to capture viable credit invisibles

Chase argued it already goes above and beyond to refund fraud—and is willing to prove it in court

Over three-quarters (77%) of US parents plan to visit mass merchant retailers for their back-to-school shopping, per a May 2024 survey from Deloitte.

Young people are on Marketplace and Groups: The challenge for Meta is to direct those users to more monetizable areas of the app.

Consumers are turning to their TVs for holiday inspiration: 43% of connected TV (CTV) users say TV ads offer useful information on holiday shopping, and 72% would scan a QR code in a TV ad to make a purchase, according to a report from LG Ad Solutions.

Retailers and QSRs drive strong demand for brick-and-mortar spaces: The availability rate for retail nationally in Q2 was 4.7%—the lowest rate since CBRE began tracking the figure in 2005.

UK, eurozone consumers are reluctant to spend: But there are reasons to expect an improving landscape ahead.