In H1 2026, most ad spending in the auto and truck parts and accessories sector went to digital channels, while overall investment remained relatively steady month to month. Outlays remained concentrated among a handful of cities and a few advertisers.
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Become a ClientOn today’s podcast episode, we present our “Unofficial Monthly Retailer Awards” (UMRAs) for July, including awards for “Most Impactful Campaign,” “Best IRL Initiative,” and “Greatest Under-the-Radar Move.” Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Senior Analyst Blake Droesch, Senior Editor Karen Jacobs, Senior Director of Content Becky Schilling.
53.3% of US digital buyers purchased clothing online in the past 30 days, more than 20 percentage points ahead of the next-closest category, pet products (32.5%), according to a February survey from Bizrate Insights and EMARKETER.
US grocery volume is shrinking, and the drop-off has gotten steep enough that price increases can no longer cover for it. Unit sales fell nearly 2% YoY in each month from February through June 2026, according to a NielsenIQ analysis from Bain & Company. Prices are still climbing 2% to 3% annually, roughly in line with food-at-home inflation. But that pricing growth is no longer masking the volume story the way it did through most of 2025.
A friend's word still carries the most weight with holiday shoppers. But a close second is something brands rarely offer on their own: an honest account of a product's flaws. Some 41.9% of consumers said a trusted friend's or family member's recommendation made them feel confident in their last holiday purchase, according to a new survey of 1,001 US adults by EMARKETER and Reddit. Right behind that, 26.0% pointed to an honest discussion of a product's downsides alongside its strengths, ahead of expert reviews (18.7%) and influencer endorsements (12.6%). Shoppers are less interested in being sold to than in watching someone work through the tradeoffs.
Doctronic's Summer Health deal extends AI care to families seeking urgent virtual care, but clear guardrails on when clinician escalation is required will matter as much as convenience.
Opening its creator program to workers could build trust with shoppers while expanding brands' social reach.
Today, Marketbridge and Meltwater announced a partnership to sell B2B go-to-market strategies and intelligence for generative engine optimization (GEO). Some 32% of B2B buyers worldwide use generative AI chatbots to discover new vendors, nearly matching web search and peer recommendations at 33% each, according to a July 2025 Responsive survey reported in EMARKETER. Among US B2B buyers who use AI, 35% use it for discovery, 43% for consideration, and 31% for purchase decisions, per Google and National Research Group’s June-July 2025 survey.
Amazon drew 243.8 million US unique visitors across desktop and mobile in April 2026, close to the 342.5 million that Walmart, Temu, and eBay pulled in put together, according to Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform data.
When bridal boutiques start asking customers to sign weight-loss waivers and bra companies redesign products for changing body elasticity, it's clear that GLP-1 medications have moved far beyond a healthcare story. As adoption of GLP-1 medications reaches 12% to 15% of the US population, per KFF survey data, retailers across every category are discovering that changing consumer behavior requires more than just smaller portion sizes.