Retailers aren’t waiting for Black Friday to kick off their holiday campaigns. Since October 1, linear TV holiday ad spend reached $475.1 million, up 13.2% YoY, according to iSpot. Weekly spending has also climbed steadily, indicating brands are frontloading their budgets to capture demand across all of Q4.
US Bank offered cardholders exclusive discounts during its “Bonus Days,” per press release. Rewards include double cash back, double rewards at certain retailers, 10% off gift card purchases, and select discounts on merchandise, all activated and available through US Bank’s shopping portals and app. Slowly shifting consumers’ attention into banking and payment apps can open major new revenue streams for issuers. However, as these initiatives are piloted, issuers can’t lose consumers’ trust with their data.
Sezzle partnered with David’s Bridal, per a press release. Shoppers will be able to select Sezzle’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) financing at checkout in-store, with ecommerce solutions rolling out in the following weeks. Strategic partnerships will be critical to helping an underdog BNPL competitor capture volume. While BNPL firms are embracing partnerships with mobile wallets and POS providers to fast-track their acceptance networks, striking individual partnerships in largely untapped industries like wedding wear can be critical to gaining market share—especially while the biggest players compete in more concentrated industries like travel.
31.2% of consumers have used a mobile wallet in-store as of September—nearly triple the rate three years earlier, per PYMNTS Intelligence report. Apple Pay’s dominance is likely to stick for now, but its lead will narrow as PayPal, Cash App, and Google Pay strategies draw in more users. As wallet competition ramps up, features that help users manage more of their financial—and even non-financial—lives will help providers create stickier wallets that attract more volume. That includes subscription management services, order tracking, and interactive airline and event tickets.
The Trump administration announced lower Medicare prices for 15 prescription drugs via the Medicare drug price negotiation program. The new prices will take effect starting January 1, 2027. The biggest hit will fall on pharma companies with drugs selected in both rounds of Medicare negotiations. Revenue impacts will vary depending on each product’s time on the market and how far the negotiated price falls below prior net sales after rebates and discounts. For the government, savings on these drugs will be significant, but broader program savings won’t materialize until far more than 25 drugs see price cuts.
OpenAI has refuted legal claims that ChatGPT is at fault for a teenager’s recent suicide. Scrutiny of AI tools being used for emotional and therapeutic support will only intensify. Both general-purpose platforms and specialized healthcare AI tools should proactively take action to impose age restrictions, automatically end sessions at the first sign of emotional distress, and clearly direct users to mental health resources when appropriate.
Novo Nordisk has applied for approval of a higher-dose version of its weight loss drug Wegovy using a special FDA review pathway for a faster decision. Novo’s move to introduce a higher-dose Wegovy shifts competitive expectations in the weight loss category in terms of speed and effectiveness, with over 20% weight loss becoming the new benchmark for success.
Two-thirds (65%) of pharma marketers are wary of AI use for creating regulatory filings, according to a new Klick Health and Momentum Events survey. While AI-assisted review is likely to become a standard part of regulatory workflows for both industry submissions and agency evaluations, human oversight will remain important.
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33% of US restaurant diners discover promotions via email/newsletters and 32% via social media, according to a September 2025 survey from YouGov.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of retail moves we're most thankful for. This month—because it's Thanksgiving Eve—host Suzy Davidkhanian, Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Emmy Liederman (aka The Committee) have put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching, based on strategies, launches, and collaborations we’re genuinely thankful for — the moves that made us smile, surprised us, or gave us hope for where retail is heading. In this episode, Committee members Suzy Davidkhanian and Emmy Liederman will defend their list against Senior Analyst Zak Stambor and Analyst Rachel Wolff, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.
Brands and retailers are struggling to keep up with changes to the shopper experience as consumers adopt genAI-powered “click-less journeys.”
SitusAMC—a vendor to banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, and Morgan Stanley—had a data breach whose scope and severity it’s still investigating. The compromised data was related to residential mortgages and may include Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information. Even the best-prepared financial services companies need to be ready to respond to data breaches. Vague assurances before or after a breach suggest bankers aren’t paying attention to necessary details. They must be explicit and transparent about safeguards and breach remediation.
Revolut sold shares that valued the company at $75 billion. The amount raised was unclear, but the buyers included several venture firms and asset management firms that commonly invest in private shares. Revolut’s global success has been remarkable. But it may just crowd the graveyard of foreign neobanks that have tested the US waters. N26 quit in 2022 after two years. When Bunq tried in 2023, it gave up after getting tied up in regulatory reviews. Monzo still operates in the US but gave up hope of getting a banking license. Incumbents have a lot to fear, but Revolut doesn’t have a slam dunk.
Canada published the draft of its Stablecoin Act as part of its Budget 2025 Implementation Act. It applies to stablecoins issued by entities that are not prudentially regulated. For Canadian banks and fintechs, the impending legislation signals that stablecoins are normalizing everywhere as a regulated alternative to cash as a store of value and for electronic payments. The use cases are particularly interesting for Canadian financial institutions and stablecoin issuers who will use stablecoins to move money across the US border.
Consumers increasingly have a negative perception of generative AI (genAI) in the creator economy while fewer see it positively, per a Billion Dollar Boy Study. AI is becoming a necessity across marketing strategies. Negative consumer attitudes toward AI in the creator economy suggest that it’s not whether advertisers and creators use AI, but how they use it that will determine if they see success or face backlash.
A slate of retailers boosted their outlooks following strong Q3 performances, a positive sign as the industry heads into the most important shopping period of the year. Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Kohl's all updated their FY sales guidance, pointing to ongoing consumer resilience despite growing pessimism about the state of the economy and personal finances. The outlook for holiday spending is notably stronger than it appeared earlier this year: We expect sales in November and December to rise 3.6% YoY, slower than last year’s 4.4% growth but a significant upgrade from our May forecast.