AI assistants rank last among trusted sources for shopping recommendations, named by just 23% of US shoppers, according to an April survey from Profitero.
Commerce media is entering a new phase, one defined less by rapid expansion and more by operational maturity, EMARKETER analysts and industry leaders say. Commerce media ad spending will reach $83.71 billion in the US this year, accounting for 20.5% of all digital ad spending, according to EMARKETER's June 2026 forecast. As the channel becomes a core part of marketers' media strategies, the conversation is shifting from whether to invest to how to make those investments deliver measurable business results. In a new EMARKETER guide titled "Commerce media outlook: What industry leaders see ahead," our analysts and industry leaders give their thoughts about the capabilities brands should prioritize today, the consumer behaviors that will shape tomorrow, and what it will take to succeed as commerce media becomes a permanent pillar of the media mix. Matt Barresi, president of digital commerce and capabilities at Kimberly-Clark told us why he values governance before scale and the implications of strong measurement.
The most common response to an out-of-stock is buying a similar product from a different brand in-store (36%), just ahead of staying with the same brand (33%), according to an April survey from Profitero.
Alphabet's stock took a hit after the company announced plans to increase capital spending by $15 billion in 2024, bringing total CapEx to the $195 billion to $205 billion range. Investors expressed frustration over a lack of clarity on how AI spending would translate to revenue.
New ad tools and markets are paying off, but unproven returns could limit ad spending.
High awareness hasn’t translated to user trial, making paid adoption a steep next step for Meta.
Archive’s AI can speed campaign planning and research, but marketers still need to check brand safety and audience fit.
Nearly a quarter of physicians (23%) say patients ask them for guidance on using wearable data to manage their health at least once a week, according to a March survey from the American Medical Association.
In today’s podcast episode, we discuss why the next few years will be so important and industry-defining for AI, why ChatGPT has driven stronger adoption than highly recognizable competitors like Meta AI and Copilot, and why Claude is best at converting users into paid subscribers. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Principal Analyst Nate Elliott and Analyst Grace Harmon. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.
Economic headwinds are reshaping Asia-Pacific ad spend as AI-powered platforms, retail media, and video continue to attract performance-focused budgets. Digital remains resilient as growth diverges across China, Australia, Japan, and Thailand.
One former ecommerce CEO achieved a 100% win rate on website optimization tests, seven successful experiments out of seven attempts, by building an AI agent system that generates, executes, and analyzes tests autonomously. The achievement signals a shift in how brands approach website personalization. "Cody is probably one of the most advanced experimenters, personalizers we've seen, and I think is like the all-time leader in win rate on tests," Drew Marconi, CEO and cofounder of Intelligems, said during the ecommerce event Grow NY this month. The typical win rate for ecommerce optimization tests hovers around 30%, making the perfect success rate particularly notable.
SMS marketing is permission-based brand communication sent by text message, spanning promotional alerts, restock and shipping notifications, loyalty updates, and conversational two-way messaging. It sits alongside email as a core owned channel.
Travel advertisers can move viewers toward action and tailor video assets more easily with Google's Demand Gen updates.
Native tags cut purchase friction and give brands clearer conversion data.
Younger buyers weigh car tech heavily, meaning distinctive experiences and clear positioning can set brands apart.
Higher streaming bills could fuel churn, making ad tiers, sponsorships, and product placements more valuable.
TikTok Shop has graduated from a social commerce experiment into the top player in a space that stumped every other US social network, and its future is now settled under domestic ownership.
Retail security is in the middle of a quiet but fundamental shift. For decades, cameras and alarms told retailers what had already gone wrong. Now, AI can push that same infrastructure forward by telling retailers what is going wrong right now, while there's still time for them to act.
Lenovo's North America president, Ryan McCurdy, says the AI supply constraints squeezing the industry aren't a warning sign but proof the demand curve is real. "AI adoption is increasing," McCurdy said. "The challenge is that it's outpacing the inputs into that...decade of AI." That mismatch is producing higher component costs and supply shortages across the industry, he said, but he frames it as an expected side effect of a sustained boom rather than a problem unique to Lenovo.
Healthcare providers need clearer explanations and consent based on how AI affects care decisions and ongoing treatment.