Albertsons Media Collective, Evan Hovorka, retail media, RMN, commerce media, omnichannel marketing, contextual advertising, data collaboration, clean rooms, LiveRamp Habu, The Trade Desk, Meta, Pinterest, DV360, performance marketing, campaign continuity, retail media standardization, creative innovation, measurement transparency, non-endemic brands, PayPal, digital out-of-home, CTV, shopper experience, brand storytelling, in-store media, performance optimization, KPI-driven campaigns, grocery retail, media maturity, Ad Week New York
As Primark celebrates its 10-year anniversary in the US, the European retail giant navigates the challenges of building brand awareness in a competitive American market while staying true to its core value proposition that made it a cultural institution in the UK and Ireland.
Almost half (49%) of consumers plan to shop for Halloween before October, according to a September National Retail Federation (NRF) report.
A recent Bank of America study highlights the diverging fortunes of lower-income versus middle- and higher-income consumers. Wealthier segments are benefiting from rising asset prices and wages, while inflation and muted income growth is putting less well-off segments in a precarious position. Consumers’ overall resilience masks differences between income segments, which is important to strategic planning and risk management as banks anticipate macro risks. Higher-income segments are traditionally lower risk, even when they carry high balances—but with a sharp reversal in economic conditions, that could quickly change.
Walmart Inc. announced a partnership with OpenAI to enable Walmart and Sam’s Club customers to make purchases within ChatGPT using the latter’s Instant Commerce feature. Even if agentic commerce’s adoption is gradual, early movers like Walmart will have the outsize advantage. Being discoverable in channels where users conduct product and pricing research could help retailers reinforce their value proposition and stay top-of-mind with prospective customers as this commerce scales up.
Visa launched the Trusted Agent Protocol, infrastructure meant to facilitate secure communication between AI agents and merchants to complete transactions, per a press release. Fully operationalized agentic commerce will take time to get off the ground. However, Visa’s endorsement of agentic commerce demands reluctant AI-adopters to quickly gear themselves for a new age of payment facilitation, or face irrelevance. Major payment rails especially need to convince merchants not to abandon their infrastructure to pursue things like blockchain-based transactions, as major retailers like Walmart and Amazon try to save money on fees. Offering seamless agentic commerce can entice these retailers to stay loyal.
JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup posted solid Q3 2025 earnings but reiterated warnings about Trump’s economic policies. So far, major issuers’ earnings do not telegraph major warning signs about the state of the US consumer, but CEOs like Jamie Dimon are still preparing for “a wide range of scenarios” in the face of stewing geopolitical unrest, possible sticky inflation, increased asset prices, and tariff and trade uncertainty. With worsening economic conditions possibly on the horizon, issuers should consider allocating marketing dollars to promote their popular card-linked installment plans. This could help issuers avoid losing spend as consumers trade down to the debit cards or switching to BNPL providers.
Ulta Beauty’s invite-only UB Marketplace is now open to shoppers on the retailer’s website and app. The offering will enable the retailer to offer shoppers a broader, more compelling array of products, particularly in emerging segments like fragrance, men's grooming, and K-beauty.
Albertsons’ Q3 results reflected shoppers’ growing focus on value, with customers trading down to private labels, smaller packages, and coupons. The company beat top- and bottom-line expectations and raised its full-year outlook, crediting its multi-pronged value strategy that includes expanded store brands, smarter loyalty rewards, and improved app tools. CEO Susan Morris emphasized efforts to enhance ecommerce efficiency and personalization, while Albertsons announced $750 million in additional share buybacks. As consumers tighten budgets, the retailer’s emphasis on affordability, convenience, and digital engagement positions it well for steady growth and stronger customer loyalty.
Klarna and Splitit are pursuing AI initiatives to keep their products top-of-mind for consumers, per press releases. Klarna partnered with Google Cloud to power AI-backed hyperpersonalized marketing campaigns. Splitit debuted its Agentic Commerce Partner Program, bringing card-linked buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans to agent-powered shopping. Replacing human created art with AI generated images is a risky play for marketing, but Splitit’s BNPL angle with agentic commerce may help it establish a foothold in the installment plan arena, especially when tied to shoppers’ preferred cards that they trust and earn rewards.
Once seen as a revenue channel, commerce media is fast becoming the connective tissue between brands, retailers, and consumers. The industry’s focus is expanding from monetization to meaning, a theme that resonated throughout Advertising Week New York.
More than a quarter (28%) of consumers plan to spend more on Halloween items like candy, décor, and costumes this year, up from 23% in 2024, per CivicScience. While some of that uptick reflects growing enthusiasm, higher prices—driven by tariffs and other factors, such as rising cocoa costs—are also likely a factor. Halloween shoppers are proving you can have your candy and save, too. Even when they’re eager to splurge on sweets and costumes, they’re still looking for a good deal. The retailers that win this season will be the ones that offer value-driven promotions, making it easy to indulge without overspending.
Amazon will hire 250,000 workers this holiday season, the same number it brought on each of the past two years. The retailer could account for more than half of all seasonal hires in the last three months of the year, as other companies pare back hiring plans in the face of considerable uncertainty. Amazon’s consistent hiring plans illustrate its (relative) optimism heading into what could be a difficult season.
TikTok Shop’s efforts to promote livestream shopping on its platform are beginning to deliver results for QVC, Pop Mart, Pacsun, Crocs, and others. Live shopping continues to gain momentum, but the format is likely to remain a small share of social commerce sales for the foreseeable future. The expense and effort required to put on livestreams means that, for now, they are most effective as tools to boost awareness and build community, rather than as an outright sales driver. Brands that start incorporating livestreaming in their commerce plans will be poised to benefit as the format matures.
A consortium of international banks are exploring whether to create a stablecoin-esque digital currency to facilitate payments on-chain across G7 countries, per a press release. Engineering a stablecoin-like digital currency that’s pegged to multiple currencies is a big task for the global banks logistically. These efforts also demonstrate that banks are taking the risk of payment disintermediation seriously—and, in the process, legitimizing stablecoin’s place in the payments ecosystem.
“Gaming is one of the most engaging channels, and what makes it particularly interesting is its ability to convert taps into transactions,” said Maya Kosovalic, vice president of marketing at L’Oréal-owned NYX Professional Makeup during Advertising Week New York.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how Gen Zers are trying to limit their social media use, which platforms they are moving to (and away from), and where they are engaging with social creators offline. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Analyst, Paola Florez-Marquez, and Senior Analyst, Minda Smiley. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
With more signals than ever, and the AI tools to make sense of the data, retail brands can find new ways to engage customers and drive business value. But they need firm strategies and vision to avoid getting lost in the numbers, and many are finding in-store impact with digital efforts. At Advertising Week New York (AWNY), marketing heads at top brands, including McDonald’s, Gap Inc., bp and Visa, discussed their approaches to driving business value by elevating value for customers.
With most official data still paused, private sources like ADP, Carlyle, and the NRF are shaping the economic picture ahead of the holidays—and it’s showing signs of strain. Retail sales rose 5.4% YoY in September but slipped month to month, while high earners kept spending as middle- and low-income households pulled back. Hiring has weakened, confidence remains muted, and Moody’s Analytics warns that nearly half of US states face recession risk. The evidence points to a slowing consumer sector and a holiday season defined by cautious spending and heightened competition.