This Pride Month, many retailers are retreating from DEI commitments, facing backlash from consumers and political scrutiny. What began as pledges to support marginalized communities is now giving way to silence—leaving brands caught between public expectation and political pressure.
At Cannes Lions 2025, commerce media partnerships once again reigned supreme. Once the domain of digital shelf tactics and retail data, commerce media is now reshaping how brands show up across social platforms, connected TV (CTV), and in-store displays. This year’s festival offered a glimpse into a more integrated, AI-driven future—one where conversational ads, programmatic pipes, and real-world touchpoints blur the lines between media and purchase.
For the first time in its history, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity awarded medals in retail media—a sign that commerce-driven creativity has fully arrived on the global stage.
The trend: Summer retail sales are starting earlier and stretching longer than ever. Our take: Retailers aren’t just chasing summer sales—they’re building revenue engines that integrate ecommerce, loyalty programs, and retail media into a more durable flywheel. By making sales events exclusive to members or offering perks like early access to deals, they’re encouraging sign-ups, deepening engagement, and boosting long-term customer value. The longer promotional windows give retailers more time to drive discretionary spending, alleviate fulfillment bottlenecks, and monetize digital traffic through advertising. That’s especially critical this year, as economic uncertainty prompts more consumers to pull back on nonessential purchases.
The news: The European Commission said it would abandon efforts to pass a law against corporate greenwashing, citing a “simplification agenda” to remove red tape and make the EU more attractive for business. Our take: Many companies will take the easing of environmental oversight in the US and the EU as an excuse to water down their sustainability initiatives. That could lower costs in the short term—but at the risk of alienating the large swath of consumers who factor sustainability into their purchase decisions and are quick to identify greenwashing.
The situation: The escalating US-Iran conflict threatens to unleash fresh headwinds for the retail industry, which is already under pressure from the Trump administration’s shifting trade policies. Our take: Uncertainty has loomed over the industry all year, making it increasingly difficult for retailers to plan ahead with the Trump administration’s shifting trade policies. Case in point: The 90-day reciprocal tariff pause is set to expire on July 9, and there’s little clarity as to whether it will be extended or if the sweeping levies will take effect. The escalating US–Iran conflict only adds to the volatility, compounding the pressure on retailers. Together, these factors make it increasingly likely that the operating environment will remain murky for the remainder of the year.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for 2025. What would happen to the social media world if OpenAI bought Snap, what if Starbucks launched a Stablecoin, and why some companies might still want to buy linear networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The insight: Amazon is trying to make a bigger name for itself in the luxury sphere—a strategy that could help soften the blow from tariffs. Our take: That designer brands and retailers are eager to partner with Amazon despite its mixed track record in luxury shows the state of the industry, which is under serious pressure as economic uncertainty saps even affluent consumers’ desire to shop. Amazon’s extensive reach—three-quarters of US households are Prime users, per our forecast—and ability to drive spending even in times of volatility are making it an increasingly valuable partner for any brand looking to drive sales in an unsettled environment.
DoorDash is strengthening its media network through new ad products and the acquisition of tech company Symbiosys, aiming to help brands reach consumers both on and off its platform.
Retail media’s next phase will see billions of daily shopper signals paired with AI to fine-tune campaigns on the fly. Through consolidated buying, data collaboration, and transparent pricing, advertisers will have the ability to turn insights into measurement results.
The news: Gen Z is preparing an ambitious lineup of summer fun—including domestic and international travel, shopping and dining, and vacation upgrades—to a degree that outstrips millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers, per a study by Bread Financial. Our take: Gen Zers invest in work/life balance and are willing to spend to maximize their R&R experiences. Brands should meet this generation with luxury-first options and seamless experiences to maximize their return on investment for the younger cohort willing to spend to make a good time a great one.
The news: X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino said the social media platform is exploring offering co-brand credit and debit cards during the Cannes Lions advertising festival, per a report by the Financial Times. Our take: X doesn’t wield the necessary characteristics to draw in a meaningful co-brand credit and debit card user base. The company, the social media platform, and Musk himself have been rocked by scandals, causing advertisers and users to flee in droves. If users already have misgivings about the safety of the platform, they may think twice before hitching their finances to the app.
The news: Early Warning Services partnered with Fiserv to expand Paze acceptance through its merchant network. Our take: Paze now needs to convince users to reflexively flip between two wallets for ecommerce and in-person transactions. Converting primary loyalty to either Apple Wallet’s 18.1 million users or Google Wallet’s 12.4 million users will be a tough consumer behavior to build. But as deals with its new expanded merchant network solidify, Paze is still primed for steady growth.
The insight: Amazon is trying to figure out how it can benefit from the AI agentic boom without giving shopping agents unfettered access to its site, according to a report by The Information. Our take: While agentic commerce is far from the norm for the time being, retailers need to be prepared. That’s especially true for companies with retail media businesses, given the potential for AI agents to upend their ability to monetize their sites.
The news: Temu’s foothold in the US is shrinking as the company pulls back sharply on advertising. Weekly sales slumped more than 25% YoY between May 11 and June 8, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. Our take: Given the importance of the US market to Temu and its merchants, it’s possible that its current pause on US ad spending and shift to Europe is a temporary effort to regroup as it searches for a business model more resistant to tariffs and the end of de minimis. At the same time, the longer the pause goes on, the more ground it will cede to Shein and other competitors—and the harder it will be to regain market share.
The news: Cannes Lions 2025 marked a shift in retail media strategy, with platforms like Pinterest and Reddit forging deeper ties with retailers. CVS announced a clean room data partnership with Reddit to allow targeting based on shared first-party data, launching a Sensodyne and Advil campaign this fall. Pinterest partnered with Instacart to enable shopping from pins and connect ad exposure to sales via closed-loop attribution. Our take: Social platforms are becoming full-funnel retail media environments. By fusing community context with purchase signals, these integrations aim to blend discovery and commerce in real time—paving the way for more data-rich, measurable campaigns.
Home Depot made a bid for GMS, a building products and tool supplier for both consumers and contractors, per The Wall Street Journal. Our take: Home Depot sees a significant opportunity to consolidate the fragmented construction supply and tool market—and it's moving at a moment when the US housing shortfall could drive sustained demand for new construction and renovation.
Housing hits more walls: Latest data show new signs of market weakening as builders pull back.
The trend: Casual dining chains that lean into value are luring cost-conscious consumers, even as broader economic uncertainty tempers discretionary spending. Our take: Consumers haven’t stopped dining out, but they’ve become more selective. They’re increasingly looking for value experiences that offer more for their money. That shift is pressuring some parts of the industry. Quick-service chains like McDonald’s and fine dining brands like Darden’s Ruth’s Chris and The Capital Grille are feeling the squeeze. But it’s providing an opportunity for casual dining chains that offer affordable indulgences. Their combination of sit-down service and budget-friendly pricing is hitting the mark.
Two-thirds of US retail media buyers expect to spend more on video advertising over the next 12 months, according to March 2025 data from Koddi. Nearly as many (63%) will up their investments in social media.