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.
Consumers aren’t just looking for deals—they’re looking for brands they can trust. Nearly 80% of consumers say they’d be more likely to try a new retailer if it appeared in their bank’s rewards program, according to a new report from EMARKETER and Chase Media Solutions.
In the first half of 2025, tariffs rattled retailers, consumer trust wavered in the face of muted DEI efforts, and fast-fashion platforms like Shein and Temu braced for policy whiplash. Meanwhile, private label products surged in popularity, and the retail world took a closer look at generative AI—not just for buzz, but for tangible impact across the shopper journey. Here are the top stories from H1 2025 and why they matter for the rest of the year.
The news: Brazil’s central bank rolled out a recurring payments feature to the Pix instant payment system, according to a report from Reuters. Our take: Pix’s use likely can keep growing steadily if it can target new volume opportunities.
The news: Apple’s iOS 26 update will let users store passports as Digital IDs in the Wallet app. Our take: iOS 26’s integration of digital US passports should draw more attention from users. While this update will not replace physical passports for international travel, it signals a major turning point for digital identity authentication on Apple’s platform given the scale of identity security a passport exudes.
The news: Klarna will offer unlimited 5G data, talk, and text for $40/month with coverage on AT&T’s network in the US, per a press release, with plans to expand this deal to the UK and Germany soon. Our take: Klarna’s ambitions to be a BNPL provider, a mobile phone service, a neobank, and most recently—according to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski—“a digital financial assistant,” per CNBC, signals the company’s voracious appetite to be everything at once.
The news: Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is raising prices on select products in response to cost pressures from the Trump administration’s tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports. Our take: Sam’s Club is on a roll. The retailer is generating record-high membership levels and plans to accelerate growth by opening about 15 new stores each year while remodeling existing locations. But how Sam’s Club handles tariff-driven price increases could determine whether its momentum continues—or stalls. The retailer faces a delicate balancing act in deciding when to absorb rising costs and when to pass them on. The stakes are high. A misstep could either erode profit margins or drive a decline in membership renewals—both of which are essential to its business model.
The news: Podcasts are becoming a popular way for brands to reach engaged audiences, with viewership mounting and new platforms throwing their hats in the ring. Podcast viewership is thriving, reaching over 140 million US listeners in 2025, according to our forecast. Listeners will surpass 150 million by 2027. Our take: Podcasts are shaping up to become a strong contender in media consumption, with nearly 70% of US adults ages 18 to 24 listening at least one per month, per our forecast. As platforms battle to be the leading home for podcasts, advertisers need to pay attention and tailor strategies.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how retailers are approaching their DEI initiatives under the current administration, the impact of staying quiet this Pride Month, and where the discussion around DEI goes next. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, Analyst Paola Flores-Marquez, and Dr. Marcus Collins—author and Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
The situation: White-collar employment at US public companies has dropped 3.5% over the past three years, per Live Data Technologies data cited by The Wall Street Journal. The trend comes as companies face mounting pressure to cut overhead amid economic uncertainty—prompting executives to increasingly turn to automation to boost efficiency. Our take: White-collar job cuts, combined with rising tariffs and broader macroeconomic uncertainty, are creating an increasingly challenging environment for retailers heading into the second half of 2025—and likely beyond.
68% of US LGBTQ+ adults say all or most companies participate in Pride Month to boost business, while just 16% believe it’s driven by genuine support, per a January survey from Pew Research Center.
The news: Sovos will automate Shopify’s sales tax returns process for merchants. Our take: Reclaiming time and reducing risk for merchants helps position Shopify as a stronger commerce platform and partner.