On today's podcast episode, we discuss our unofficial list of the most unexpected retailer campaigns this year. This month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial themed list of the top eight retailers based on the most surprising marketing campaigns we've seen in the last six months. In this month's episode, Committee members Analysts Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow 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.
Back-to-school spending is steady in 2025, but shopper behavior is split. Parents are prioritizing tech and clothing—yet these are also the first to be cut when budgets tighten. Consumers are shopping earlier, seeking deals, and using AI to keep costs down. With shopping habits divided by generation and income, retailers must stay flexible, personalize offers, optimize for AI, and create seamless cross-channel experiences.
The scene: When Cooper Flagg—the odds-on favorite to be the NBA Rookie of the Year next season—steps onto the court for the first time, he’ll be wearing New Balance basketball shoes. Our take: New Balance’s push to sign Flagg, along with its other star-powered ambassadors, underscores its clear ambition to break into the top tier of global sportswear brands. While Nike and Adidas still lead by a wide margin, New Balance has its sights set on Puma, which reported $9.5 billion in sales last year—well ahead of New Balance’s $7.8 billion. To close the gap, New Balance needs to turn its growing visibility into demand, which is far from a sure thing. From there, it must maintain that momentum with consistent sales across both its performance and lifestyle lines. If Flagg lives up to the hype and the brand finds ways to ride that momentum, New Balance could take a meaningful step up the sneaker hier
The trend: A perfect macroeconomic storm is causing younger consumers to cut back on spending. Our take: These pressures aren’t going away anytime soon. The Trump administration’s tariffs are leading retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Macy’s to raise prices—putting even more strain on young shoppers already feeling stretched. At the same time, job anxieties are growing. The white collar workforce is shrinking, and more companies are citing AI as a reason for layoffs. Put it all together, and it’s likely that younger consumers will remain cautious with their spending for some time, especially on nonessentials. Retailers that want to win over this group will need to focus on offering value such as high-quality, private label products.
The news: Walmart is testing dark stores in Dallas and Bentonville, Arkansas, as part of its broader effort to speed up deliveries, per Bloomberg. Our take: Amazon’s latest pledge to offer one- or same-day delivery in 4,000 smaller cities and rural areas by year’s end is the latest salvo in its relentless quest to raise the bar on convenience. For Walmart, keeping pace isn’t optional—it’s essential. Fortunately, Walmart has the scale and infrastructure to compete. Fast delivery isn’t just about logistics; it’s a powerful driver of customer loyalty. When shoppers know they can get essentials like toothpaste at their doorstep within hours, they’re more likely to click the buy button rather than venture out to a store.
The news: Connected TV (CTV) commands higher attention metrics (AU) than online video (OLV) and display advertising thanks in part to its wide variety of interactive ad formats, per industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Our take: CTV's growing attention metrics reflects its shift toward becoming a performance marketing channel
The news: Skims, the shapewear brand founded by Kim Kardashian, is on an expansion tear as it nears $1 billion in annual sales, per Business of Fashion. The company plans to open 16 stores in the US this year, bringing its total domestic footprint to 22. Over the next nine months, Skims expects to establish itself in seven new markets—including stores in Mexico, London, and Dubai. Our take: While stores are hugely important to Skims’ growth, the company has several advantages over the rest of the D2C field. Unlike most other D2C companies, Skims doesn’t need to rely on its stores as billboards given its high-profile founder, who is also a fixture of its ad campaigns. Its partnership with Nike will give it access to an even larger audience and smooth its entry into the athleisure category—assuming production delays don’t get in the way. The launch will also considerably increase Skims’ retail presence without needing to invest in premium real estate.
The majority (80.9%) of worldwide retail media ad spend will take place in China and the US this year, according to a March 2025 EMARKETER forecast.
The news: Target is testing a factory-direct shipping model that would enable it to offer lower-cost products to customers, per Bloomberg. The model, which lets suppliers ship products directly to shoppers, closely resembles the strategy used by Temu and Shein to keep prices low. Our take: Unfortunately for Target, now is not the best time to increase its reliance on overseas suppliers. While the Temu-Shein model worked spectacularly well for several years, the conditions that fueled their growth—namely, the de minimis exemption and low tariffs—are no longer in place.
The news: Fiserv will launch its own stablecoin, FIUSD, by end of year to complement its existing banking and payments infrastructure. Our take: Reporting BNPL data to the credit bureaus would be a solid step toward combatting BNPL’s “phantom debt” criticism.
The news: Amazon plans to bring same- and next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and rural communities by year’s end. Our take: Amazon’s growing focus on rural delivery is squarely aimed at deepening Prime’s value, driving higher engagement, and unlocking long-term loyalty in a market that still holds plenty of untapped potential.
The news: Unilever acquired men’s personal care brand Dr. Squatch—which recently made headlines for offering soap containing actress Sydney Sweeney’s bathwater— for an undisclosed amount as it looks to establish a greater foothold in the fast-growing category. It’s a notable move for a company that is otherwise shedding brands to speed its turnaround, and a clear sign that Unilever counts men’s personal care as one of the “premium and high growth spaces” to prioritize. Our take: While men are hardly a monolithic entity, their optimism about the economy makes them more likely than women to increase their spending this year. At the same time, shifting consumption habits are turning male consumers into a more valuable commodity—as Saks and Unilever see only too clearly.
The news: FICO will release credit scores that incorporate buy now, pay later (BNPL) reporting this autumn, per a press release. Our take: Reporting BNPL data to the credit bureaus would be a solid step toward combatting BNPL’s “phantom debt” criticism.
The news: Google Pay added Klarna to its in-app BNPL roster of Affirm, Zip, and Afterpay. Our take: Klarna’s late adoption of a physical card like Affirm’s Affirm Card in the US set the BNPL provider back in terms of capturing a wider user base and payment volume. Integrations like Google Pay and Apple Pay can help overcome that gap—though Affirm also has partnerships with both Google Pay and Apple Pay.
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.