If Amazon’s October Prime Big Deal Days event was any indication of the upcoming holiday season, consumers will keep spending on beauty products for themselves and others.
Major casual dining chains are bracing for weaker Q4 sales as the government shutdown and broader economic headwinds weigh on consumer spending. Brinker International maintained its outlook despite Chili’s gains, while Cheesecake Factory reported slowing momentum and Chipotle cut its sales forecast for the third straight quarter. With real income growth stagnating and menu prices continuing to rise, many consumers are cutting back on dining out. To stay competitive, restaurants need to focus on value-driven promotions and loyalty programs designed to attract price-sensitive diners and encourage repeat visits.
Heading into peak season, D2C ecommerce professionals are as concerned about technology limitations as they are about tariffs (37%), according to a July survey from Passport and Drive Research.
Retailers and brands face a unique challenge this year as Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) approaches: Understanding how AI has changed the game for both consumers and sellers.
Wayfair extended its 2025 winning streak with Q3 earnings that far outpaced expectations, posting 70 cents per share and $3.12 billion in revenues, driven by rising orders and strong US demand. The retailer’s strategic pillars—Wayfair Rewards, Wayfair Verified, and new physical stores—continue to enhance customer loyalty and omnichannel strength. AI innovation, including its Muse engine and Discover tab, is boosting engagement and conversion. Despite housing headwinds and tariff pressures, Wayfair’s results underscore resilience, though sustaining momentum amid tightening consumer budgets remains a challenge.
Amazon is cutting 14,000 roles from its corporate workforce as it reshapes its organization to prepare for an agentic AI future. The layoffs are unusual for a company still posting strong growth, but Amazon framed them as part of a broader move to gain efficiencies from genAI. While most retailers have thus far refrained from citing AI as a reason for mass layoffs, that could change as tariff pressures and other headwinds force companies to cut costs—and headcount—where possible.
PayPal’s revenues grew 7% YoY to $8.4 billion in Q3 2025, driven by the success of branded experiences, PSP, and Venmo, per its earnings report. While PayPal notched a successful quarter, storm clouds are on the horizon. Basket sizes are shrinking and average order value is sinking, per PayPal CFO Jamie Miller. Leaning into payment flexibility and desirable rewards like cash back can help payment providers earn loyalty from squeezed middle- class consumers.
PayPal deepened its commitment to agentic AI with two new partnerships, per press releases. PayPal’s been bullish on agentic technologies. To date, it’s struck partnerships with Perplexity, Google, and now ChatGPT for AI-led conversational commerce. A tie-up with AI-powered Rokt brought post-transaction ads to Venmo, PayPal, and Honey users. Fintechs, issuers, and payment rails cannot ignore the coming tide of agent-based payment methods. Striking early partnerships with major players allows all platforms to reorient for the future of ecommerce transactions.
Live shopping platform Whatnot raised $225 million in its most recent funding round, valuing the company at $11.5 billion, double its worth at the beginning of 2025. Platforms like Whatnot are introducing live shopping to a new generation of consumers who are more dialed into social video than channels like HSN and QVC. The company has generated $6 billion in gross merchandise value this year, more than twice last year’s amount. However, livestream commerce remains a tiny drop in the vast ocean of ecommerce, making it more useful as an engagement and community-building opportunity than as a sales driver.
Recent announcements from Amazon signal its intention to lean on international markets to power growth. The retailer expects to quadruple ecommerce exports from India by 2030 to $80 billion. It is also investing $2.8 billion in Belgium and the Netherlands, and recently launched ultra-fast delivery in the UAE. To achieve international success, Amazon must continue strengthening its local logistics network. Expanding fulfillment capabilities allows it to offer its trademark delivery speed, enabling it to appeal to more shoppers. That makes it a more valuable channel for external vendors, helping to increase product selection (and revenues from third-party seller services) and keep the company’s flywheel turning.
Retailers are accelerating “Holiday Cyber Creep,” launching deep discounts earlier than ever as competition for consumers’ limited holiday budgets intensifies. Ulta, Lowe’s, Best Buy, and Walmart have all unveiled October and early November promotions, extending the traditional Cyber Five into a months-long event. While early deals aim to capture cautious Gen Z and value-conscious shoppers, a new AlixPartners report warns that constant promotions are dulling their impact. That's forcing retailers to shift focus from nonstop discounts to standout experiences and personalized service to sustain engagement through the holiday season.
Klarna debuted a two-tiered membership program, per a press release. larna’s second stab at a rewards membership program may prove more fruitful. This places the onus on competitors like Affirm, Sezzle, Cash App Afterpay, and PayPal to respond in kind. Offering better rewards is one way to stand out: PayPal’s Pay Later offered an untouchable 5% back during a holiday promotional period. While platforms could mimic Klarna’s membership program, BNPL providers could also expand promotional 0% interest windows, like Affirm’s latest offer, to sway young consumers who view installment loans as safer than revolving credit.
Grocery shopping is more digital than ever, but the physical store remains the cornerstone of the experience, amplified by digital tools and touchpoints. Shoppers blend in-store visits with online discovery, opening new opportunities for brands and retailers to connect with them at every stage. Here’s what marketers need to know about today’s grocery shoppers and what it means for retail media strategies.
Thanksgiving dinner costs are set to surge this year as turkey prices climb sharply amid renewed bird flu outbreaks that cut US turkey production nearly 10% YoY, according to the USDA. With demand peaking and supply at a four-decade low, wholesale turkey prices have soared, but some retailers see an opening to highlight value. Aldi, Walmart, and Dollar General are promoting low-cost holiday meal bundles to appeal to price-conscious shoppers. Still, rising grocery costs and broader economic pressures could dampen consumer spending this holiday season.
Cigna will eliminate prescription drug rebates for many of its commercial health plans and instead offer discounts directly to consumers beginning in 2027. Cigna’s decision marks a big shift in the way prescription drugs are priced and paid for, and could pressure CVS and UnitedHealth to follow. Patients are beginning to see some lower drug prices online and at the pharmacy counter, but they’re also facing more complexity and responsibility. Healthcare and pharma marketers need to engage these more empowered and potentially overwhelmed consumers with clear, actionable communications.
Federal prosecutors have charged NBA figures Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones with gambling and fraud conspiracies tied to organized crime, marking the sport’s biggest integrity crisis in years. The case arrives as legal sports betting reaches record scale, with 38 states now allowing wagers and revenues projected to hit $20.6 billion by 2027. Yet as gambling becomes embedded in fan engagement and media strategy, public sentiment is turning—40% of US adults now view legalized betting as bad for sports. For leagues, advertisers, and sportsbooks alike, the scandal is a stress test for an industry built on trust.
Lululemon announced a deal with the NFL to sell fan apparel for all 32 teams. The collection will include men’s and women’s clothing, along with accessories. Lululemon, like Abercrombie & Fitch and Best Buy before it, sees the NFL partnership as an opportunity to appeal to the league’s massive and engaged fanbase. In lululemon’s case, it has a strong chance of winning over the growing numbers of women who, thanks to Taylor Swift, are tuning in more often to games, and looking for stylish ways to rep their favorite teams.
Rates of adoption and familiarity with AI are surging—53% of US consumers either regularly use genAI or have experimented with it, per Deloitte’s 2025 Connected Consumer Survey, up from 38% in 2024 and 16% in 2023. Sixty-nine percent of US genAI users engage with AI through social apps, everyday software, and online services. Companies should look beyond customer service chatbots and integrate AI-powered search, product discovery, and personalization tools into brand websites. Boost intelligent tools such as AI personal shopping assistants to increase engagement and time spent, removing the need to navigate elsewhere to find answers or recommendations.
ChatGPT is less effective at converting shoppers than nearly all traditional channels except paid social, according to a working paper by researchers from the University of Hamburg and the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. That finding is consistent with EMARKETER’s latest report on AI search, which shows that traditional search engines continue to dominate discovery. Retailers should certainly be thinking about how to optimize their websites and listings for discovery on generative AI engines—but those efforts shouldn’t come at the expense of SEO, since the vast majority of shoppers continue to surface products via Google and other traditional channels.
Zelle will use stablecoins to break into cross-border payments, per a press release. Countering this integration will be challenging for all players, unless they can also find a pay-by-bank integration as convenient as Zelle with better incentives. Incumbent remittance platforms like Western Union and Moneygram may be able to harness entrenched customer behaviors to their advantage. Many US remittance users feel safer dropping off cash for overseas loved ones at storefront locations versus using an app. Fintechs may be also able to peel off some competition by leaning on the underbanked within the remittance community, who may not have banking accounts with an institution in Zelle’s consortium.