The pandemic was disastrous for many retailers; we estimate that total retail sales worldwide plunged 2.8% in 2020. Though, while many physical stores were shuttered, digital retail sales soared by over 25% in a single year.

eMarketer forecasts that retail media and connected TV (CTV) will be among the fastest-growing digital ad channels this year. Jed Dederick, senior vice president of global client and agency development at demand-side platform The Trade Desk, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss what the firm has learned over the course of the pandemic, what buyers want from CTV and retail media, and why resolving the identity crisis is so important.

The number of mobile messaging app users worldwide will rise by 6.1% in 2021, and new business features facilitate brand-consumer interactions.

On today's episode, we discuss what brand new forecasts the forecasting team cooked up in Q3, including global podcast listeners, 5G users, and connected car drivers. We then talk about heavy podcast listeners' receptiveness to ads, the rise of paywalls, and whether audio glasses can become a mass-market product. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analysts at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle and Peter Newman.

In this Meet the Analyst Webinar, Yory Wurmser, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, broke down our forecasts for retail mcommerce sales in the US. He also took stock of the leading factors driving that growth and what it means for retailers.

Social commerce is rising rapidly worldwide. But to what extent can the US market mirror that of China, the world leader in social commerce?

This report provides our latest forecasts for VR and AR users in the US and examines some market dynamics affecting the maturation of immersive technologies.

On today's episode, we discuss how the Olympics might affect Peacock user growth, streaming services feasting on sports rights deals, how not to annoy your customers, whether consumer spending can hold up, how young people are spending their summers (and how marketers can reach them), the events people want to see added to the Olympics, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, senior forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna.

In Latin America, mobile commerce saw increased time spent as government-mandated lockdowns forced consumers indoors: Double-digit gains will continue through the end of the forecast period in 2025.

In 2020, Facebook’s worldwide user base will grow 8.7%, nearly double the rate we had forecast before the global pandemic began.

The pandemic has fueled greater social media usage worldwide and prompted revisions to our earlier forecasts. We now expect the total number of social network users to rise 8.1% in 2020, to 3.23 billion—equivalent to 80.7% of all internet users.

eMarketer global director of public relations Douglas Clark compares our in-store sales and retail ecommerce forecasts and talks Macy’s, Walmart and The Home Depot.