In this report, we look at the most important updates among the leading social platforms in Q2 and how those changes will impact marketers.

Even as total worldwide retail sales declined by 3.0% in 2020, retail ecommerce growth boomed to 27.6%. Ecommerce growth will decelerate substantially in 2021 to 14.3% as brick-and-mortar sales recover.

Every national market in the world will finish this year with more ad spending than in 2020. In most categories, worldwide growth records will be shattered. But 2021 was a very unusual year, following a very unusual 2020.

New data collection strategies emerge from Apple’s privacy update: Advertisers and publishers are turning to ecommerce, direct mail, and other means to enhance their first-party information, our recent report finds.

This quarter, we are adding TikTok to our social media update series, which analyzes key developments for marketers from the major social platforms.

This report analyzes H1 2021 retail ecommerce sales figures for seven companies in Latin America, including Mercado Libre, Magazine Luiza, and Falabella. It also explores key trends that are helping to fuel ecommerce growth at each of these companies.

Whitney Birdsall, senior forecasting analyst, worked on our latest forecast for US retail and ecommerce sales in Q2. She tells us how recent market turmoil, supply chain issues, and economic uncertainty could impact our forecast, which measures the total value of all the merchandise sold on ecommerce platforms

How should businesses view these global trends and events? How are behaviors and spending changing? In this report, Insider Intelligence analysts weigh in on the questions they’re being asked by both clients and the media about the shifting landscape in key areas like digital advertising, retail and ecommerce, and financial services.

Through Labor Day, the carrier will provide savings at Shell gas stations, a complimentary one-year membership to AAA, free Wi-Fi on some flights, and better international internet rates in a select number of European countries.

We estimate that PayPal will end 2022 with 209.3 million global core users. Visa and Mastercard can draw from their myriad banking and processing relationships to connect BNPL installments to their respective 52.9 million global merchants. Apple Pay Later—set to launch in September—will likely be the biggest threat to the BNPL ecosystem.

Retailers will need to move beyond the current 2D focus of ecommerce to prepare for a more social and immersive future of shopping. Investing in talent for applications such as AR will be most important for brands in beauty, fashion, and home furnishings.

Global crypto transaction value growth is following a similar path. It will hit $16.16 billion in 2023—up more than sevenfold in three years—making it a tiny but swiftly growing contributor to global payment flows, which totaled $255 trillion in 2021. Virtually all global crypto transaction value is captured by retail card and noncard payments. What’s Driving Crypto Payments Growth?

Stablecoin supply worldwide was valued at $64.19 billion at the end of March 2021, per The Block, and it grew to $182.14 billion by the end of March 2022. But by the end of May, it had dropped to $155.81 billion. Recent Market Volatility Is Affecting Both Algorithmic and Traditional Stablecoins.

Moving forward, Prudential Financial is working to define where it stands in the eyes of customers—not just with industry competitors, but as a leading global financial services provider. But even with C-suite guidance, VOC strategy relies on the effectiveness of data collection.

Ecommerce transactions on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, tripled to $77.48 billion (RMB 500 billion) in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2020, per a report by Chinese news outlet LatePost. (More recent figures are not available.).