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.

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

Ecommerce sales on short-video and livestreaming app Kuaishou rose to $100.73 billion (RMB 650 billion) in GMV in 2021 from $59.04 billion (RMB 381 billion) in 2020, per a report from Caixin Global. It added that Kuaishou expects to reach $139.47 billion (RMB 900 billion) in GMV this year. While Douyin may look like a road map, commerce on TikTok in the US will develop independently.

In a survey of marketing decision-makers from 163 leading organizations, more than 80% say they plan to increase their retail media spending next year, showing the popularity and continued growth of the channel.

An infographic guide for marketers looking to understand today’s retail market

After missing out on a big rebound in 2021, Southeast Asia’s total retail and ecommerce sales are both set to boom this year. Indonesia—set for a standout year—will shape the region’s metrics and account for nearly 65% of Southeast Asia’s ecommerce sales.

Payments Ecosystem: This year will reveal how providers must adapt to lasting pandemic-driven digitization across payments channels, ranging from in-store retail to B2B ecommerce.

The pandemic-driven two-year ecommerce boom of 2020 is set to decelerate considerably this year. Brick-and-mortar retail, meanwhile, returned with a vengeance last year and is in better shape than expected going into 2022.

Appriss Retail. ARtillery Intelligence. Bizrate Insights. Deloitte. Dynata. Foresight Factory. Google. Harvard Business Review. Ipsos. National Retail Federation (NRF). Optic Sky Productions. Seek XR. Shopify. Smartly.io. Snap Inc. Thrive Analytics. Wool & Water. YouGov.

The SEC will continue to probe whether Amazon failed to disclose its practices or misled investors, which could lead to fines or tighter regulation over retail practices and possibly search algorithms.

Nor is it the only union looking to represent Amazon workers: Should the vote in Bessemer pass, workers would join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, while the new president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has made organizing Amazon employees a top priority.