Marketplaces have been driving US ecommerce growth. But established players face a shake-up from new entrants and advances in AI and agentic commerce.

Amazon used its annual seller conference, Amazon Accelerate, to unveil new tools and fulfillment capabilities that underscore its ambition to serve as the infrastructure of retail. The retailer is weaving together AI-driven tools, externalized logistics, and its vast seller network to extend its influence beyond its own marketplace. As Amazon extends its reach through MCF and Buy with Prime, it increasingly sees merchants and marketplaces not as rivals but as collaborators.

Meta is back in licensing talks with publishers like Axel Springer, Fox Corp., and News Corp., marking a reversal from its 2022 exit from news payments. The move comes as AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews cut publisher traffic, pushing outlets to secure compensation. Meanwhile, Reddit is pressing Google for richer terms, citing undervaluation of its human-authored content under existing $203 million contracts. For publishers, licensing deals provide revenue but risk cementing dependence on platforms that control discovery. For marketers, the shift highlights how AI-driven answers—rather than search results or feeds—are becoming the gateways to consumer attention and content discovery.

Beauty companies are rapidly diversifying beyond traditional sales channels to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and seize opportunities made possible by ecommerce, social platforms, and digital tools. This push is designed to forge closer, more direct connections with shoppers. Selling through multiple channels is no longer a choice in beauty. Consumers now shop across apps, websites, social media and stores, and brands that don’t meet them where they are will lose out. Still, distribution alone won’t set brands apart. Beauty companies that win will offer technology like AR try-ons, use their physical stores as hubs where people can gather for makeup classes and to sample products, and sell through external retailers while also beefing up their own direct channels.

Robotaxi deployments are moving from pilots to broader rollouts as companies try to cash in on advancements in autonomous driving. Lyft recently began robotaxi tests in Atlanta, and Amazon's Zoox launched in Las Vegas. For companies investing in robotaxis, the opportunity extends beyond passenger rides. These fleets could eventually serve as a backbone for cost-saving delivery services, expanding the commercial applications of the technology. With Uber and DoorDash testing delivery robots, robotaxis could be the next move in on-demand logistics, moving beyond transporting passengers to carrying packages, meals, and groceries.

Last week’s Amazon-Netflix partnership represents a convergence between commerce media and streaming TV that promises to blur the lines between brand-building and performance marketing while raising fundamental questions about which budgets, which teams, and which strategies will control advertising's future.

How can B2B buyers calibrate their ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how can media companies and solution providers assess whether their ad revenues are in line with industry trends?

Amazon’s push into fresh grocery delivery is more of an opportunity than a threat for Instacart, according to CEO Chris Roger. But while Instacart is right to see enterprise opportunities from chains worried about Amazon’s grocery expansion, it is also vulnerable to the retailer’s encroachment on its turf and similar efforts from Uber, DoorDash, and Walmart.

Latin America’s retail media ecosystem is expanding fast as new players, formats, and solutions draw in more ad dollars. But limited self-service offerings and the lack of standardized metrics hinder its full potential.

In-store retail media is high on advertisers’ wish lists but slow to scale. Grocery is the proving ground, but silos, cost, and infrastructure gaps are impeding growth. Our report unpacks the hurdles and opportunities ahead.

AI is rewriting the rules of digital media, advertising, and commerce at breakneck speed. Here’s what players in the digital realm can do to stay relevant.

Our exclusive data explores how social commerce and AI are reshaping the beauty path to purchase for US consumers.

Tariffs and inflation are reshaping retail, pushing shoppers toward value and convenience. Off-price chains gained ground, while housing-linked retailers sought new growth paths in a slowing market.

Our inaugural Pulse of the Consumer: Personal Care and Beauty Survey explores how US shoppers discover, research, and purchase products across channels.

Asia-Pacific has the largest retail and ecommerce sales in the world. While China continues to dominate global ecommerce share, India and Southeast Asia are increasingly driving growth. As consumer sentiment improves in China, the retail sales gap with the first-place US will narrow in the coming years.

Resale platform Depop launched its biggest US marketing campaign to date as it looks to expand its audience beyond its core Gen Z user base and capitalize on surging demand for secondhand goods. Growing global demand for resale presents challenges and opportunities—both for marketplaces that trade in secondhand goods, like Depop and eBay, as well as for traditional retailers.

NBCUniversal has sold out all advertising inventory for Super Bowl 60 months earlier than expected, marking record demand for football advertising. Digital sales tied to the game are up 20% YoY as brands invest across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo. Prices held at $7–8 million per 30-second spot, aligning with Fox’s 2024 benchmark. NBCU’s 2026 slate—which also includes the Winter Olympics, NBA All-Star, and FIFA World Cup—positions the company to capture significant share of sports ad budgets. With ROI on Super Bowl ads nearly doubling since 2020 and consumer enthusiasm rising, NBCU’s cross-platform dominance highlights live sports’ unmatched ad pull.

The news: AI startup Anthropic raised a staggering $13 billion, tripling its valuation to $183 billion, per CNBC. This momentum is driven by enterprise demand for Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, and a rapidly expanding customer base that now tops 300,000 businesses. The company’s annual revenues have also jumped fivefold in 2025 to $5 billion. Our take: Anthropic’s ascent is setting a new standard for AI startups—spurring rivals like Perplexity, Mistral, Intelligent Machines, and Safe Superintelligence to chase scale through aggressive fundraising, not quick exits. The message: In this market, go big or get left behind.

Voice assistants will add nearly 30 million US users between 2022 and 2029, fueled by genAI, demographic shifts, and new hardware. Key adoption trends, platform battles, and marketing opportunities are shaping the next era of voice technology.

Amazon is ending its Prime Invitee program, which allowed members to share benefits outside of their households. The program will officially end on October 1. Amazon is relying on a tried-and-true tactic to boost memberships. While the retailer has several irons in the fire, including investments in rural delivery and grocery that it expects will increase Prime’s stickiness, it will take time for those initiatives to bear fruit. But an immediate account-sharing crackdown pays off right away.