In our first edition of the Global Digital Index, created in partnership with the RLC Global Forum, we explore retail and ecommerce in the Gulf States of the Middle East.

Move to develop AI-powered humanoid robots raises concerns about overextension as the company juggles multiple ambitious projects.

Retail media’s rapid growth has spurred nonretail verticals to harness their first-party data to fuel their own commerce media networks. Retail media spending still dominates the commerce media landscape, but distinct challenger cohorts are finding their footing.

Amazon expands Prime Video’s sports portfolio with NBA deal: The addition will boost its live sports offering and create new opportunities for advertisers to run cross-league campaigns.

With the humanoid robotics market projected to hit $38 billion by 2035, tech giants see a clear path to monetization—offering tangible use cases beyond the AI arms race.

List of potential TikTok buyers grows while ban looms: The platform is drawing interest from new parties who could keep the key marketing channel afloat for millions of US companies.

Retail media will set the pace for digital advertising growth in the coming years as more retailers invest in monetizing the channel and more advertising options become available to media buyers.

Retailers brace for headwinds: Companies ranging from Amazon to Whirlpool are preparing for multiple challenges that could pressure consumer spending and their bottom lines.

Amazon’s ad business expands: Ad sales were up 18% YoY to $17.28 billion, fueled by retail media and Prime Video ads.

Amazon sees storm clouds ahead: The retailer's weak guidance raises red flags for a broad swath of companies—suggesting that retail headwinds could be more widespread than expected.

With a nearly endless selection of books, low prices, and speedy delivery, Amazon has revolutionized bookselling, making it challenging for everyone else to keep up. But retailers like Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org haven’t given up the fight against the ecommerce giant. Here’s how they’re using their unique strengths to chip away at Amazon’s dominance.

Department stores face an uphill battle as discounters, online retailers take share: Our Industry KPIs show foot traffic declined during the holiday season, emphasizing the sector’s challenges.

Alphabet's cloud revenues disappoint, and capacity remains strained. Could hefty AI spending outpace its profits and potential cost savings?

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how TikTok Shop has changed the way people shop on social media, how the brands who sell on the platform will be impacted if TikTok goes away, and what they should be thinking about next. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves and Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Consumers won’t order toilet paper online unless it arrives quickly: That insight led Amazon to speed up shipments, a push that has made household essentials its fastest-growing category.

In January, the most interesting retailers capitalized on New Year’s trends like resolutions, lower-alcohol consumption, and an influx of holiday returns. Poshmark and Sephora introduced new partnerships, while Amazon and Temu increased their own retail media-related offerings. Here are the eight most significant retail developments of January 2024, ranked by their potential market impact.

Why Amazon is returning to X: Elon Musk’s growing political importance is attracting spenders back to the platform.

The price of its Mississippi data centers jumped 60% as infrastructure expenses rise for AI and cloud computing—costs that may trickle down to businesses and consumers.

This deck provides critical data to help retailers benchmark their own ecommerce sales against the wider market.

This deck provides critical data to help retailers benchmark their own ecommerce sales against key retailers such as Amazon, Boots, Ocado, and Sainsbury's.