Amazon’s grip on ecommerce stays firm—for now—as Prime-led growth holds steady, yet AI agents could eventually challenge its ecommerce and retail media supremacy.

While online pharmacy is booming, access to an in-person pharmacist remains important. Expect chains to focus on smaller, health-focused stores and expand their digital services in 2026.

Retailers faced a challenging year as economic factors, new technologies, and changing consumer behaviors reshaped the landscape. Here are our top five stories from this past year and what they meant to a tumultuous industry.

In 2025, retail media found itself at a turning point as networks, advertisers, and platforms pushed into new territory and redefined what the channel could be. Here are five of our top stories from the year, from the challenges of tracking CTV campaigns to the evolving competitive landscape shaped by Amazon, Walmart, and a wave of innovative smaller networks.

Amazon is recalibrating its relationship with the agencies and adtech firms that helped build its retail-media dominance. While Amazon insists agencies remain central, many intermediaries say rising data costs and tool duplication echo earlier platform playbooks from Google and Meta—centralize strengths, limit external dependencies, and scale in-house automation. The result is a more controlled, AI-driven ecosystem that may reduce tooling diversity while boosting Amazon’s own ad stack. For marketers, the challenge will be balancing Amazon’s convenience and scale with the flexibility, transparency, and customization offered by independent partners.

While we were right that retailers would offer richer in-store experiences to attract shoppers, we were wrong about how Amazon, discount retailers, and dollar stores would evolve their physical and digital strategies. From AI tools that stayed online to unfulfilled marketplace ambitions, here’s how we did with our 2025 predictions.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our “very specific but highly unlikely” predictions for 2026: what Amazon will do with the price of Prime; between OpenAI and Apple, who’s most likely to buy whom; and why a potential WBD acquisition by Netflix might not go through in 2026—if at all. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Nate Elliott, and Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Amazon has partnered with the fintech Slope to offer AI-underwritten financing to Amazon sellers and reduce friction in the lending process. Eligible US Amazon merchants will be able to apply for and access loans through their seller accounts. Amazon could position itself as the go-to platform for higher-volume sellers as well as a more sophisticated alternative to financial institutions—and compete aggressively based on accuracy of underwriting and the time between applications and loan funding. It is the wise move for banks to move into embedded lending for ecommerce rather than try to sell loans to these merchants directly.

Digital ad spending remains resilient although economic signals are wobbly. AI-driven optimization, richer first-party data, and surging digital video will keep growth strong even as search shifts and traditional budgets fade.

As consumers grow more comfortable with using AI, retail industry leaders see 2026 as a pivotal year in shaping how the emerging technology disrupts the way people shop.

Generational splits shape how consumers find, research, and trust banks. Younger adults move through digital channels with ease, while older adults rely on branches, human support, and established institutions.

In 2026, personal lines insurers will face a market reshaped by changing demand, risk, and consumer expectations. Growth hinges on smarter digital engagement, genAI transformation, richer data, real-time risk insights, and emerging coverage areas.

Social networks will claim close to 32% of US digital ad spending in 2026, as powerful AI systems and improved video monetization help push social past a plateau in time spent among US consumers.

Amazon's recent business moves, examining corporate layoffs, AI-powered shopping features, and new smart glasses technology for delivery workers paint an interesting view of its immediate future and what it could mean for consumers.

Q3 consumer spending looked steady, but the gains were fueled mainly by higher-income shoppers, revealing a split landscape that bolstered value and essentials retailers while squeezing brands dependent on discretionary and big-ticket projects.

Amazon’s move to fold perishable groceries into same-day delivery is paying off quickly, with nine of the top 10 best-selling items in eligible markets now perishables—a sign that shoppers trust the faster service for everyday needs. The shift supports CEO Andy Jassy’s bullish stance on grocery as Amazon expands same-day perishables to more than 2,300 locations and builds on more than $100 billion in online grocery sales over the past year. With Walmart and Kroger also ramping up rapid fulfillment, the stakes are rising in a grocery ecommerce market surging in both order frequency and value.

AI enters 2026 facing energy bottlenecks, regulatory battles, and a gap between promise and performance. From market corrections to voice assistant limits and physical AI’s unreadiness, hype is meeting reality.

Despite multiple pivots and significant investments, Amazon continues to struggle in a sector that represents one of the largest consumer spending categories. "Amazon dominates ecommerce with nearly 40% market share, but grocery remains the category it just can't crack," said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.”

Canada’s digital economy is entering a faster, more competitive phase in 2026 as ad spending accelerates, short video surges, ecommerce climbs, and AI-driven search reshapes how audiences discover content.