“Barbie” is the top-searched term on Amazon. Shopify has seen a 56% increase in doll sales. And despite a fall in Q2 Barbie doll sales, Mattel believes there will be significant growth for the property in the coming months and years. All of this has Greta Gerwig’s movie to thank.

Retail media has been buoyed by consumer packaged goods companies and grocery brands looking to get their products in front of shoppers closer to the point of purchase. But now, other categories are looking to join the party: nonendemic advertisers.

Digitally native brands look for a new D2C playbook: Brands are embracing wholesale, physical retail, acquisitions, and even selling on Amazon to regain momentum and achieve profitability.

TikTok’s rapid ascent in social commerce is drawing comparisons to Amazon’s flywheel strategy. The platform is taking multiple steps to achieve its goal of quadrupling its global ecommerce business to a potential $20 billion in annual merchandise sales through TikTok Shop. Here’s what’s working, what isn’t, and what has yet to be seen.

As US mcommerce sales approach nearly half of total US online sales, marketers need to adopt mobile-first strategies that improve both the shopping and checkout experience. For those looking to boost adoption for their mobile shopping apps, banner ads are the best deal, though more interactive ad formats could become popular as retailers gamify their apps.

Amazon’s return-to-office policy defies research, enrages employees: Lack of evidence-based decision-making won’t give Amazon the committed employees it needs to take on Big Tech rivals.

Amazon’s cost-cutting initiatives are beginning to pay off: The company’s North America business returned to profitability in Q2, buoyed by advertising and improvements in fulfillment.

OOH keeps gaining ad spending dollars, but its share of media budgets remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Amazon's ad policy shift: It will claim a larger share of advertising impressions from Fire TV's streaming services, which could strain developer relations.

Ecommerce sales in India, which is soon expected to become the most populous nation, are growing at one of the fastest rates in the world. But brick-and-mortar will still dominate the retail sector for the foreseeable future—we estimate that online sales will account for only 10.0% of total retail by 2027.

Retail media is outpacing non-retail media in growth in US search ad spend. As performance-driven advertisers push closer to the point of sale, companies like Amazon benefit. Here’s what’s behind retail media’s search success.

Faster is better when it comes to ecommerce delivery times: Amazon and Walmart leverage automation, limiting the distance items travel to quickly get online orders to shoppers’ doors.

The ecommerce boom in Canada means many product categories now sell a significant percentage online. This includes grocery, which we forecast for the first time this year.

Over one-third (37.7%) of US consumers’ time spent with TV is with streaming services, per Nielsen. Cable is not far behind, with a 30.6% share of consumers’ TV time.

On today's episode, we discuss what to make of Twitter changing its name to X, whether Walmart is crushing Amazon in the grocery wars, what a billboard in your living room would look like, what Gen Z has done to the purchase funnel, why Airbnb doesn't have a loyalty program, what the most popular museums around the world are, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.

US retail and ecommerce sales are getting back to their pre-pandemic growth trajectories, but consumer spending may be stunted amid ongoing economic uncertainty.

From improving in-store inclusivity to taking advantage of Bed Bath & Beyond’s closure, here are three examples of how back-to-school’s biggest players are delivering value through discounts and enhanced shopping experiences.

Double-digit inflation and stagnant economic growth have hit Latin America’s retail industry. Retail ecommerce sales growth in the region decelerated to its slowest rate on record last year, but we expect it to reaccelerate in several key markets. Here are our latest forecasts, along with new breakouts for Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

UK retail sales are performing better than expected, with consumers still spending despite high inflation—but ecommerce will lose further share this year as shoppers continue returning to stores and cut nonessential spending.

Walmart is reaping the benefits of Walmart+: And it has clear opportunities to unlock even greater growth.