Macy’s looks to private labels to boost its bottom line: As consumers pull back on discretionary spending, retailers are turning to private labels to differentiate their merchandise and improve margins.

Our first-ever marketing and retail media survey explores the latest trends unfolding in Latin America, how the regional landscape will evolve, and the broader implications for ad buyers’ and retailers’ go-to-market strategies.

Amazon is scaling back its private-label business: The company is cutting dozens of its brands in what appears to be a concession to the FTC.

The digitization of the store—retail’s next megatrend—will transform the shopper’s path to purchase and industry economics for retailers and brands.

“Shopping apps and marketplaces that specialize in ultralow-cost goods from China are gaining a foothold among US consumers—with broader implications for the future of ecommerce,” our analyst Sky Canaves wrote in our Chinese Ecommerce in the US report. Canaves expanded on what’s driving this retail opportunity for companies like Shein, Temu, and TikTok in the US and how it will impact the US market on a recent “Reimagining Retail” podcast episode.

On today's episode, we discuss whether Amazon can keep expenses down while also keeping customers happy, where the company will place its bets on grocery, and how its advertising arm has performed of late. "In Other News," we talk about why most retailers site searches aren't working and how many streaming viewers will watch ads to save a few bucks. Tune in to the discussion with our director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman and analyst Zak Stambor.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss the opportunity for China-based companies like Shein, Temu, and TikTok in the US, and how they can compete with Amazon. Then for "Red-Hot Retail," our analysts give us some spicy predictions about how fashion retail will change in the US as a direct result of Chinese manufacturers. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and researcher and Asia-Pacific lead Man-Chung Cheung.

“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.