Walmart+ doubled its fuel discount to 10 cents per gallon: Inflated gas prices provide Walmart with an opportunity to drive more people to its membership program.

Nearly 1 in 5 Black consumers in the US view brands as generally disingenuous for holding Black History Month promotions, recent research shows. A partnership with Black consumers should start with a deep understanding and appreciation of the elements that make them, as individuals and as a group, unique.

Podcast listening keeps making gains, and the medium is becoming a bigger part of marketers’ audio strategies.

Despite slowing growth, US marketplace ecommerce sales are expected to hit $357.26 billion in 2022, making up 34.6% of all online sales.

Amazon looks to blunt Shopify’s momentum: Buy with Prime extends the marketplace’s reach by letting shoppers use their Amazon Prime membership to receive fast shipping on other retailers’ websites.

Amazon and others are rapidly rolling out contactless checkout: While the pandemic sparked interest in contactless technology, the tight labor market could lead more retailers to adopt the tools.

Brands and retailers prioritize sustainability for Earth Day, but actions speak louder than words: Amazon, Apple, and Coca-Cola are some of the brands touting their green initiatives this April amid growing consumer concern over the environment.

In 2021, social audio app Clubhouse registered a total of 6.7 million downloads in the US. About 42% of those downloads occurred during Q1 2021, when the app received extraordinary media buzz. But as established platforms created copycat features, Clubhouse’s downloads decreased.

Amazon’s IMDb TV rebrands to Freevee as ad-supported video gains fans: The name change will highlight the service’s value and may help it better compete with Hulu.

In Latin America, ad buys on ecommerce channels consist of lower-funnel actions like sponsored product ads. Although brands are shifting spending to more upper-funnel formats, such as sponsored display and video, these performance-driven formats will remain the cornerstone of marketers’ retail media strategies in the near term.

Amazon flexes its market power with seller surcharges, anti-union stance: Despite rapid growth during the pandemic, the ecommerce giant is passing fuel and inflation costs onto its sellers while resisting calls to improve working conditions.

Retail media advertising sits at the intersection of two major digital disruptions unfolding in Latin America: the meteoric rise of ecommerce and reallocation of ad dollars toward digital formats. While still nascent, retail media will play a larger part of brands’ marketing strategies in 2022.

As of January 2022, 35% of people ages 12 and over in the US own a smart speaker, up just 2 percentage points from the year before. That’s following an increase of 6 percentage points year over year in 2021.

Amazon faces investigation into use of third-party seller data: As the SEC looks into Amazon business practices, Congress asks the DOJ to investigate the company for obstruction, which could heighten regulatory pressure on Big Tech.

Dimon warns of competition diminishing banks’ role in financial services: The JPMorgan Chase CEO’s annual letter to shareholders identified rising competitors and defended tech spending as necessary for maintaining the bank’s standing.

In 2022, 40.7% of China’s digital ad spending will go toward the ecommerce channel, for ads offered by retailers like Alibaba and JD.com. This eclipses the share in the US, where 14.5% of digital ad spending will flow to ecommerce channel ads sold by the likes of Amazon, Walmart, and eBay.

In part two, our analysts Paul Verna and Andrew Lipsman discuss how well-positioned Silicon Valley giants Meta and Google and their Seattle counterparts Amazon and Microsoft are for top-gaining segments of digital advertising—gaming, digital audio, and in-store digital media. They also explore other companies positioning themselves for the post-cookie era of digital ads, and ultimately answer the question: Is Seattle—not Silicon Valley—the future of digital advertising?

The super app model is moving to the West and will upend how consumers interact with financial services. Banks must start preparing now to make the changing tide work to their advantage.

Amazon workers vote to unionize as labor activism remains potent: A historic victory in New York could forever change Amazon’s relationship with its workers.