Payments Ecosystem: POS hardware, POS software, and gateway providers are working to become one-stop shops for merchants. Offering simple, robust access to front- and back-end solutions across industries lets them better serve merchants demanding integrated solutions.

On today's episode, we discuss the reasons the metaverse will get held back and why it might not end up being the next version of the internet. Then for "In Other News," we talk about the main reason shoppers abandon their carts and why people buy things on Amazon. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Andrew Lipsman.

Amazon lifts the veil over its advertising business: The retailer’s 2021 ad revenues outpaced YouTube’s and are poised for continued growth.

Amazon is boosting its Prime membership fee: As subscriber growth slows and ecommerce costs rise, the retail behemoth banks on loyalty and a wide array of services to keep users from canceling.

On this episode of our new Behind the Numbers show, Reimagining Retail, our analyst Andrew Lipsman hosts Russ Dieringer, founder of Stratably, to discuss intrigue in the executive ranks at key retail media platforms Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart. They also rank their top four retail media trends for 2022.

In Southeast Asia, total media ad spending snapped back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 and will continue rising strongly this year. The growth in digital ad spending, though tamer in 2022, will again outpace that of the overall ad market.

Amazon’s expanded agreements with Universal Music Group chip away at long-standing tensions: Creators on Twitch have grown increasingly frustrated with harsh music rebroadcasting rules.

The use of voice assistants among US adults is growing as both consumers and companies find more use cases for conversational AI technologies.

Buyer's remorse intensified in 2021 as ecommerce adoption rose: High return rates are cutting into retailers’ margins and increasing inventory pressure.

Fueled by connected TV, programmatic video has expanded significantly. However, there remain concerns over difficulties with cross-platform measurement, ad fraud, and the lack of uniform standards.

Why Amazon keeps experimenting with physical stores: While offline sales represent a tiny fraction of its overall sales, Amazon has plenty to gain by venturing into the real world.

Retail media advertising had a banner year in 2021—one that will be hard to top. Although growth is expected to taper this year, there are several reasons why retailers looking to build their own media networks should take notice.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 featured a reimagined world of commerce and marketing: The products displayed in Las Vegas last week revealed new ways for marketers to blend the physical and virtual worlds.

By 2024, we expect US digital ad spend to be about $65 billion higher than what we expected before the pandemic. The biggest drivers behind these larger-than-expected increases are retail media networks and connected TV.

Meta could have created its own AR/VR OS but chose to use a modified version of Google’s Android: Short-term convenience could lead to long-term problems in the metaverse.

Best Buy hops on retail ad network bandwagon: The electronics company is the latest of many to leverage its valuable consumer purchase data to form its own media company.

Gain a better understanding of the operational and brand-building tactics commonly deployed on Amazon

Rounding up news from the last days of 2021: The news cycle didn’t stop over the holidays. These are some of the most notable stories from the last two weeks.

Brands eagerly jump on the retail media network bandwagon: As access to customer data becomes a priority for brands, retailers see an opportunity to diversify their revenue streams.

Smart home device adoption could finally get boosted by a new standard. Could Matter push adoption beyond the steady growth we’re seeing?