Marketers must look past some familiar stereotypes of millennial life—about their digital usage, shopping behavior, finances and attitudes toward homeownership—to grasp the realities of how this cohort has evolved.

The video streaming industry has become more competitive than ever, and marketers are figuring out how to build media plans around the fragmented market.

Many US podcast listeners tune in frequently, and three in 10 daily listeners have bought products based on podcast ads, according to research from CivicScience.

The Chinese-owned short-form video app TikTok exploded onto the social media landscape worldwide in 2019, but roadblocks could keep it from rapidly expanding its user base in 2020.

Most consumers want a product delivered the second they order it, and Amazon is betting on that behavior to drive more sales by offering free one-day shipping on Prime-eligible products. An October 2019 CivicScience survey found that a plurality of US internet users would rather order a low-cost item (less than $5) via Amazon than buy it in-store.

The first primary contests for the Democratic presidential nomination are not happening until February 2020, but the heat is already on the biggest digital ad sellers to restrict what they allow political and issue-oriented advertisers to do.

Advertisers are making significant investments in connected TV as the TV landscape becomes more fragmented.

Since Instagram rolled out its Checkout feature earlier this year, brands have begun linking influencer content to shopping tools as a way to drive—and measure—direct sales. Should the platform hide likes from public view, which it began testing in the US this week, influencer marketers could be forced to look beyond vanity metrics to more advanced measurement tools, including social commerce and in-store purchase behavior.

This is the first installment in an ongoing series of monthly updates on the major social media platforms. The goal of each update is to provide a summary of key developments and what they mean for marketers.

US ecommerce grocery is the fastest growing product category online, and this year we estimate that US food and beverage ecommerce sales will grow 23% to $22.63 billion. Buy online, pick up in store (BOPUS) is one of the key drivers of this growth.

Podcasts still have a ways to go before catching up with traditional radio. As marketers try to reach the growing audience of digital audio listeners, podcasts stand out in a few key ways.

More than four in five internet users worldwide said a quick and easy checkout was the most valued aspect of the shopping experience, making it the highest ranked response to a January 2019 survey from iVend Retail.

Parents are avid users of digital technology. But their usage is not a simple continuation of what they were doing before becoming parents, especially as they must be gatekeepers for their kids’ digital usage.

2018 was a banner year for US holiday retail sales across both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce. But with more economic uncertainty ahead, the 2019 holiday season is not shaping up to be quite as strong.

Direct-to-consumer brands like Everlane and Bonobos, fast casual grain bowl chain Sweetgreen and beauty salon Drybar are just a few businesses that have adopted a cashless model. But consumers aren't necessarily ready to do away with cash.

Voice commerce holds promise. But at the moment, more consumers are turning to their Amazon Echo and Google Home devices to research products than add them to their cart.