Target is spending $100 million to expand its next-day delivery capabilities: The retailer plans to have at least six new sortation centers to make delivery cheaper, faster, and more efficient.

Generous returns policies have encouraged shoppers to buy online, but an unsustainable wave of returned goods is forcing retailers to rethink their strategies.

Retail layoffs garner headlines but they’re not the full picture: The number of people working in retail continues to grow—we break it down.

Click-to-door time was as low as 4.4 days in July 2022 for non-Amazon digital retailers in the US, according to NielsenIQ. But Amazon has them beat by a lot, with an average click-to-door speed of 1.9 days.

Instacart will retain its status as grocery delivery king this year, capturing 73.0% of US digital grocery sales among third-party delivery services, per our forecast. However, competitors such as DoorDash and Uber will continue to eat away at its dominance.

The days of heady growth are over for rapid grocery startups: The once-frothy sector is now down to a handful of players and facing steep competition from Uber and Doordash.

Which retailers and brands will win (or lose) in 2023? Retailers that can offer value—either in terms of price or convenience—will continue to thrive, while those that cater to an increasingly squeezed middle class will struggle.

Invigorated travel has reestablished demand for travel credit card perks and benefits. But a recession could reverse gains—requiring premium card issuers to balance travel offerings with everyday utility. This second annual study reveals which of 10 leading premium travel credit cards are best positioned to attract and engage customers, based on their support of 49 emerging features.

What retailers need to know about the new wave of delivery apps and quick-commerce startups.

Another eventful year is on tap for retailers as inflation forces consumers to prioritize basics, supply chain snarls continue, and customer loyalty wanes. Retailers that cut costs or add new revenue streams—and provide frictionless customer experiences—will prevail.

Veterans Affairs wants to be ‘best place’ for laid-off tech workers: Tech layoffs increased in November, but other sectors have a window of opportunity to scoop them up.

The rumors of rapid grocery’s demise are exaggerated—but not by much: While startups struggle to make the model profitable, Uber Eats and DoorDash see an opportunity.

Instacart puts its IPO plans on ice: With Wall Street looking for safe bets and consumers adjusting their shopping habits, there’s little appetite for an Instacart IPO right now.

DoorDash’s latest ad moves are designed with CPGs in mind: The delivery platform launched several new tools to make it easier for brands to build, manage, and measure campaigns.

A proposed rule would make it easier to reclassify gig workers as employees: That could have severe repercussions for DoorDash, Amazon, Uber, and countless others that rely on the gig economy.

The DoorDash Rewards Mastercard can help the bank boost spending and build out its co-brand portfolio.

Drizly is the latest company to roll out an ad network: The Uber-owned alcohol delivery service’s ad products may enable advertisers to run finely targeted multimedia campaigns.

Instacart looks to extend its technological reach: At the same time, it also plans to focus most of its IPO on employees’ share to help it retain and attract talent.

Inflation will drive sales growth, but consumers are also spending more of their overall grocery dollars online.

On today's episode, we discuss what brand new forecasts the forecasting team cooked up in Q2, including influencer marketing spend by platform and tier, luxury ecommerce, and US prescription drug sales. "In Other News," we talk about Apple Pay's meteoric rise and what DoorDash's Q2 performance says about the future of the food delivery space. Tune in to the discussion with our senior forecasting analyst Iwona Drapala and director of forecasting Peter Newman.