Retailers hold firm on live shopping despite sluggish US adoption: TikTok Shop made the format a cornerstone of its ecommerce strategy, while Macy’s and Poshmark see early progress.

As the dust settles on luxury’s big post-pandemic rebound, high-end brands will have to become savvier and more flexible to meet evolving consumer demands.

Douyin, TikTok's Chinese sibling, is about to become China’s largest social platform. It's also crashing the country’s ecommerce party. Already the fourth largest online shopping platform by sales, its market share is rapidly approaching JD.com's.

ByteDance is dead set on building up TikTok Shop in the US: Its aggressive moves to build a robust shopping service could lead to a $500 million loss this year.

After the self-inflicted stagnation of 2022, China’s retail and ecommerce sales growth is somewhat back on track. At the company level, Douyin has burst onto the scene as a major retailer, and Pinduoduo’s ascent continues.

In China, ecommerce channel ad spending represents over 38% of total digital ad spending, and ecommerce search spending accounts for 64.0% of total search. Could the US figures reach similar heights?

Digital ad spending will increase slightly faster this year than in 2022, but the bump will be minimal. Total media ad spending growth will roughly hold steady. But there are parts of the world where spending is surging.

The threat of a TikTok ban is enough to make waves: ByteDance, Meta, and Chinese competitor Kuaishou are all taking steps to anticipate a ban.

Instagram is shutting down its livestream shopping business: The move is the latest sign of US shoppers' disinterest in livestream commerce.

The social media landscape is shifting. Economic challenges, new competition, and governmental scrutiny are pushing the major global platforms in different directions.

Nearly 50% of social network users in Thailand will be TikTok users, giving the country the highest TikTok penetration in the world, according to our forecast. The US will rank second, with 45.3% of its social users on TikTok. We expect penetration in the US will be as high as 49.1% by the end of 2026.

Elon Musk’s reign over Twitter stirs chaos and user losses in Asia-Pacific. The region is propping up Facebook user growth that is flagging in most of the world. And TikTok is looming large among marketers as its popularity skyrockets.

Amid global economic gloom, Asia-Pacific remains a region of digital opportunities in 2023, highlighted by the increasing momentum of the metaverse in China, surging retail sales in India, and burgeoning livestream commerce in Indonesia.

A jarring deceleration in ad spending growth has shaken the advertising industry in many parts of the world. However, this softness is not universal, and it is likely to be short-lived.

US government intensifies stance against TikTok: A permanent ban from government devices could push the public sector to further remove TikTok from devices. But some fear the service is too big to fail.

Alibaba, Amazon, and Mercado Libre dominate retail ecommerce in different parts of the world. Here’s a look at how these marketplaces stack up, in seven charts and graphics.

Amazon is the latest company to copy TikTok: The retailer is adding a continuous, shoppable feed to its app to enhance product discovery and grow sales.

TikTok bets on social commerce to deliver significant revenues: The platform is reportedly planning to build its own network of fulfillment centers.

Facebook is still the king of social commerce in the US. More than 60% of US social media users ages 14 and older will make a purchase via the platform this year, and about 40% will do so via its sister app Instagram. TikTok will grow the fastest in this regard, drawing nearly one-quarter of social buyers in that age group.

TikTok’s rapid entry onto the social scene in Canada makes it a prime venue for marketers to increase investment. Brands of all stripes should test new ad formats, work with creators to engage audiences, and aim to trigger social commerce transactions from TikTok.