Retail media is one of the hottest advertising and retail topics of 2022. Why? For starters, it’s growing—and fast.

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.

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 top five digital grocers in the US will capture 67.2% of the country’s grocery ecommerce sales in 2022. That figure will rise slightly over the next two years, with leaders Walmart Inc. and Amazon growing their shares by about 1 percentage point each.

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.

Since May 2022, online grocery prices have risen faster than those of any other ecommerce category, per Adobe’s Digital Price Index. In July, the year-over-year price change for online grocery reached 13.4%, a record high for the year.

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

The digital shelf has grown more competitive for CPG brands amid the rise of grocery ecommerce and increasing retail media ad spend.

Instacart jumped from 10.2% of US digital grocery sales in 2019 to 21.5% in 2020, taking over share as people pivoted to online grocery deliveries. Walmart has had the highest digital grocery share since 2020, which put it in good shape this past earnings season when consumers cut back on superfluous spending and sought grocery savings.

Once again, Walmart takes the No. 1 spot in our US grocery ecommerce sales forecast, but Instacart and Amazon are fighting for the second spot.

In the US, digital retail media and the ecommerce channel are growing faster than any other major ad format except connected TV. This report analyzes our latest retail media forecast and examines the role market uncertainty could play in this space.

Amazon lets shoppers get products delivered from nearby stores: The new program offers another benefit to Prime members at the same time it weaves other retailers into the Amazon ecosystem.

Despite rapid grocery’s well-documented struggles, companies continue to invest in the space: Retailers see value in quick commerce even as Gorillas, Jokr, and others scale back their ambitions.

Food delivery platforms in China struggle to maintain their pandemic gains: As consumers venture out to restaurants and stores, platforms like MissFresh and Meituan are looking for new ways to keep customers on the platform.

Subscription models are driving customer loyalty in online sales of groceries and other essential goods, but fatigue among consumers threatens long-term growth.

In 2021, Amazon’s US average revenue per user (ARPU) for its retail media network was nearly 4 times that of Instacart and close to 9 times that of Walmart.

Despite market uncertainty, rapid delivery is becoming a fact of life: Tesco, Albertsons, and Publix are some of the retailers inking deals with delivery platforms to offer quick fulfillment, while quick commerce startup Zepto is raking in cash from investors.

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.

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.