Dollar General’s core customer is under considerable financial strain: Many shoppers can only afford basic essentials as inflation and economic uncertainty take their toll.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what malls are doing well (and why), the reasons folks have been skipping the mall, and why IKEA and Walmart bought one each. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Analysts Emmy Liederman and Rachel Wolff.

Consumers’ value focus is an expansion opportunity for Costco, BJ’s: The two plan to open dozens of stores to capitalize on demand for warehouse retailers.

Retail media networks (RMNs) are eyeing the open web as an opportunity for scaled growth, but successfully integrating retailer data off-platform won’t happen overnight.

Walmart bought a mall, Coca-Cola launched a soda, and Nike partnered with SKIMS in February, marking some of the month’s most interesting retail moves. Here are the eight most interesting retailers and brands from last month, as ranked on our “Behind the Numbers” podcast.

This earnings season revealed retailers with strong value propositions and efficient omnichannel operations are positioned to outperform, while those relying on middle-market discretionary spending face challenges.

Consumers are slowly making changes to how they pay at checkout. We look at the top seven payment methods and delve into what’s pushing forward and detracting from their growth.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of February. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Analyst Arielle Feger and Senior Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Vice President Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Analyst Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

The challenging retail environment is fuel for TJX: The off-price retailer sees greater opportunities to attract shoppers amid tariff threats and declining consumer confidence.

Walmart recently bought Monroeville Mall near Pittsburgh, signaling either a massive retail expansion plan or a shrewd real estate grab. Either way, the purchase strengthens Walmart's market foothold while adding rental income. This isn't a random acquisition but a calculated move.

In our exclusive survey with ESW, data from shoppers in 18 countries reveals new twists in the path to purchase, the rising momentum of marketplaces, and the resilience of age-old fundamentals.

Shoppable ads will be a focus for brands in 2025 as they test new formats offered by retail media networks and their media partners.

Walmart ended 2024 on a high note: But 2025 could tell a different story, with tariff uncertainty and economic volatility on the horizon.

Latin America’s digital revolution is marching full steam ahead, with consumers spending more than a third of their day online. As social commerce and retail media propel the region’s digital economy to new heights, the runway for growth remains long.​

About one-third of US small businesses charge customers to accept card payments. Bigger retailers doing the same could hurt issuers

Retail media’s rapid growth has spurred nonretail verticals to harness their first-party data to fuel their own commerce media networks. Retail media spending still dominates the commerce media landscape, but distinct challenger cohorts are finding their footing.

As retailers strive to improve in-store experiences and beef up loyalty programs, CVS is testing one stone for those two birds. As part of the recent revamp of its mobile app, CVS is letting loyalty program members use the retailer's app to access locked-up products in select stores.

This deck provides critical data to help retailers benchmark their own ecommerce sales against key retailers such as Amazon, Boots, Ocado, and Sainsbury's.