The news: Walmart’s OnePay and Synchrony will issue a new co-brand Mastercard and a private-label card. Our take: The massive retailer’s connectivity between its customer base, supplier relationships, and financing apparatus positions OnePay to be a disruptor on the scene.

The news: Walmart rolled out Sparky, its generative AI (genAI) assistant, to all Walmart app users this week—a preliminary step that puts it closer to achieving its agentic ambitions. Our take: By broadening Sparky’s capabilities, Walmart is trying to position itself not only as a shopping destination, but also as a place where consumers can go when they need everyday life advice or information—such as how to fix a leaky faucet or help with event planning. Whether the retailer succeeds will depend on how well Sparky works, and whether it can convince shoppers to overcome their current skepticism of AI tools.

Retail and commerce media were huge topics at last year’s Cannes Lions festival, and this year, the festival is doubling down on the channel by introducing a new retail media sub-category in the Media Lions and Creative Commerce Lions awards. However, “the tone is definitely shifting” as the industry matures—and faces the threat of tariff-related impacts, according to our analyst, Sarah Marzano.

The trend: Walmart and Amazon are determined to take drone delivery mainstream. Our take: It’s easy to understand the sci-fi appeal of drone delivery—but whether it’s feasible remains a question that retailers are still struggling to answer.

The news: Monthly subscription dog toy company BarkBox is under fire for a leaked Slack message showing the company stepping back from its Pride marketing initiatives. The message claimed that promoting its Pride offerings alienates a large portion of BarkBox’s audience. Our take: The BarkBox backlash highlights that companies are at an inflection point where submitting to political pressures and pulling back on Pride is just as risky as staying the course—but those who remain committed are most likely to benefit in the long run.

The insight: The gap between Target and its mass merchant competitors Amazon and Walmart is widening. While Amazon and Walmart are consolidating their grip on consumer spending after investments in value and convenience, Target’s largely discretionary assortment and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) controversies are sharply curbing its appeal. Our take: Shoppers are prioritizing necessities over discretionary goods and favoring retailers that offer value and convenience.

Shifting policies erode consumer spending bit by bit: Looser bank fee rules, weakening appliance and insurance standards, and rising tariffs all combine to strain household budgets.

The outlook for retail media ad spending remains bright throughout most of the world, even as ad budgets are increasingly constrained in the face of economic storm clouds.

With origins in performance advertising and a focus on efficiency, retail media is likely to remain resilient, even amid an economic upheaval exacerbated by US tariffs. However, impacts won’t be evenly felt, leaving some players better positioned to withstand headwinds.

Tariffs threaten to reduce US digital ad spending growth this year. This series explains the effects tariffs will have on ad spending in search, social, CTV, and retail media—and which parts of each might fare best and worst.

Though beauty has remained a relatively resilient category amid rising prices, tariffs could put a damper on that as they take hold. 29% of US adults say they’ll likely cut back on beauty/personal care spending if tariffs raise prices, according to February 2025 data from CivicScience. That’s why retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Target are boosting their beauty offerings to drive sales and increase customer loyalty. Here’s how.

Strong Q1 ad results show resilience: But AI, tariffs, and antitrust pressures will reshape how and where marketers spend in 2025.

Memorial Day sales are live at Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot, and more: As consumers cut discretionary spending, retailers aim to boost sales through holiday-driven promotions.

Private label brands are no longer just the cheaper alternatives sitting on store shelves. They've evolved into strategic assets that build customer loyalty, boost retailer margins, and increasingly compete with national brands on quality and design, not just price.

Walmart’s Q1 ad revenues surged 50% year over year: Vizio’s integration is powering its leap into connected TV and retail media dominance.

Walmart will raise prices soon to offset “too high” tariffs: Even with the reduction in China duties, the cost is too much for the retailer and its suppliers to absorb.

Despite the current duopoly between Mercado Libre and Amazon in Mexico’s ecommerce market, roughly 60% of online sales remain up for grabs for local, regional, and global retailers.

Growth rates in retail media ad spending are slowing YoY. The channel’s contribution to total digital ad spending continues to rise, however, highlighting the increasing influence of retail media on holistic advertising strategies.

SNAP rollbacks could shrink grocery baskets and curb discretionary spend: With household spending already under strain, further benefit cuts risk triggering a broader pullback in consumer demand.

Although no single player rivals Mercado Libre’s hold on Latin America’s ecommerce market, nearly 70% of online sales are still fair game for the long tail of retailers.