Social commerce is booming in the UK, but the era of hyper-growth is coming to an end. Even so, social will continue gaining share of the digital wallet through 2029.

AI shopping assistants are boosting discovery and personalization, but trust issues and fulfillment challenges could limit their impact on channel migration.

Online fashion sales are stable and growing slowly, but they lag wider ecommerce. Consumers are concerned about sustainability, but price is a bigger priority.

Online fashion sales growth in France is stabilizing as global competitors capture market share and social platforms become more influential.

Retail media ad spending in France, Germany, and the UK continues to rise, outpacing all other ad formats. The space is developing rapidly despite fragmentation and a lack of standards.

A trade war between two of the world’s largest consumer markets would cause significant disruption for consumers, retailers, and brands in Europe.

Regulation will disrupt some digital players, while retail media and genAI adoption will create opportunities across advertising and commerce.

Zalando agrees to pay €1.2 billion for German etailer About You: The deal aims to help the retailer garner a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle market.

Retailers are racing to implement genAI-powered virtual assistants capable of creating human-like responses and handling complex queries. But there are challenges to overcome.

Hyper-personalization has long been an ambition for retailers—and the rise of generative AI means 2024 could be the year implementation accelerates across the industry.

Some 71% of US retail decision-makers have invested in data and AI-enabled content for personalization, according to an August 2023 survey by Coresight Research. As more brands adopt AI to scale tailored content, they’re also confronted with the challenge of protecting—and respecting—their audience’s privacy. Here are three ways—and real-world examples—retailers can implement AI without overstepping customer boundaries.

Cross-border sales are booming in Western Europe despite a slowdown in adoption. As China’s ecommerce giants eye European expansion, local retailers face a competitive threat—and a substantial opportunity.

The growth in retail media ad spending in these three countries will outpace all other formats for years to come. It’s thus gaining an important place at the ad budgeting table.

H&M will sell more third-party brands to head off competition from Shein: The fast-fashion company is the latest in a long line of retailers to turn to marketplace sales for growth.

Kohl’s, Michaels, and others launch third-party marketplaces to boost shopper appeal: At the same time, Wish, Zalando, and Amazon are focusing on improving customer satisfaction and reducing returns.

Nike’s shift to D2C gives other sportswear brands an opening: Adidas, Reebok, Allbirds, and more are jockeying to take Nike’s place on store shelves.

Even before the pandemic, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space was heating up in Western Europe. But the side effects of stay-at-home orders helped accelerate D2C’s popularity, and the landscape looks to be permanently altered.

Retail ecommerce sales in Western Europe rose by 26.3% in 2020, to €481.54 billion ($539.18 billion). The pandemic is fueling other shifts in the retail landscape, too, such as a greater focus on buying local.

Total retail sales in Germany will top $927 billion in 2019. Ecommerce will account for an estimated 8.8% of that, or $81.85 billion—but digital sales are rising much faster, at 7.8% this year.

Already firmly established in the US ecommerce market, Amazon is ramping up its international efforts. Prime is the primary driver behind its global growth, but the membership program looks very different from country to country.