In November, retailers made strategic moves across grocery, apparel, and beauty. Amazon turned Black Friday into a weeklong event and launched its Shein competitor, Haul. Meanwhile, e.l.f. Beauty strengthened its value proposition through a new Dollar General partnership, while Kroger announced plans for specialized Asian experience stores in North Texas. Here are our eight unofficial picks for the most interesting retailers in November.

Spotify has nearly twice as many US listeners as the next most popular digital audio platform, Amazon Music, at 103.6 million compared to 53.1 million, per our September 2024 forecast.

Even an influx of new retail media networks (RMNs) will not chip away at the share of ad spending allocated to the top two powerhouses.

Amazon’s shoppable video ads faced first big test: Marketers watched their performance over the holiday weekend to mull bigger commitments.

SpaceX and T-Mobile’s direct-to-cell service promises to eliminate vast dead zones, but the cost to consumers could hinder widespread adoption.

Kohl’s is in trouble: The struggling department store hopes a new CEO will rescue it from a series of missteps that weighed heavily on its Q3 performance.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of November. 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 of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Faced with booming media rights costs and legalized gambling, broadcasters, streaming services, and leagues are navigating how to stay innovative, remain profitable, and keep sports accessible for everyone. Media rights costs for major sports have surged dramatically, posing a significant challenge for traditional broadcasters like NBC and Disney.

Walmart Connect attracts marketers, gaining ground over Amazon: Digiday data shows that marketers are enticed by Walmart’s growth and unique ad space.

GenAI and social are set to heavily influence the UK commerce and advertising landscape in 2025, while thrifty consumer behaviors persist and video viewing shifts to mostly digital.

As competition intensifies and consumers continue to seek value, retailers will need to double down on how to differentiate themselves and offer shoppers what they want, wherever they are.

Retailers, streamers embrace shoppable TV ads to shorten the path to purchase: WBD, Amazon, Kroger, and The CW Network are relying on the format to drive product discovery and sales.

Google and Meta landed slightly below expectations in Q3, allowing a collection of hungry competitors to inch ahead. But overall, the ad industry remains healthy. Sports events drove streaming and CTV to record gains, and retail media continues to be the sector’s fastest-growing ad channel.

Consumers turn to genAI to help with holiday shopping: Nearly one-fifth of global Cyber Five sales this year will be influenced by AI agents and other tools, Salesforce says.

High-income consumers, those earning $150,000+ annually, are charting a unique "discovery-to-purchase" journey that begins in physical stores but frequently concludes in digital channels, according to new EMARKETER research. "These consumers demonstrate more technological comfort than their peers," our analyst Paola Flores-Marquez said on the “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. "They're willing to explore multiple channels before making purchase decisions."

With revenues soaring 94% to $35.1 billion, it dominates AI hardware, but Big Tech’s in-house chip ambitions could challenge its position.

PDD misses expectations as competitive pressures erode price advantage: The ecommerce company expects challenges to continue in the short-term as domestic and international rivals gain an edge.

How can retailers in grocery, the second-largest ecommerce category, optimize their online business to succeed?

To keep pace in a complex landscape and meet increasing demands from advertisers, commerce media players need to invest in fresh channels, tools, and innovation.

A forced sale could upend Google’s ad revenue streams, alter the search landscape, and open the browser market to new competition.