A direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy wasn’t top-of-mind when soda brand Olipop launched in 2017. In fact, during its first year of business, the brand didn’t even have a website—primarily relying on retail brick-and-mortar partnerships to drive sales. But last year, everything changed.

Within digital media channels, probably the longest-standing gap in measurement information lies with the walled gardens—a group that includes Google, Facebook, a host of other walled social platforms, and Amazon. Some in the industry are also talking more of walled gardens—or attempts to build them—in the connected TV (CTV) or over-the-top (OTT) space.

Livestreaming has become a prominent feature across the social media and digital video landscapes. Here’s how marketers are taking advantage of opportunities within the space.

Faced with a global pandemic, consumers leaned into certainty. Forty percent of shoppers said materials and craftsmanship earned their confidence in a brand.

The 2020 US holiday season posted better-than-expected retail sales growth, as huge ecommerce gains added to a surprisingly positive performance for brick-and-mortar retail. The early outlook for the 2021 holiday season is solid despite major economic uncertainty ahead.

The 2020 holiday season’s unprecedented ecommerce surge helped total US retail spending remain positive, setting the tone for healthy outlook for 2021 holiday season growth.

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Andrew Lipsman discuss Amazon's retail and ad businesses as well as Jeff Bezos stepping down as CEO. They then talk about Walmart's new partnership with The Trade Desk, whether vaccinated shoppers will want to return to stores, and what click and collect's future looks like.

Social commerce accelerated in the US in 2020 amid the pandemic-driven ecommerce boom as key platforms advanced their shopping and checkout capabilities.

In a letter to Amazon employees published Tuesday afternoon, Jeff Bezos announced that he would step down as CEO and transition to executive chairman, where he'll focus on "new products and early initiatives." Andy Jassy, who is currently CEO of Amazon Web Services, will replace him.

After a challenging 2020, which saw big shifts in how digital media was consumed and how marketing adapted, we anticipate five developments will have a lasting impact on Canada’s digital economy.

Consumers’ growing willingness to get their financial services from non-FI providers is spurring consumer brands to embed financial elements in their products and services. But this new form of finance will mean dramatic changes for incumbent and startup FIs.

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.

Even as total worldwide retail sales declined by 3.0% in 2020, retail ecommerce growth boomed to 27.6%. Ecommerce growth will decelerate substantially in 2021 to 14.3% as brick-and-mortar sales recover.

eMarketer senior analyst Ross Benes, principal analyst Mark Dolliver, and junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch discuss Disney+'s price increase and content slate, Amazon's foray into healthcare, whether mothers are actually moving over to TikTok, if co-viewing is here to stay, whether Amazon can draw NFL fans with an exclusive stream, how to easily get people to agree with an essay, and more.

Experimenting with advertising channels can yield up to 3% better advertising performance, research shows.

Buy now, pay later solutions are quickly gaining adoption as consumers look for new financing options and merchants aim to drive sales. But the industry is still unsettled as a number of firms are battling to lead the space, while card networks and issuers are looking to get involved too.

One of the major themes to emerge from the pandemic has been the growing divide between the haves and have-nots. Some trends that have deepened the divide—such as the shift to ecommerce—are hardly new. But others will be short-lived trends that none of us could have predicted at the beginning of 2020. It remains to be seen when things will return to normal, but one thing is for certain: New habits formed in 2020 have altered the future of retail.

Increased political ad spending contributed to a banner year for connected TV.