VR growth is slowing as AR moves into everyday behavior. Smartphones are making immersive content easier to adopt, while headsets still face limits in comfort, use cases, and reach.

- On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what makes buying furniture so complex from a customer perspective, where in today’s shopping journey people get stuck the most, and which technologies are actually driving the category forward. Listen to the discussion featuring Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser, and Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Furniture.com, Daniel Bennett.

Snap debuted a new ad suite for marketers and developers, offering an “App Power Pack” that includes new bid strategies, ad formats, optimization strategies, and targeting capabilities to boost ROI, per MediaPost. Snap’s ad suite is an important step in the company’s efforts to cement its strength in advertising and curb slowing growth. We forecast the platform’s ad revenues will continue falling in the low single digits through 2027. But with competitors already offering similar products, Snapchat needs to go a step further to stand out.

The news: Snap is seeking outside funding for its AR Spectacles as it struggles to compete with Meta platforms and TikTok, per The Information. Our take: Bringing in outside capital could help Snap accelerate AR development without draining its core business. The possibility of gathering outside investment also highlights how critical Snap’s AR bet has become and how high the stakes are. Staying competitive requires Snap to prove Spectacles can evolve past a niche hardware play and compete with strong AI alternatives. If it can’t, Snap may get stuck in the middle, overshadowed by platforms that are faster, bigger, and richer.

The news: A Snapchat, WPP Media, and Lumen study unveiled key insights on the growth of attention-based metrics as key indicators of ad success. Even 5% more attention can double brand perception. Attention was 8 times more effective than view-through rates for predicting brand recall and 4 times more effective at determining brand favorability. Our take: Snap is looking to be a leader in a metric that advertisers are increasingly paying attention to—but on the back of a lukewarm quarter, can Snap’s emphasis on attention help it bounce back?

Snap earnings paint a grim picture for 2025: While revenues were up, the company pulled its guidance and lost 1 million users.

Snap study shows the power of positive ads: Consumers reported higher brand recall when seeing ads that sparked "joy."

Snap doubles down on immersive brand tools: AI Lenses, creator events, and AR vending machines highlight its experiential marketing push.

Snapchat reimagines its Partner Program for SMBs: The changes will see the program split into two tiers, with features to help SMBs advertise.

Snap faces ad revenue headwinds despite solid Q4: AI, AR, and creator investments need to deliver as brands seek better ROI in a tight ad market.

Smart glasses will likely steal the show as neural tech fuels the convergence of wearables and spatial computing.

Walmart’s adaptive retail strategy is heavy on genAI, AR: The retailer is relying on the technologies to deliver personalized experiences, engage Gen Z, and improve customer service.

Retailers are experimenting with generative AI (genAI) across various use cases, from personalized marketing to conversational search. But the strategic risks of being an early adopter of genAI versus waiting for established players to set standards remain unclear.

Meta’s Orion glasses could redefine wearables: Zuckerberg’s vision for a smartphone-free future is clear, but Orion’s massive $10,000 production cost stands in the way of mainstream success.

Voice assistant adoption continues to grow, but the pace has slowed. Gen Z and seniors are key growth drivers, while smartphones and smart speakers remain central to the ecosystem as innovation and fresh competition shake up the sector.

From AI-powered smartphones to virtual shopping assistants, AI is becoming a powerful force in daily digital interactions—reshaping how people live, work, and shop.

Walmart bets on AR: The retailer experiments with several use cases for the technology that it hopes can make shopping online as immersive, interactive, and social as in-person experience.

Despite economic headwinds and challenges faced by major players, AR and VR adoption is on the rise.

Gen Zers and young millennials are the most likely to splurge on beauty in 2024—but their path to purchase is anything but straightforward.

Social commerce has yet to reach its potential in the UK. Social buying is still on the rise—and there is plenty of headroom to grow spend.