YouTube is the most trusted US platform for social commerce.

About half of internet users ages 10 to 41 spend money on video games worldwide, and younger users are more likely to cough up.

Southeast Asia is home to the three fastest-growing ecommerce markets in the world. This year, Singapore will post 36.0% digital sales growth, while Indonesia will see an increase of 34.0% and the Philippines, 25.9%.

Advertisers use a different strategy on YouTube than on other digital video platforms. In Q1 2022, more than 40% of US video ads on the Alphabet-owned platform were post-rolls, and almost 30% were mid-roll ads. On other video platforms, 97% played before video content.

Around the world, some 60% of consumer interactions with companies take place online. This figure has risen significantly since the onset of the pandemic, up from about 40% in 2019.

Around one-quarter of people in the US ages 13 to 34 are fans of the metaverse. But for every person who gives it a thumbs-up, there are about two in that age group who dislike or have never heard of the concept.

This year, for the first time, 5G phones will make up the majority, or 56%, of smartphone shipments worldwide. By the end of 2026, their share will grow to 76%. As 5G phones become ubiquitous, their average selling price will decrease by $168 over the next four years.

The livestream shopping landscape has completely transformed in recent years. QVC, which saw 45% of the downloads among the top 10 US livestream shopping apps two years ago, accounted for just 10% in the first five months of this year. (Apps like YouTube and TikTok were excluded because ecommerce is a secondary feature of their platforms.)

Nearly all consumers worldwide consider how well a company treats its customers before buying from it. In addition, 85% of consumers are swayed by the way it treats employees, and 78% view environmental practices as a purchase driver.

The US insurance industry will top $12 billion in digital ad spending this year, up 15.0% from 2021. Outlays will continue to increase by double-digit rates over the next couple of years, surpassing $15 billion in 2024.

Smart TVs are the most popular connected TV (CTV) device in the US, finding a home in 59% of households with these devices. Some 30% use Amazon Fire TV’s streaming sticks and boxes, while 28% use those of Roku.

Tesla and Ford are neck and neck in the race to become North America’s most popular connected car brand, each making up nearly one-third of connected car systems in the region. Android-based system Atoto takes third at 11%, beating out multiple automakers due to its ability to upgrade nonconnected vehicles.

In Q2 2022, Meta’s Messenger attracted 52% of the top 10 US messaging apps’ daily active users, down 6 percentage points from the same quarter two years earlier. Discord increased its share by 7 percentage points over the same period, riding a pandemic surge that has not dropped off.

In 2023, 5.5 million US adults will use cryptocurrency to make payments, a jump of more than 350% in three years. That said, this figure represents a meager 2.3% of US internet users, showing that crypto payments are far from mainstream.

This year, Amazon will see $12.52 billion in Prime Day sales worldwide, per our estimates. The US will account for more than 60% of Prime Day sales, but outside of the US, sales growth will be stronger as Amazon brings the shopping event to more international markets.

In the US, Twitter will lose 1.4 million monthly users between 2022 and 2026. Many of those defectors will be people who joined in the initial years of the pandemic—for updates on COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election—but are leaving out of news fatigue or in pursuit of other content.

Our latest forecast shows that Facebook’s monthly user base in the US will plateau, rather than grow as previously expected. Following a peak of 179.7 million last year, the base will lose 2.1 million users by the end of 2024 and hold steady at 177.6 million through 2026.

US retail ecommerce sales will top $1 trillion this year, up 9.4% from $960.44 billion last year. Come 2026, more than $1 in $5 spent on retail will come from ecommerce channels.

In the US, 55.1% of Gen Z digital buyers ages 14 and older will use a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service at least once this year. That figure drops to 48.6% for millennial digital buyers and becomes progressively smaller among older generations.

Over the past year, 22% of US adults have had to forgo prescription medications due to the cost. About one-quarter needed to see a doctor but could not afford it.