This year, 64% of consumers worldwide—or as many as 1.70 billion digital buyers of the 2.65 billion we forecast—will regularly buy directly from a brand, up 15 percentage points from 2019.

Consumers are driven by value more than anything else. About two-thirds of consumers worldwide who had switched brands in the past year were looking for better deals. More than half were seeking better product quality.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce growth has slowed since 2020, but the leading digitally native brands remain popular. In December 2021, the Peloton website raked in 6.7 million visits worldwide, far more than the sites of Warby Parker, Casper, and other top digital natives in the D2C space.

Building breakthrough brands with staying power in the digital age will combine the best aspects of traditional mass-market branding and a modern growth-hacking mindset. Established brands and digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs) must be willing to learn from one another.

Nearly two-thirds of US consumers would give away their email address for a $20 coupon or discount code. Some 31% would provide their full name, and 23% would enter their phone number. That said, 27% wouldn’t be tempted to hand over any of that data or their home address.

Spotify could break away from Google and Apple’s payment duopoly: Google’s alternative payments pilot program might only serve higher-profile apps, leaving smaller developers in the lurch.

A new set of regulations on AI recommendation algorithms went into effect in China on March 1 in an attempt to introduce unprecedented oversight and inject transparency and accountability into an opaque industry. This is the first case of a major economy enforcing such sweeping rules on the machine, and the world is watching.

As the lines continue to blur between digital and physical channels, retailers will need to master both to entice consumers to continue to return to their brand. Here are five trends they should keep an eye on.

Facebook’s consumer VR advantage: Recent VR headset announcements show device-makers are increasingly pivoting toward enterprise customers as a result of Oculus’ unbeatable price point.

Inbox zero versus email advertising campaigns

One of the unique qualities of retail media advertising is the ability to use closed-loop attribution, tying ad engagements to sales. This is possible because the same company is running the ad and selling the product advertised. Brands often look to Amazon and Walmart.com because those sites facilitate closed-loop attribution—and with the ongoing disruptions to digital identity, this tool will likely provide even greater advantages to those who use it.