The store is no longer the only place where consumers can discover and shop for consumer packaged goods (CPG) products. Younger generations are finding products via search and social media, while Amazon Prime Day offers shoppers the opportunity to stock up on essentials for less.

This year’s Groceryshop 2023 event in Las Vegas focused on marrying in-store and digital experiences, the growing retail media wave, and the benefits of personalizing messaging based on each consumer’s motivations, among many other takeaways. All of that comes as US food and beverage retail sales are expected to reach $1.378 trillion this year and surpass $1.578 trillion in 2026, according to our June forecast.

Grocery shoppers are omnichannel shoppers, our analyst Blake Droesch said on a recent “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. That means consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands should employ a mix of digital and in-store advertising strategies to engage customers where they shop.

Walmart has the largest audience of any digital grocery platform. But our survey found that Amazon Fresh customers were more active and willing to try new products.

The travel and retail industries will post healthy digital ad spending growth figures this year, but many other verticals we track will underperform compared with the national growth average. Next year is looking better for almost all of them.

Digital activity now plays a major role in product discovery, with younger generations driving sizable shifts in the way shoppers find new products.

Digital ad spending growth in Canada continues apace, driven in large part by key industries tied most closely to the digital economy. Our rankings show that retail and CPG lead the way, while sectors like travel and automotive are still recovering from hard times during the pandemic.

eBay recently posted ad revenues of $367 million in Q2 2023—a growth of 35% YoY—in its latest earnings. But much of that can be tied to innovation in its ad types, improved measurement capabilities, and expanded third-party ads. eBay’s market also gives it a retail media opportunity outside of consumer packaged goods (CPG). Let’s break down what eBay is doing right.

Shopping habits foretell the next phase of digital growth for grocery products.

Amazon is the biggest retail media network in the US, accounting for three-quarters of retail media revenue share, per our forecast. But its limited grocery footprint leaves an opportunity for competition. Here are recent updates in grocery retail media, and a prediction on the future of in-store retail media.

Calendar context: With the invention of Prime Day, Amazon created an industrywide retail holiday consumers can now count on in the summer each year. Last year, Amazon also launched its Prime Early Access Sale in October. “We now have three key tentpoles,” said our analyst Andrew Lipsman on “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail,” referring to Prime Day, the Prime Early Access Sale, and Black Friday. But spring remains untapped. “A question I get is, ‘Is Amazon going to do more of these?’ And I think the answer is yes, eventually,” said Lipsman.

Ad spend across digital channels has been mixed so far this year, with spend on social networks slowing and connected TV spend boosted by new ad-supported subscription tiers. Meanwhile, retail media is diversifying at a rapid rate as nonendemic retailers get in the game

Cosmetics and beauty make up a nearly $100 billion industry in the US, and next year more than one-fifth of those sales will come from ecommerce, according to our forecasts. In order to win over beauty shoppers, and Gen Z ones in particular, brands need to pay close attention to where their digital ad dollars go. Here are five charts to help you out.

Amazon Prime Day 2023 will drive a surge of activity for Amazon, competing retailers, and brands looking to generate a sales boost before the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.

As Facebook loses relevance with younger audiences, D2C ad budgets for CPG brands are diversifying into emerging channels.

Private label products give retailers more control over sourcing, manufacturing, and pricing, which they can use to offer items for lower costs, encouraging consumers to try new products, leading to lifelong brand ambassadors who will swear by your brand. Here’s how Target, Walmart, and Costco are labeling up.

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands have attempted to break into D2C ecommerce in recent years, to varying degrees of success. How can they avoid unprofitable strategies and develop a viable D2C ecommerce channel?

This year, US consumers will pay over $35 billion in retail membership fees, according to our forecast. Some 53% of that will go to Amazon, making it by far the biggest player.

Social media and TV are the top channels that consumer packaged goods (CPG) consumers use to find new products, but in-store still plays an important role in product discovery. Meanwhile, Amazon and Walmart are fighting to capture share of CPG product searches, though in-store consumers are more likely to turn to Google for help.

CPG brands hike prices to pad their margins: Companies are leveraging data to minimize the share of consumers who trade down to less expensive options. (This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.)