Value was the name of the game in 2024 as retailers scrambled to keep consumers shopping. But that wasn’t the only thing on retailers’ minds this year.

“Affiliate, to my mind, is one of the most under-discussed and underappreciated spending areas in media and advertising,” our analyst Max Willens said on a recent EMARKETER webinar. US affiliate marketing spend will reach $10.72 billion this year and drive $307.27 billion in ecommerce, per our forecast. Driving that spend is a persistently value-conscious consumer, a growing creator economy, and a pivot to publishers with first-party data. Here are five factors contributing to affiliate marketing’s success.

Aldi is partnering with Instacart to deploy the latter’s Connected Stores solution. The partnership comes at a time when consumers are increasingly turning to discount retailers for low prices amid a tough economic climate.

Summer is just getting started, but it’s already back-to-school season for parents. As of mid-June, nearly a quarter (24%) of US adults have already begun back-to-school shopping and another 45% will start sometime before the end of July, according to a March 2024 survey from LTK. As retailers roll out their back-to-school campaigns, here are three tips to keep consumers engaged and spending.

Many retailers are predicting that consumer spending patterns in 2024 could be similar to 2023—pulling back on discretionary categories and sometimes essentials like groceries. So far, discount and dollar stores have benefited from tightened consumer spending, but that success isn’t guaranteed in the new year. Here’s how three low-price retailers are planning to appeal to consumers and keep sales up in the months ahead.

This year was challenging for retailers as inflation kept prices high and consumers cut back on spending. But there were a few bright spots, as some in-store shopping rebounded and retail media boomed. Here’s some advice for retailers on how to use in-store experiences and retail media to their advantage.

US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday growth trends are usually pretty similar, but this year, growth will diverge. US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday spending growth were within 1 percentage point of each other in both 2020 and 2021, and closer to 4 percentage points apart in 2022, during a holiday season impacted by inflation, supply chain issues, and geopolitical concerns. This year, we forecast a US back-to-school ecommerce growth rate of 1.5%, slower than our forecast 11.3% holiday retail ecommerce growth.

Price matters to everyone, but ease and convenience play an even bigger role in purchase decisions. Plus, retailers should consider revamping their apps to garner more sales and use their target audience to guide in-store and online strategies.

While mid-tier retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s struggle, discount and luxury retailers are seeing success as some consumers trade down amid inflation while others splurge to treat themselves amid tough times, respectively. But these polar opposites are using the same tools and tactics to attract new customers and retain current ones.

From the explosion of ChatGPT to confusing economic indicators, the first quarter of 2023 has proven to be a mixed bag for retail. We break down major developments from the past few months and what they mean for the year ahead.

Where many retailers struggled last year, Dollar General succeeded as cost-conscious consumers sought out lower prices amid inflation. But there’s a larger opportunity on the horizon for Dollar General: retail media. The discount store’s ability to reach rural audiences coupled with its popularity among marketers place it in a favorable position for the years ahead.

As one of the most accessible US retailers (in terms of price and location), Dollar General is a trusted stop for shoppers battling inflation.

High prices are taking their toll on people’s desire to shop: Consumer spending in the US increased slightly in February, but consumer sentiment remains depressed.

In a record year for US retail store closures, dollar stores are thriving. Not only are major players opening a significant number of new locations, but more consumers are regularly shopping for groceries at dollar stores than any other time in the past five years. But dollar stores, which have been praised as survivors of the ongoing retail apocalypse, could face new pressure from Amazon come 2020.