Casper’s subway ads give commuters fun puzzles to solve while increasing its brand awareness. Albertsons Companies leverages a game to entice consumers to play for discounts and rewards. And Nike’s mobile app earns the brand a spot in consumers’ everyday lives. Here are five ways brands are embracing gamification across different stages.

While the retail media opportunity is massive, it requires reaching consumers across a growing number of channels and adapting in real time. Google—which receives billions of searches daily—can help capture new demand, and turn that demand into purchases, by bringing in valuable first-party data to a brand’s retail media program.

Digital commerce platforms are leaning heavily into payment processing to grow revenues and enhance customer engagement. But it’s still early innings: They are ripe for payment provider partnerships that can evolve as the platforms grow.

Instead of trying to compete with Amazon, Barnes & Noble is changing to appeal to consumers looking for the experience of an independent bookstore with the resources of a large chain. Leaning on local inspiration and a store layout that optimizes discovery, Barnes & Noble is revamping its 596 locations, as well as its membership program.

In the two years since our inaugural “Power of Amazon” report, Amazon has remained a retail and tech powerhouse—but it hasn’t been immune to economic uncertainty, shifting consumer behaviors, or increased competition. We examine how Amazon’s 19 business divisions have changed and how these new developments might affect your industry.

After three years of wild fluctuations in retail and ecommerce sales growth, a sense of stability and normalcy is slowly emerging. A healthy if unspectacular rebound for ecommerce is in the cards, and most national markets are heading in the right direction.

US retail ecommerce sales will reach $1.720 trillion by 2027, hitting a milestone of more than 20% of overall retail sales, according to our forecast.

As US mcommerce sales approach nearly half of total US online sales, marketers need to adopt mobile-first strategies that improve both the shopping and checkout experience. For those looking to boost adoption for their mobile shopping apps, banner ads are the best deal, though more interactive ad formats could become popular as retailers gamify their apps.

Amazon’s return-to-office policy defies research, enrages employees: Lack of evidence-based decision-making won’t give Amazon the committed employees it needs to take on Big Tech rivals.

On today’s episode, host Bill Fisher is joined by our analysts Paul Briggs, Matteo Ceurvels, and Carina Perkins to examine what impact global economic turbulence is having on retail and ecommerce in different markets.

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

This year, less than 20% of US adults across all age demographics will purchase a product as planned if they are met with dynamic pricing of products in-store or online, per CivicScience.

A more accessible and expansive Walmart+ membership will help the retailer to reach 29 million subscribers this year, while in-store retail media formats could boost ad revenues. A push into B2B, logistics, and international markets may also prove lucrative.

Embracing mobile gives consumers access to a branded experience both online and in-store, while in-store technologies bring the digital world into the physical. To cater to shoppers no matter where or how they shop, brands should also make sure they’re balancing in-store and online rewards as well as D2C and wholesale commerce.

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.

Walmart was the biggest US retailer by US sales in 2022 with nearly $500 billion in sales, more than double the size of runner-up Amazon, according to the National Retail Federation.