With ecommerce’s share of luxury sales plateauing, brands and retailers must look beyond online transactions to capture demand via AI assistants, social commerce, and resale.

Most holiday sales will still happen offline, giving retailers a stage for discovery, service, and experiences.

Despite holding more than 50% of the nation's wealth, baby boomers trail Gen X and millennials in consumer spending. They also favor traditional in-store shopping over using social media platforms for product discovery and purchases.

Commerce media has spent years expanding beyond retailers’ owned and operated properties. But getting inventory onto social platforms, connected TV (CTV), and the open web doesn’t create demand on its own. Advertisers need a reason to use it. That’s particularly true on social, where just $1.3 billion will flow from retail media networks (RMNs) this year, representing less than 2% of retail media ad spending, according to EMARKETER’s forecast. “As we've watched the market evolve, it's become pretty clear that building more inventory and more supply doesn't automatically guarantee advertiser demand, especially in channels where brands have established buying partners and workflows,” said EMARKETER principal analyst Sarah Marzano, in a talk at Advertising Week New York on Monday. For Instacart, the opportunity is to make advertisers’ existing media buys more effective rather than force them into another buying platform. Its partnership with Pinterest offers a test case for that strategy, combining Instacart’s purchase data with a platform built around product discovery.

Automated promotions surface online discounts in local campaigns, helping retailers turn search into store visits.

Socially influenced store experiences often lead to return visits and sharing, creating a cycle retailers can extend.

A playful campaign highlights the tradeoffs of bargain shopping, but stronger differentiation is needed to win back customers.

The nationwide expansion gives budget-conscious shoppers another reason to visit as furniture demand remains uneven.

US grocery volume is shrinking, and the drop-off has gotten steep enough that price increases can no longer cover for it. Unit sales fell nearly 2% YoY in each month from February through June 2026, according to a NielsenIQ analysis from Bain & Company. Prices are still climbing 2% to 3% annually, roughly in line with food-at-home inflation. But that pricing growth is no longer masking the volume story the way it did through most of 2025.

Our inaugural Pulse of the Consumer: Food and Beverage survey tracks shopper behavior across food and beverage categories.

41% of US adults skip retail mobile apps because they prefer shopping in-store to see products in person, the top reason cited above payment privacy (33%) and phone storage (33%), according to a March 2026 survey from Ipsos.

Economic turbulence and global uncertainty haven't stopped Valentine's Day spending from reaching new heights as it takes on unique cultural significance.

Retail is entering a more complex, multichannel era, testing retail media strategies as a result. In this video, Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano examines the structural shifts reshaping how consumers discover and purchase, and what those changes signal for growth.

"[The oldest members of Gen Alpha are] turning 16 next year, so we are on the eve of them becoming pretty powerful consumers," said Dani Mariano, CEO at Razorfish. "[GWI found that] 30% of 12- to 15-year-olds said that they had used AI in the last seven days. I think it could be even higher."

Grocery shopping is more digital than ever, but the physical store remains the cornerstone of the experience, amplified by digital tools and touchpoints. Shoppers blend in-store visits with online discovery, opening new opportunities for brands and retailers to connect with them at every stage. Here’s what marketers need to know about today’s grocery shoppers and what it means for retail media strategies.

While holiday gift-givers do more of their shopping online every year, many shoppers will make purchases in physical stores this holiday season. The segment could make or break retailers facing economic challenges from tariffs and supply chains.

As Primark celebrates its 10-year anniversary in the US, the European retail giant navigates the challenges of building brand awareness in a competitive American market while staying true to its core value proposition that made it a cultural institution in the UK and Ireland.

For Gen Z and millennials, shopping is about belonging as much as buying. From pop-ups to print catalogs, physical experiences paired with digital touchpoints are reshaping how brands build loyalty and cultural connection.

With economic uncertainty influencing how people shop, marketers and retailers have a prime opportunity to create in-store value. Today’s shoppers seek more than products—they want a shopping experience that delivers immediacy, control, and sensory engagement. Here’s what retailers need to know about current consumer behavior in physical aisles.

Retailers stop viewing the store as "a single moment and start to take a step back to ask 'What's the lifetime value of investment, and what role does the store play in driving that maximum lifetime value?'" said Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing at Placer.ai, at last week's EMARKETER's summit on Commerce Media Trends 2025.