Europe’s startup slaughterhouse: After pandemic-era fattening, inflation, war, and an energy crisis have triggered a pullback in startup investment. Wintertime natural gas supplies and hiring are key indicators to watch.

Inflation gives Walmart a chance to shine: The retailer’s emphasis on value and low prices is attracting both low- and high-income shoppers and enabling it to retain grocery dominance.

Walmart’s latest earnings showed inflation is still making an impact but not as big as analysts expected.

In December 2021, Insider Intelligence analysts published their top five retail trends for 2022, detailing our predictions for the upcoming year. But 2022 has been anything but predictable. In this Analyst Take, we revisit those trends to find out what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and how we’re thinking about five of retail's biggest trends amid this era of uncertainty.

A flurry of forces is changing how consumers eat and drink: Rising grocery costs, shifting work patterns, and practical considerations are causing people to adjust their dining habits.

Banks’ continued investment in marketing, led by the sales of products and solutions to the mass affluent, signals sustained growth in digital ad spending on the heels of a historic snap back in budgets since the pandemic—despite a looming economic downturn.

Disney+ gets out in front of Netflix: When it comes to launching and announcing pricing for its ad-supported tier, that is.

On today's episode, we discuss what happens next now that the newsletter boom has faded, Uber getting serious about grocery, how Starbucks is defying inflation, whether Spotify can revolutionize podcast ads, robots doing all of our housework, an unpopular opinion about TikTok's hype, why so many baseballs are used during a game, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha and analysts Suzy Davidkhanian and Blake Droesch.

The number of financial services deals declined 31% compared to Q1.

Inflation eased slightly in July, but consumers still feel the pinch: Gas prices are falling, but steadily rising food prices are eroding shoppers’ buying power.

Discount stores ranked among the fastest-growing retailers in the US last year: But low prices, not customer loyalty, is driving that growth.

Retailers in Latin America will face a slew of macroeconomic challenges this year as rapidly changing market conditions weigh heavily on consumers’ minds—and wallets.

Ditching Netflix to pay for groceries: Consumers in the US and UK show a willingness to cut back on media and retail subscriptions as the cost of living skyrockets.

We talked with our Reimagining Retail team to see if they could provide a little insight.

Big Tech’s existential crisis: Following a decade-long heyday, announcements from tech leaders, layoffs, and hiring freezes indicate an abrupt cultural shift. A crisis looms as economics distracts from innovation.

Big Tech earnings reveal economic uncertainty: Consumer spending is down while costs are up and supply chain woes continue to drag down profits. Big Tech is bracing for tough times.

This year, Latin America will be the world’s second-fastest-growing region in retail ecommerce sales, after Southeast Asia. Sales will rise by 18.8% to $167.01 billion as mobile propels the region’s ecommerce market to new heights over the course of our forecast period.

The economy looks very different to high-income consumers: Luxury sales continue to soar, while lower-income shoppers rethink their priorities.