Online sales are back in growth in the UK, but the fortunes of key ecommerce retailers have been mixed, with some suffering a greater blow from the cost-of-living crisis than others.

Consumer spending patterns shifted in 2023: Retailers like Walmart, TJ Maxx, and E.l.f Beauty benefited from consumers growing cost consciousness.

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.

As retail media evolves, ad placements off-site and in-store will help grocery advertisers reach shoppers in new and more engaging ways, but consumers may not be in a spending mood as credit card balances grow and savings accounts shrink. If Amazon can get grocery right, it may be able to fight off losing share to Walmart. But if the Kroger-Albertsons merger goes through, it could change everything.

As the economy improves in 2024, companies will be able to turn their focus toward technological advancements and upcoming regulations.

Gen Z favors a range of product discovery methods, cost-conscious spending patterns, and flexible payment options. Here are three crucial insights and actionable strategies to help brands capture Gen Z’s attention—and dollars—this holiday season.

There’s good reason to expect strong growth this holiday season: With consumer confidence ticking up, consumers are spending more money than ever before.

We capture how payment providers are innovating to meet new preferences and capture this vital volume in four trends

But that offering alone isn’t enough to attract their business.

US grocery ecommerce sales will grow 17.4% in 2024 to total $219.04 billion, according to our forecast. Meanwhile, UK grocery ecommerce sales will grow only 5.1% to total $37.06 billion in 2024. “At the end of the day, consumers in the US enjoy the conveniences of delivery, but they’re not necessarily willing to pay an exorbitant fee,” said our analyst Blake Droesch, emphasizing the perceived value of Walmart+ and Amazon Prime memberships to these shoppers.

Roku posts strong Q3 revenues growth, attributes to content, ads, and new TVs: ARPU drops as losses mount, but the company remains optimistic amid streaming challenges.

Our latest analysis of 12 companies in Latin America unpacks key trends in the region’s retail ecommerce during H1 2023. This will provide retail and marketing professionals with insights into the current landscape, company developments, and what trends to look out for in 2024.

Retail sales growth is expected to be solid over the holidays: However, there’s some cause for concern given that consumers plan to buy from fewer retailers than in years past.

Costco’s fiscal Q4 earnings report, with total revenues of $78.94 billion, offers a glimpse into shifting consumer priorities: its shoppers are now favoring essentials, opting for groceries and gasoline, while luxury and other discretionary items have taken a backseat.

A hurting US ad market is showing signs of recovery. Our forecast predicts 3.8% growth in overalUS media ad spend this year, for a total of $353.86 billion. Magna upped its US ad spend forecast for 2023 YoY growth from 4.2% to 5.2% in September. And in August, the US ad market achieved two consecutive months of growth for the first time since last June.

Most shoppers plan to reduce holiday spending this year: Cost concerns are driving consumers to start their holiday shopping early and look for deals.

Private labels are narrowing the gap with national brands: Nearly five in 10 shoppers prefer store brands due to quality and variety.

Walmart is opening a pet services center: The move positions the retailer to grab a share of some of the most lucrative areas of the pet industry: health and other services.

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.

Holiday retail sales will grow by approximately 4.5% in 2023, a slight increase from the previous year’s 3.9% growth, according to our June forecast. While this growth may not seem significant, it would represent the sixth-fastest growth rate in holiday sales in the past 15 years, according to our forecast.