Survey shows that nearly 50% of shoppers were more interested in online shopping in 2020 compared to 2019, and this interest will likely grow even higher during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

TikTok’s Shopping tab marks a big but necessary shift: The feature will let select Shopify merchants add product catalogs to their profiles, likely the first of many interface changes to facilitate ecommerce on the TikTok.

The year 2021 marks a new era for retail and ecommerce. The pandemic drove a massive shift in almost everything digital, and while 2020 will remain an anomaly in terms of the frenzied pace of adoption, consumers’ new behavior is here to stay. Over the next five years, digital activities will continue growing from today’s accelerated base.

Retail social commerce is already a multibillion dollar industry in the US, having earned $26.97 billion in sales in 2020. That figure will more than double by 2023, when we predict retail social commerce earnings will hit $56.17 billion.

On today's episode, we discuss where B2B marketing is headed and what some of the biggest challenges will be along the way. We then talk about our brand new influencer marketing spending forecast, what to make of TikTok Stories, and Instagram testing ads within its Shops tab. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Jillian Ryan and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

US retail mcommerce sales grew 41.4% during the pandemic year of 2020 and are set to double from this elevated base by 2025. This report looks at what’s driving this growth and how sellers should respond.

US influencer marketing spending will rise by 33.6% in 2021 to $3.69 billion. Our inaugural forecast shows that US marketers will allocate nearly $1 billion more to influencer marketing this year than they did in 2020, representing the strongest spending growth in the industry since 2019.

On today's episode, we discuss Facebook's Q2 performance, whether Apple's iOS update has affected ad revenues, and what Facebook means exactly when it talks about its (and everybody else's) “metaverse” future. We then talk about the impact of Facebook Pay expanding to online retailers, whether Instagram Reels could come to Facebook's homepage, and some new privacy features for kids on Instagram. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Jasmine Enberg.

Facebook earnings: The company's Q2 earnings could shed light on the effects of Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, but it’s still on track to clear $100 billion in revenues by the end of the year.

This quarter, we are adding TikTok to our social media update series, which analyzes key developments for marketers from the major social platforms.

The explosion in vertical video is creating both opportunities and challenges for the Story format. Stories are evolving quickly on Instagram and remain a top venue for influencer activations. But Twitter’s decision to kill off Fleets shows they aren’t popular on all platforms.

Stories are hardly a new social media format—they are nearly 8 years old on Snapchat and almost 5 on Instagram. But they are still heavily used for social media marketing, even as short-video platforms like TikTok have taken off.

Influencer marketing spending in the US is set to grow more than 30% this year and surpass a key milestone. According to our inaugural forecast on US influencer marketing spending, the category will exceed $3 billion in 2021 and will surpass $4 billion next year.

A massive leap forward for Canada’s retail ecommerce market resulted from the pandemic. The momentum continues this year.

The pandemic was disastrous for many retailers; we estimate that total retail sales worldwide plunged 2.8% in 2020. Though, while many physical stores were shuttered, digital retail sales soared by over 25% in a single year.

Attack of the clones: Now that most major social platforms have a TikTok-like feature, each is exploring different ways to use short-form video to further their longer-term goals.

Livestreaming was an existing trend that gained newfound relevance during the pandemic. Over the past few months, nearly all of the major US social networks have expanded their services and introduced new livestreaming opportunities, many of which are aimed at boosting commerce on the platforms.

Social commerce is rising rapidly worldwide. But to what extent can the US market mirror that of China, the world leader in social commerce?

Our forecast for Instagram shoppers

On today's episode, we discuss mobile devices' role in online grocery, how consumers' physical and digital shopping worlds are colliding, and the next major challenge for grocers. We then talk about marketers' social strategies, why Facebook is risking scrutiny to launch an Instagram for kids, and what to make of Reels getting ads. Tune in to the discussion with vice president of marketing Camilo Reina Ramirez and marketing director Lina Toledo of Grupo Éxito and eMarketer senior analysts at Insider Intelligence Matteo Ceurvels and Jasmine Enberg.