On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of November. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Analyst Arielle Feger and Senior Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

As the US population diversifies, retailers like Kroger and Save A Lot are opening new stores catering to Hispanic and Asian consumers for a more personalized and engaging shopping experience.

Retailers, streamers embrace shoppable TV ads to shorten the path to purchase: WBD, Amazon, Kroger, and The CW Network are relying on the format to drive product discovery and sales.

The phrase “retail apocalypse” once dominated industry conversation, Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing at Placer.ai said during the EMARKETER Summit on November 1. “We were convinced [that] the store was dying,” Chernofsky said. “It was a thing of the past, and we were going to move to this fully online environment.”

Grocers experiment with new formats and products to target Asian, Hispanic consumers: Kroger, Walmart, and Save A Lot are among the retailers looking to attract a more diverse audience.

Agencies begin to doubt retail media’s efficacy:: Some are counseling caution as lack of standardization and the sheer number of RMNs make it difficult to assess whether brands’ investments are paying off.

Nearly 1 in 4 grocery dollars will go to private labels by 2030: Store brands are gaining popularity as shoppers seek value and CPGs cut back on innovation.

Kroger benefited from shoppers’ deal-seeking behaviors in Q2: Despite a difficult operating environment, the grocer won over consumers with lower prices and expanded private label selections.

Kroger leans into value: The grocer is hosting a big sale about a month before a crucial court hearing on its proposed merger with Albertsons.

Proximity mobile payments are on a growth tear, driven by strong spend per user. Here’s how providers are using wallet integration and new features to make proximity payments stickier.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of May. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against analysts Sky Canaves and Zak Stambor, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Bad weather drove more shoppers to Instacart in Q1: The company expects the positive trend to continue in Q2 as it prepares to add Uber Eats to its platform.

Kroger Precision Marketing, Kroger’s retail media network, has partnered with Yahoo Advertising to enable advertisers using Yahoo’s DSP to leverage Kroger’s first-party data to reach a more targeted audience.

Retail media has matured greatly since our 5 retail media networks (RMNs) worth watching. That evolution has come from growth in spend (we forecast US omnichannel retail media ad spend growth at 26.0% this year, with larger increases in off-site and connected TV), in-store innovations, and new entrants from other non-retailers.

Retail media complicates price talks between retailers and suppliers: Hardline tactics like pulling products from shelves can make brands reluctant to invest in RMNs, forcing concessions.

Amazon will continue to gain market share, but new competition from Temu, Walmart, and other retailers could stunt future dominance.

Last year, Kroger found success embracing omnichannel shoppers and personalizing digital promotions, which helped it grow its identical sales (without fuel) 0.9% YoY. Looking ahead, the retailer is counting on its digitally engaged customers to fuel its retail media network, which Kroger expects to grow 20% next year.

Since bringing its retail media capabilities in-house, grocery giant Kroger continues to develop its self-service strategy for advertisers, Cara Pratt, SVP, Kroger Precision Marketing at 84.51°, recently told EMARKETER.

2024 is shaping up to be the year of the AI-powered shopping assistant. Just two months in, retailers from Walmart and Amazon to Ikea and Chevron have released a flurry of AI-based updates, hoping to make the shopping experience easier and more relevant.