Nike and Apple eye opportunities in the metaverse: Nike is opening an online store and trading platform for digital sneakers, while Apple is reportedly working on its own virtual environment.

The personal luxury goods sector is riding a wave of high demand in the US and China, buoyed by wealthier consumers who are relatively immune to the impact of price increases. But brands will need to appeal to the rising Gen Z consumer, as well as strengthen loyalty among their most important customers.

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.

Our Retail Reimagined podcast team talked connected fitness this week. Here are the highlights.

On today's episode, we discuss the most interesting thing about Amazon's recent performance, how its ad business is fairing, and why the retail giant bought a robotics company. "In Other News," we talk about why Facebook is moving away from live shopping and what to make of the new Nike Style store. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Andrew Lipsman.

Just 7% of US consumers who exercise expect to work out entirely at a gym or studio for the next year. By comparison, 42% plan to exercise only at home, while the rest anticipate using some combination of the two.

Nike wants Big Tech’s layoffs: In a shift to direct sales, Nike is spending big to lure technologists. It’s a trend that could diminish the tech sector’s pull on workers.

As digital fitness goes mainstream, leading brands Nike, lululemon athletica, Peloton, and Apple are trailblazing a path for lifestyle brands toward a more profitable future.

This year, 42.6 million US adults will use a connected fitness platform such as Peloton at least once a month. This figure ballooned from 24.0 million in 2019.

Plagued with supply chain issues and climbing operating costs, the first half 2022 has put footwear on its heels.

There are fewer retail vacancies than any time in 10 years: Retailers are testing new formats and expanding their physical presences to be closer to where consumers live and shop.

This year, 64% of consumers worldwide—or as many as 1.70 billion digital buyers of the 2.65 billion we forecast—will regularly buy directly from a brand, up 15 percentage points from 2019.

Subscription models are driving customer loyalty in online sales of groceries and other essential goods, but fatigue among consumers threatens long-term growth.

Nike’s shift to D2C gives other sportswear brands an opening: Adidas, Reebok, Allbirds, and more are jockeying to take Nike’s place on store shelves.

A wave of cost-cutting layoffs is coming: GoPuff, Thrasio, and Reef are among the companies rethinking their staffing levels as they shift focus to profitability.

Victoria’s Secret adds Amazon to its ecommerce playbook: Selling on Amazon’s marketplace enables retailers to find online shoppers where they’re already looking. But doing so comes at a cost.

Recent gains in direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce sales are being driven more by incumbent brands than disruptors. What can they learn from each other about building brands in the digital age?

The metaverse is expected to be a major disruptor across industries, but it's still early days for the emerging realm. In this report, we look at how different markets are embarking on their own metaverse business models.

Inflation isn’t stopping consumers from buying premium brands: Levi’s and Birkenstocks are some of the companies leveraging their brand equity to raise prices and secure favorable retail partnerships.

Here’s a breakdown of the online and in-store features that apparel retail shoppers value the most, and a ranking of how 10 leading retailers stack up.