This FAQ examines how shoppable media works, where consumers engage with it, and how marketers should evaluate these emerging formats.

37.2% of US adults say they're most likely to shop via Instagram, making it the top social commerce platform, ahead of TikTok (30.5%), according to a September 2025 survey from Power Digital Marketing.

Pinterest’s AI pivot looks defensive: Workforce cuts aim to fund automation, but investors remain unconvinced that AI investment alone will restore growth momentum.

For the past several years, commerce media has been defined by proliferation: New networks, new formats, new acronyms. As the category heads into 2026, industry leaders agree that growth alone is no longer the story. What matters now is connection: Across channels, across data, and across the full customer journey.

Pinterest shifts to yield; its leadership change reinforces focus on performance, commerce, and higher ARPU.

This FAQ explains how data clean rooms have become essential infrastructure for retail media, enabling privacy-safe data collaboration, closed-loop measurement, and proof of performance as ad spend grows and marketers demand greater accountability.

OpenAI seeks real consumer intent, and a potential Pinterest acquisition would give OpenAI first-party shopping signals and native ad infrastructure to rival Google and Meta.

In a year marked by platform volatility, AI acceleration, tariff shocks, and shifting consumer behavior, marketers searched for clarity across EMARKETER’s most-read topics. The top 10 themes reflect where advertiser attention truly moved in 2025. These trends captured the forces reshaping performance, discovery, and measurement: AI-driven optimization, creator-centric social ecosystems, commerce-led advertising, and CTV’s rise as the new premium video default. Together, they tell the story of a market recalibrating around efficiency, accountability, and cultural relevance as marketers prepared their 2026 strategies.

"The retail media landscape is only becoming more crowded, but Target's guest insights are often cited as a key differentiator," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during EMARKETER's recent Commerce Media Summit.

2025 challenged many of retail’s long-held assumptions. What looked like familiar patterns often turned out to be something different entirely, and in the process, a few key trends were either missed or misread by brands trying to make sense of shifting shopper behavior. Here are three trends from 2025 that were either overlooked or misunderstood, and why they will matter in the year ahead.

As consumers grow more comfortable with using AI, retail industry leaders see 2026 as a pivotal year in shaping how the emerging technology disrupts the way people shop.

AI-assisted shopping and advertising will surge as the Gulf states support innovation, but a creator content boom will cause tensions around censorship.

Social networks will claim close to 32% of US digital ad spending in 2026, as powerful AI systems and improved video monetization help push social past a plateau in time spent among US consumers.

Attention metrics (AUs) in the social media video landscape are gradually fragmenting as audiences shift to platforms with interest-driven feeds, per our industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Consumer attention fragmenting across platforms means that advertisers who are already struggling to reach target audiences on social media are facing an uphill battle. Focusing on interest-driven platforms like Reddit and Pinterest as they gain AUs can help drive stronger results, while maintaining investment in leaders like YouTube will remain essential.

Pinterest is piloting a new shoppable recipe format with Walmart’s help. Select recipes now feature a “Shop Ingredients” button that lets users add ingredients directly to their Walmart carts. The pilot fits squarely with Pinterest’s broader goal to make every pin on its platform shoppable, a strategy designed to fully monetize its influence over product discovery and shopping trends. It also fits with Walmart's aim to establish a presence on as many shopping channels as possible, be it social commerce or ChatGPT.

For social platforms, AI hype is colliding with user fatigue and rising regulations. In the US, they face stalled engagement and tougher rules as people demand more control and more human experiences.

Shifts in what consumers watch, how they search, and where they shop are reshaping Latin America’s digital economy—and how brands will reach audiences in 2026. Explore the five trends to watch in the year ahead.

As retail media moves from side business to centerpiece, big brands are prioritizing measurement and efficiency to cement the channel as a mature budget item. Retail media will grow almost 20% this year (19.4%) to reach $58.79 billion, according to EMARKETER's September 2025 forecast. In recent earnings calls, tech leaders described a channel that is now about solid data, AI-driven relevance, and reshaping how advertisers reach shoppers.

Global ad spending has steadied after a turbulent year, setting the stage for modest acceleration in 2026. Digital is still the main engine, but traditional media’s rebound will add lift as markets stabilize.

This benchmark covers how ad buyers can calibrate their digital ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how publishers and solution providers can assess whether their ad revenues align with industry trends.