Though there’s still a ways to go, retail media is evolving toward a system that’s media- and retailer-agnostic, offering unfettered visibility and optimization potential, increased transparency, and better outcomes for retailers, advertisers, and consumers.

“If you want to dominate the digital landscape, you’ve got to win or be a clear leader on the three core pillars: media, advertising, and commerce,” our analyst Andrew Lipsman said during our recent “Attention!” summit.

To survive the era of subscription fatigue, brands and retailers need to invest in models that bring customers value and convenience.

Amazon is the top dog of US retail, accounting for 37.6% of all US ecommerce sales this year for a total of $431.11 billion dollars, according to our forecast. While the giant has a successful stronghold in many US industries, Amazon isn’t dominant everywhere, especially as it pertains to a physical footprint and getting consumers comfortable with its elite tech. Here are a few areas Amazon hasn’t overtaken—yet.

Instagram has become an essential platform for ecommerce businesses’ social media strategies. Brands that leverage the social platform’s Instagram Story ads can boost their online presence, broaden their audience, and enhance engagement to achieve success.

The crypto winter has brought assets crashing down to earth and dampened payments growth. But key crypto payment use cases remain intact, drawing continued investment from major payment providers. This helps set a path for US crypto payment adoption to grow by a 21.3% average annual rate from 2022 to 2025 and worldwide volume to grow by 12.6%.

Total media ad spending in the US will pass the $350 billion mark this year, but growth is slow at just 3.8%, according to our forecast. “That is not great compared to almost anything in recent memory; however, there is a U-shape to this line,” our analyst Ethan Cramer-Flood said during our “US Digital Ad Spend Outlook” webinar. Connected TV and retail media will prove to be bright spots, but social media could be a challenge.

Tapestry brings its D2C and wholesale teams together to create a consistent brand experience across channels, while Hollister enables teens to fill their carts and send to a parent for purchase. Instacart and eBay find ways to offer customers more value.

For luxury brands, tapping into the partnership channel presents a unique opportunity to reach new audiences and maximize brand awareness. The pay-for-performance partnership model mitigates risk by allowing luxury brands to work with partners that can curate rich stories all the way down the purchase funnel for an established community.

TikTok is going all-in on in-app purchases; Meta is focused on shoppable ads; and YouTube hopes to gain a competitive advantage through its strong creator relationships. All of this is happening as we forecast US retail social commerce sales will grow nearly 30% this year to hit $68.92 billion

Snap is having trouble monetizing because Snapchat is primarily a chat platform, and “messaging apps are notoriously difficult to monetize,” according to our analyst Jasmine Enberg. The company could lean into its software as a service retail offerings, but consumers also aren’t sold on AR for shopping. Just 12.4% of US adults use AR for shopping, according to our forecast.

The US online resale market is back on the rise this year, following a 6.6% decrease in 2022, according to our forecast. The trend shows no signs of slowing down over the next few years, with ecommerce resale volume surpassing $100 billion in 2026.

In the US, 77% of TV-owning households had a smart TV as of Q1 2023, according to Hub Research. Connected TVs, which include smart TVs, streaming sticks, and other devices, will be used in 115.1 million households next year, more than double the number of traditional pay TV households, according to our forecast.

Snap’s new product lineup, revealed at Snapchat Partner Summit 2023, proves the company is still as innovative as ever. But under the excitement lie big questions about the state of its core ad business.

As retail media enters its next phase, marketing efforts are moving up the funnel toward new formats like open web, social, and streaming TV. By leveraging partnerships with social media companies, streaming platforms, and publishers, retail media networks can reach consumers earlier in the buying cycle and build brand awareness.

“[AI] really does raise the bar in terms of what people are going to expect from you,” our analyst Jeremy Goldman said on our recent “ChatGPT and Generative AI” panel. As AI matures, it will become more specialized, automating mundane tasks, ushering in personalization, and changing the way consumers, retailers, and marketers use the internet. Here are eight predictions for that not-so-distant future.

On today’s episode, host Bill Fisher is joined by our analysts Paul Briggs, Matteo Ceurvels, and Carina Perkins to talk about the upcoming crowning of King Charles III in the UK, other major events around the world, and what sort of effects they will have on retail and marketing.

D2C ecommerce is rapidly evolving, driven by digital marketing, AI-enhanced personalization, sustainability, and more. By identifying and leveraging these emerging trends, businesses can effectively adapt to this competitive environment and address the dynamic expectations of consumers today.

“Over 50% [of users] say they view Pinterest as a place to shop,” said Pinterest CEO Bill Ready. “Yet we haven’t made it easy for them to shop historically, as shoppable content was not integrated into core experiences.”

Retailers and restaurants struggle to fill positions: Over 36% of companies said hiring has gotten harder over the past year.