The global last-mile delivery market is valued at approximately $201 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at a 12% compound annual rate through 2029. For retailers competing with Amazon's delivery dominance, mastering last-mile logistics is no longer optional.

Growing consumer adoption of AI tools is positioning AI platforms as an alternative shopping channel—but most AI-driven transactions are still completed on retailer websites.

AI was everywhere at CES 2026, from robots to toilets and toys. The race to define the next computing interface is on, agentic ad tech is emerging, and health wearables are pushing further into physiological data. Best in show: Lego’s Smart Brick.

The partnership brings card-linked offers from major brands, expanding OnePay rewards beyond Walmart.

Higher frequency and broader usage suggest it is becoming a default behavior rather than a situational option.

Mexico’s digital ad market is rapidly transforming as new formats, channels, and players emerge. Understanding the local market forces, challenges, and opportunities driving these shifts is vital to staying competitive.

Each is borrowing from the other’s playbook as they race to dominate ecommerce.

Trust in consumer banking varies widely in 2026. Primary banks still anchor core products. But confidence differs by generation, product, and channel, with honesty, transparency, and security shaping how consumers evaluate financial providers.

Dunkin’, Starbucks, and Walmart are among those looking to capitalize on “better for you” food trends.

The retailer’s leadership reshuffle signals a long-term bet on agentic commerce and faster, AI-fueled retail.

Digital grocery has evolved from a pandemic-era convenience to a core retail channel. More than 90% of US consumers now shop for groceries both online and in-store, according to FMI and NielsenIQ. As the channel matures, the competitive battleground shifts from basic fulfillment to AI-powered personalization, retail media monetization, and seamless omnichannel experiences. This FAQ addresses the trends, players, and strategies shaping digital grocery in 2026.

The growing role of AI in shopping is forcing retailers to rethink discovery and decision-making. Walmart, for example, is embedding its ecommerce capabilities into external AI assistants like Google’s Gemini. Meanwhile, Amazon is keeping AI-led discovery and decision-making inside its own ecosystem with tools like Rufus.

This FAQ discusses how the holiday marketing season is evolving into a longer, leaner, and more competitive period, driven by economic headwinds, earlier shopping behavior, and the growing importance of retail media. It outlines why marketers must plan earlier, prioritize measurable and omnichannel strategies, and avoid overconcentrating spend around the Cyber Five to capture demand across an extended season.

"Retailers are reinventing the ways that they connect with their customers in real life," said our analyst Blake Droesch during a recent “Behind the Numbers” episode. "The D2C revolution that we saw play out online has now really reached its limitations, giving way to a disconnection between brands and their customers."

CTV’s evolution will hit full stride in 2026 amid rising viewership, better measurement, and interactive ads.

Walmart’s low-risk online health hub could funnel customers to retail and pharmacy without the heavy overhead of primary care.

Walmart's latest genAI tools simplify campaign creation and optimization, helping advertisers prepare for a future shaped by AI-driven discovery.

Next year will bring shifts that redefine how networks operate, how brands show up, and how performance is measured. Here are three predictions for commerce media in 2026.

Visa and Mastercard reached a new settlement with merchants to lower fees in the US this November—another attempt to end a roughly 20-year fight in the courts, per SEC filings. The modest interchange reductions and new ability to steer customers away from higher-fee cards offer meaningful cost relief for small and midsize retailers that consumers may be more willing to support by using another card. However, those concessions are unlikely to move the needle for large national chains. They don’t materially change their economics, nor do they address the fundamental issue that networks and issuers still hold most of the pricing power.

It may be a new year, but we’re still catching up on what happened during the last week of 2025. Here’s everything you may have missed.