Learn how the pandemic, the biggest disruption to consumer retail spending in recent years, impacted US retail—and how it will impact your planning for 2021 and beyond.

Livestreaming was an existing trend that gained newfound relevance during the pandemic. Over the past few months, nearly all of the major US social networks have expanded their services and introduced new livestreaming opportunities, many of which are aimed at boosting commerce on the platforms.

The retail giant is making its prepaid debit card—offered with Green Dot Bank—available as a demand deposit account. That and its big store footprint could pose a threat to smaller banks in rural areas.

Ecommerce sales at Walmart, including Sam's Club, will reach $67.39 billion in 2021, per our forecast.

Amazon’s $300 billion lead over Walmart

Amazon has been moving its shopping holiday around, and now it's next week. Melissa Burdick, co-founder and president at retail media buying technology firm Pacvue, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss what Amazon gets out of having Prime Day in Q2 and the latest in the retail media war.

On today's episode, we discuss how many Americans have adopted telehealth, how people are using it, and what's both driving it forward and holding it back. We then talk about the popularity of buy now, pay later services, why some retailers are now starting to expand their brick and mortar presence, and what adding prescription discounts might do for Amazon and Walmart's membership programs. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Lisa Phillips and director of forecasting at Insider Intelligence Cindy Liu.

It’s Prime Day in June. Amazon traditionally held Prime Day in mid-July but pushed the event to October last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. (The exception was India, where it took place in August 2020.) This year, Amazon will hold Prime Day on June 21–22.

Prime Day sales will surpass $10 billion

“Roku Recommends” rolls out: The new show from Roku’s branded content studio surfaces top streaming content and gives advertisers a chance to reach viewers who might otherwise skip straight to ad-free services.

Shortly after Amazon confirmed Prime Day for June 21 and 22, both retailers introduced coinciding sales events as competition continues heating up in the retail space.

Snapchat goes all in on AR ecommerce: The platform's long history with augmented reality innovation gives it a boost over competitors like Amazon or Pinterest looking to leverage AR for shopping.

eBay rolls out lending to UK SMBs: The ecommerce giant is partnering with embedded finance platform YouLend to extend loans to its sellers—giving the former a chance to make itself stickier for platform sellers and the latter access to data and loan growth.

The duopoly of Facebook and Google still dominates digital ad revenues worldwide, but a collective rival from the ecommerce industry is showing momentum.

Amazon's ad revenue is crushing competition

Amid the carnage of bankruptcies, store closures, and massive layoffs in 2020, some retail companies actually fared very well. Adjustments to supply chains, product and service bundles, stocking and inventory, and customer service have been the keys to success for big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. Others, such as Apple, lululemon athletica, Nike, and Starbucks, are focusing on innovating and modifying store experiences through digital integration, frictionless shopping, and atmospherics modified for a “new normal” of social distancing and sanitization.

Last year, China was the only market to see overall ad spending growth, although digital ad spending performed well almost everywhere. This year, every country will see growth in almost every category.

Amazon’s US ecommerce sales will grow by 15.3% this year to $367.19 billion after a meteoric 44.1% rise in sales during 2020.