With the ascent of Chinese ecommerce disruptors and the ongoing rivalry between Amazon and Walmart, the upcoming holiday season is expected to bring some big shifts. Some of those shifts include the lessening of Cyber Five’s importance and retailers losing focus on profitability, said our analysts Jeremy Goldman and Zak Stambor on a recent episode of the “Behind the Numbers” podcast.

Ecommerce sales will return to double-digit growth this holiday season amid a backdrop of healthy consumer spending.

Over one-third (38%) of US adults have decreased their impulse spending this year, up from 14% in 2022, per a study commissioned by Slickdeals and conducted by OnePoll. As we enter the holiday season, there are still a few ways retailers can encourage impulse purchases, from experimenting with shoppable media and putting seasonal products front and center to anticipating the last-minute needs of customers picking up orders in-store.

The new year is just around the corner, and it’s a great time for retailers to take stock of what worked and what didn’t in 2023 and stay informed on what consumers will expect in 2024.

Prime Big Deal Days exceeded Amazon’s expectations: While shoppers focused on cheaper essentials, the retailer showcased its supply chain capabilities.

Amazon Fresh, despite failing to gain traction with its brick-and-mortar endeavors, is trying to assert itself in the grocery space. Its customer base, though much smaller than competitors like Walmart and Target, is attractive to consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers because those shoppers are open to trying new products.

Digitally native D2C brands embrace traditional retail strategies: More are inking partnerships with retailers like Amazon and Walmart to expand their reaches and offset soaring acquisition costs.

With the start of Q4, the holiday season is officially here. That means holiday returns will be piling up soon.

Toys R Us looks to fill a hole in the retail landscape: It plans to rapidly expand its physical presence by opening up to two dozen flagship stores.

What are 2023’s top retail media networks for CPG brands? From Amazon to Kroger, we share a selection from our in-depth report evaluating ad buyers’ perceptions of leading platforms.

Walmart has the largest audience of any digital grocery platform. But our survey found that Amazon Fresh customers were more active and willing to try new products.

Temu overtook Target in US unique website visitors in January, but Walmart and Amazon remain on top (by a wide margin, in Amazon’s case), per Comscore Inc.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether people will ever buy items they see in TV shows, if online ratings are broken, a relaunched Amazon Shipping trying to compete with UPS and FedEx, if CNN and sports can move the needle for streaming service Max, whether the continuing partnership between Target and Starbucks is boosting curbside pickup, where we got gas before gas stations, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Paul Verna.

Here’s how ad buyers ranked the retail media networks of 14 leading CPG-focused retailers—including Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Amazon, Costco Wholesale, CVS, Instacart, Kroger, Target, and Walmart—according to the attributes they value most.

Price matters to everyone, but ease and convenience play an even bigger role in purchase decisions. Plus, retailers should consider revamping their apps to garner more sales and use their target audience to guide in-store and online strategies.

Ulta expands in-store ecommerce fulfillment to 400 locations: Stores fulfilled nearly 40% of the retailer's digital orders.

Target shifts away from a nationwide distribution network: By placing goods closer to customers, the retailer is delivering orders faster and speeding up store replenishment.

Instacart’s gross transaction volume grew just 5% in the first half: That’s a troubling number that can’t be glossed over by the company’s 30% revenue growth.