Grocery prices remain front of mind for many consumers: That presents an opportunity for value-oriented merchants such as Aldi, Target, and Walmart to steal share by offering low prices for Thanksgiving staples.

Dollar General’s Popshelf format announces app, loyalty, and store updates to attract wealthier shoppers: The retailer will also close all locations in DG Market stores after the assortment failed to win over the dollar store’s core customer base.

Drugstores’ decline is hurting the US beauty market: Both Coty and L’Oréal linked the sector’s challenges to softer beauty demand, although sales broadly remain healthy as ecommerce and specialty retailers pick up the slack.

To help shoppers search more quickly and efficiently, Google has revamped Google Shopping, using AI to deliver more relevant, personalized information, product listings, and deals.

Toys and hobby sales have normalized after a pandemic-era spike, though some brands are still flying high. Here’s what to expect from the industry this year.

As the path to purchase becomes more fragmented, brands must be everywhere the customer is—and retail media partnerships are stepping up. “There really isn't [one] common flow, and so you really have to make sure you're present in any place the consumer is thinking about your brand's products,” Eric Tarnowski, senior vice president, connected commerce at Kenvue, said during Advertising Week New York. “Every conversion point is a brand-building opportunity.”

Amazon and Google are enhancing their visual search tools as consumers seek more seamless, intuitive ways to search for products online.

Sweater weather has arrived, meaning pumpkin spice-flavored everything will flood retail shelves. But consumers’ price consciousness could make it difficult for retailers to encourage spending on discretionary purchases. That’s why Amazon, Target, and Albertsons are expanding their private label brands, leaning on fun, seasonal flavors and small indulgences to get consumers to splurge beyond their normal groceries.

Consumers plan to return to malls this holiday season, shop more in-person: Mall visits are expected to rise 18%, which is good news for department stores—although Amazon, Walmart, and Target remain top destinations.

Temu is eating away at dollar stores’ market share: Dollar General and Dollar Tree face significant headwinds as their core customer base reduces spending and competition mounts.

Publicis acquires Mars United Commerce: The deal strengthens holding company’s ability to offer commerce media solutions.

GenAI could help boost the efficiency of customer service teams and give shoppers access to fast, personalized, 24/7 support. To make the most of the technology, retailers and brands need to understand the key use cases in a customer service setting—and stay mindful of the risks.

GenAI search could have a transformative impact on the shopping journey. To satisfy customers and stay competitive, retailers should focus on two essential innovations.

Amazon and Walmart are search advertising’s growth engines: The latter is a distant second to the former, accounting for nearly 4 in 10 non-Amazon retail media search ad dollars this year.

A truncated holiday spending period with fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the election will throw a curveball to retail sales this season, our analyst Sky Canaves said on an episode of the “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. In-store retail will see healthy growth, consumers will continue holding back on splurges, and mobile will uplift overall ecommerce. Here are three trends we’re predicting for the upcoming holiday season.

When it comes to retail memberships, Amazon is the leader, boasting 97.2 million household Amazon Prime members across the US, nearly three-quarters of the country’s total households, per our forecast. Taking a page from Amazon’s playbook, retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are using their own members-only sales events to build out their retail memberships.

Retailers faced no shortage of challenges in the first half of the year as elevated interest rates, the lingering effects of inflation, and a loosening labor market weighed on consumer spending. In this report, we’ll contextualize our coverage of retailers’ Q2 revenues across four key verticals: department stores, home, mass merchants, and off-price.

Both retailers used generative AI to improve employee productivity in Q2—Walmart leveraged the tech to improve its product catalog and Target used it to enhance in-store employee tools. Target’s curbside pickup service helped it grow digital comparable sales 8.7% YoY, while Walmart’s marketplace and sales of GLP-1 drugs contributed to its 4.2% comp sales growth YoY.

US retail and ecommerce sales will maintain stable growth over the next five years, with pockets of opportunity emerging from new digital consumers and mobile-first online shopping trends.

Target’s comparable sales rose for the first time in five quarters: While the retailer’s value-oriented focus hit the mark in Q2, Target took a “measured approach” with its outlook ahead.