This is the first installment of our quarterly “Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

This is the first installment of our quarterly “Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

This is the first installment of our quarterly “Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

As ecommerce grows in back-to-school shopping (34.9% of total back-to school sales this year versus 33.5% in 2023), content creators are playing a pivotal role in how consumers find school supplies. This shift is driven by younger parents buying classroom supplies for K-12 children and college students outfitting their dorm rooms. Both groups favor online shopping for its convenience and the ability to compare prices, our analyst Sarah Marzano said in a recent edition of our “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast.

Small-format stores are gaining popularity among retailers trying to get closer to where consumers live and work. Some retailers, like Macy’s, are using small-format stores to reach consumers in more urban locations. But others, like Target, are going for a slightly different demographic—college students.

Urban Outfitters and Pacsun are tapping into Pinterest and in-person experiences to get students and families shopping, while Meijer, Walmart, and Target are focused on value. Those are just a few brands that made our Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List, Back-to-School Edition, for July 2024.

Amazon, Walmart, and Stitch Fix lead retailers when it comes to AI implementation: But retailers of all sizes are leveraging the technology to drive sales and improve CX, according to a report provided exclusively to EMARKETER.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers in July, focusing on back-to-school initiatives for this episode. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analyst Sky Canaves, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Are millennials pulling away from Amazon? While they were the one demographic group whose Prime Day spending dropped year over year, they continued to spend on other retailers’ sites.

Prime Day 2024 shatters records yet again as consumers stock up on essentials: Shoppers spent $14.2 billion online, spurred by significant discounts and the chance to get a head start on back-to-school needs.

Consumers take a cautious approach to back-to-school shopping: To drive shoppers to spend, Macy’s revamped its Epic Threads brand, Kohl’s added Limited Too, and Old Navy offered cash back.

Amazon’s pricing and returns policies draw complaints from sellers: Merchants flag lost revenues, higher fees, and inadequate seller support as reasons for their discontent.

Walmart’s retail media network generated 11 billion impressions in Q1: The retailer is chipping away at Amazon’s dominance, despite the latter’s moves to boost non-endemic spend.

TikTok’s top brands pulled back spending after ban signing: Ad spend growth slowed in the month after the ban was signed, and major retailers like Target reduced spend.

Consumers spend cautiously as inflation perceptions, higher debt payments hurt confidence: But we expect retail sales growth to be healthy as buying power recovers.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the main ways the shopper journey is evolving, how retail media is shifting to encompass the full funnel, and how in-store retail media can help bring a brand's shopping message to life, particularly during holidays and events. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Sarah Marzano and Nikhil Sharma, senior director of performance and insights at Roundel.

Target looks to its online marketplace to drive growth: The retailer’s new partnership with Shopify could expand its selection online and in stores, while also boosting its retail media business.

With consumers increasingly shopping across multiple channels, Roundel, Target’s media network, offers comprehensive media solutions that connect brands with customers at every stage. By combining on-site and off-site strategies, advertisers can maximize their return on ad spend and strengthen customer relationships.

Retail media search is gaining steam while Google and other traditional search players lag. Marketers will grapple with genAI and measurement challenges as they rely more heavily on retailers’ search ad offerings.

Pride products are plentiful this year: Walmart, JCPenney, Kohl’s, and Abercrombie push past the right-wing backlash to offer Pride-related products.