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On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Walmart plans to use AI to enhance the customer shopping experience, Instacart pushing smart carts into in-store retail media, why consumers are dissatisfied with their in-store shopping experience, how best to reduce clothing returns, the rise鈥攁nd potential fall鈥攐f the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.

Prior to TikTok Shop鈥檚 launch last September, live shopping platform Whatnot earned nearly 100% of social shopping gross merchandise value in 2023, according to a recent Earnest Analytics report. What鈥檚 Whatnot? Whatnot is a livestream marketplace platform, specializing in the sale of collectibles including sports cards, sneakers, comics, and vintage clothing.

OpenAI鈥檚 Sora could be to video generation what ChatGPT has become to text generation鈥攁 user-friendly, scalable tool that creates human-quality work. Tyler Perry put an $800 million studio expansion on hold after seeing the tool in action. And creators with access to the tool have created impressive works, from surreal nature documentaries to underwater fashion shows.

How consumers shop for doctors online: A new Patient Pop survey shows that finding a healthcare provider online is a lot like picking a restaurant or buying shoes. We dig into what they鈥檙e looking for before booking a doc.

Fashion: $13.22. Toys and games: $10.03. Baby and toddler: $7.45. Furniture鈥檚 CPA is more than four times higher than home and garden and more than 10-fold that of the lowest-cost categories. Why it matters: The high customer acquisition costs magnify headwinds for furniture, which has lower marketing efficiency due to longer sales cycles and the need for repeated outreach.

According to ecommerce software vendor SmartScout, 930 products across categories like clothing, jewelry, and electronics on Amazon have seen price increases since April 9, with an average jump of 29%, per CNBC. Roughly a quarter of those price hikes were tied to sellers based in China, including major brands like Anker, which has raised prices on about one-fifth of its US products.

Our take: Adidas鈥� strategy is clicking with consumers, and the brand is banking on its portfolio of 鈥渕odern silhouettes鈥� in its lifestyle category鈥攁long with innovations like the 3D-printed Climacool shoe鈥攖o overcome macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds and drive high single-digit sales growth in 2025. That would position it to continue chipping away at Nike鈥檚 market share.

The app initially tested ads in the US with brands in the fashion, gaming, and beauty industries in Q3 2024, and is now expanding its ad efforts with a commercial team to support brands and partners. After its expansion in Europe and Japan, over 200 brands have run ads on BeReal, including Levi鈥檚, Nike, and Amazon. BeReal has also tested US ads from some of these brands over the previous six months.

This approach aligns with broader retail trends, according to analyst Sky Canaves, who noted that "eyewear and the face might be a little more straightforward than say with apparel" for virtual try-on technology, making it one of the "relatively easier use cases for AI Try-On.".

This is the, what do we talk about when we talk about fast fashion? There's different layers of it. You have slower fast fashion maybe, you have higher end fast fashion, which is H&M and Zara. You have faster, cheaper, fast fashion, which is SHEIN and Temu, and then you have Forever 21 kind of having an identity crisis in the middle.

Higher production costs (especially from China) in toys, apparel, and home goods could reduce third-party interest in branded IP鈥攁 problem for firms like Disney, which generates outsize margins from licensing, notes The Hollywood Reporter. The hardware wildcard. Tariffs may make smart TVs, streaming devices, and game consoles more expensive, affecting downstream media engagement.

Social media users in select countries (US, UK, Australia, France, and Saudi Arabia) trust brands over influencers when it comes to finance, apparel, and skincare, per an October study from Snap Inc. and IPG Magna. Finance is where this trend is most pronounced.

Much of this ad spend comes from Chinese ecommerce brands marketing directly to US consumers, especially in categories like apparel, home goods, and electronics. Higher import costs may reduce these brands' US ambitions鈥攁nd their reliance on Meta鈥檚 performance-driven ad tools. Our take: Legal risks and shifting economics could weaken Meta鈥檚 influence.

Most consumers buy clothing online. Well beyond half (56%) of US consumers we polled in June 2024 had made an online apparel purchase in the previous month, while 38% bought shoes, and 25% accessories. Clothing was by far the most popular category for ecommerce purchases. Younger consumers are driving momentum for fashion.

Categories like women's apparel and jewelry underperformed, requiring heavy discounting to clear inventory. Department stores battled sluggish traffic and selective spending on luxury fashion. What it means for 2025:. Value-consciousness is paramount across all income levels, with affluent shoppers trading down to mass retailers for certain purchases.

鈥淪ome people don鈥檛 like the concept of having shoes on the plate that you eat from,鈥� said Sachin Jha, founder of Ocean Labs. 鈥淲hen you look too deep into it, you sort of can go 鈥榶uck.鈥欌��. While other generations were more product-driven, Gen Z is primarily 鈥渁bout the vibe鈥濃�攚hich is what brands look to perfect with this type of imagery, he said.

By leveraging AI, Shein can rapidly detect emerging fashion trends across the internet and send orders to its tightly integrated network of suppliers for quick production. Often, these orders are produced in small batches to test the market's response before scaling.

Department store Saks opened a new storefront on Amazon with a curated selection of luxury beauty and fashion items. Laura Mercier鈥檚 new storefront features exclusive bundles, limited-edition products, tutorials, and interactive questionnaires. Recently, Amazon hosted its third-annual Summer Beauty Event, offering discounts on premium and luxury brands like Armani Beauty, Est茅e Lauder, and Kiehl鈥檚.

This year鈥檚 diverse mix of SXSW sponsors included headliner Rivian, L鈥橭r茅al Groupe, Eli Lilly and Company, and Nobull鈥攁 performance shoe brand making its first experiential marketing foray outside of an athletics-focused event. In person, in-store, and out-of-home are amplified by digital.

Tariffs are eroding consumer confidence, weakening their desire (and ability) to purchase trendy apparel and other discretionary goods. Consumer caution could already be affecting Abercrombie鈥檚 namesake brand: Sales growth slowed considerably in Q4 and entered negative territory in February, CEO Fran Horowitz said. Nothing is certain: The hit to retailers鈥� bottom lines will also be significant.

More brands will take up Shein鈥檚 on-demand technology and marketplace to compete with larger fast-fashion players. Temu will challenge the 鈥渆verything鈥� store. The next front in Temu鈥檚 campaign against Amazon will revolve around low-cost grocery.

The average gamer spends $18.60 per month on in-game purchases and $15.07 on gaming accessories. In 2024, only 9% of global gamers bought a physical game every month, down from 12% in 2019. Interest in subscription services is growing, and users on paid-for services from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have increased 23% since Q4 2021.

The company is also investing in a Google-style AI model display that will show shoppers how different clothing items look on different sized virtual models to encourage purchases and help advertisers create more engaging experiences. Meta is exploring new genAI use cases like background and text generation for catalog ads.

This was evident in March data showing spikes in furniture, apparel, and auto sales. Tariffs鈥� reach extends across categories. While tariffs on electronics and cars were expected, few consumers realize how global supply chains influence everyday goods. "A lot of brands that we associate as being American are manufactured abroad," said Wolff.