蘑菇AV

Consumer spending rose in the first four months of 2024: Shoppers are becoming more deal-conscious as cost-of-living pressures weigh heavily.

Today鈥檚 episode is all about the future of banking as a service (BAAS). In our "Headlines" segment, we use Railsr鈥檚 fall from grace to discuss how today鈥檚 economic uncertainty has slowed down the progress of embedded finance and BaaS. In "Story by Numbers," we examine a cornerstone advisor鈥檚 forecast of BaaS revenues in 2026 and how a 2022 study from Endava found that about half of fintechs are having scaling and platform issues with their BaaS providers. And in "Pretend CEO," we ask guest Leda Glyptis to pretend that she鈥檚 teamed up with a giant private equity firm with unlimited capital resources and a vision of building or buying her way to win a material share of the $25 billion of BaaS revenues in 2026. Join the fun with host Rob Rubin, our analyst Eleni Digalaki, and special guest Leda Glyptis, chief client officer at 10x Banking and author of the recently released book "Bankers Like Us."

After 11 months of US ad declines, Standard Media's US Ad Market Tracker showed 2.5% growth in May, signaling a potential rebound. Even with mixed signals and uncertainties, there is at last a sign of hope, our analyst Paul Verna said on a recent episode of 鈥淏ehind the Numbers.鈥�

The past six months have been a roller coaster of rising consumer-goods costs, uneven employment news, and increased optimism about the end of the pandemic鈥攁ll mixed with a tightening of discretionary spending. In September, consumers were cutting back on dining out and entertainment. What are they doing now?

As marketing budgets bend under the pressure of economic uncertainty, SEO is increasingly important for its low costs and compounding returns. Some 58% of marketers plan to use AI for content and SEO by the end of this year, compared to 10% who currently do, according to BrightEdge data.

CPG brands hike prices to pad their margins: Companies are leveraging data to minimize the share of consumers who trade down to less expensive options. (This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.)

Walmart is shuttering four stores in Chicago: The retail giant says that the stores lose 鈥渢ens of millions of dollars a year,鈥� and their annual losses nearly doubled in the last five years.

The agency said it will use about $20B of the fund to cover Silicon Valley Bank depositors. Banks (and maybe customers) will pay in the long run.

SVB鈥檚 fall could set off more uncertainty in the tech sector: The collapse of a longtime cog in the country鈥檚 innovation engine will put additional strain on a tech sector already reeling from layoffs and losses.

On today's episode, we present our first-ever live recorded podcast segment of "Behind the Numbers Reimagining Retail," recorded during our "Attention!" summit. In the episode, hosts Sara Lebow and Marcus Johnson quiz our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian against her retail team鈥攁nalysts Sky Canaves, Blake Droesch, and Zak Stambor鈥攊n a game show focused around consumer shopping behavior, how people perceive resale value, and whether folks want to use AR to shop.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss why people don't take advantage of loyalty, how to keep consumers engaged in membership programs, and how to make sure customers have a seamless experience with all the right loyalty touchpoints. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top four under-the-radar loyalty programs and consider the one thing that makes them great. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Suzy Davidkhanian.

Retail layoffs garner headlines but they鈥檙e not the full picture: The number of people working in retail continues to grow鈥攚e break it down.

Providing a glimpse into the strategies behind a year marked by economic uncertainty, ecommerce disruptors, and rising competition for consumer loyalty, our 鈥淏ehind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail鈥� podcast鈥檚 unofficial retail awards offer lessons for brands to make more informed decisions in 2024. Our analysts discuss the winners that caught their attention鈥攆or better or worse.

Consumers look for deals, flexible payment options this holiday season: Over three-quarters of shoppers plan to hunt for discounts, while BNPL use is set to soar amid financial constraints.

Small banks and credit unions should focus on digital interactions, ease of use, and consumer safety to boost deposits in H2 2023.

Walmart sees growth opportunities regardless of the macroeconomic environment: The retailer looks to boost its international sales, improve its digital presence, and expand its retail media business.

Many retailers launched paid memberships over the past three years. For the most part, they were intended to increase revenues and build loyalty during the pandemic-driven ecommerce boom. But the slowdown in revenue growth indicates that consumers are only willing to spend so much on retail subscriptions, particularly amid economic uncertainty.

Higher-income consumers feel the pinch of soaring inflation: US retail sales growth slowed to 2.9% year-over-year in March as spending on big-ticket items slowed.

Amazon sees growth opportunities amid economic challenges: That's CEO Andy Jassy's key message in an optimistic letter to shareholders about navigating difficult terrain. (This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.)

Even with a booming start, the first quarter of the year quickly became unstable after multiple banks collapsed. Here鈥檚 what we think banks鈥� results will show.

Warehouse inventory levels remain a significant hurdle for many retailers: While there鈥檚 progress, only 36% of supply chain managers expect inventories to return to normal this year.