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There鈥檚 no doubt that the combination of all digital activities drives far more product and brand awareness than the physical store. But no single online channel鈥攚hether third-party retailers, brand websites, or social networks鈥攈as overtaken the power of the store.

Many retailers are ramping up their in-store media offerings to create an interactive, digital experience within the store, said Marsten, citing The Kroger Co.鈥檚 partnership with Cooler Screens and Walmart鈥檚 wall of TVs. 鈥凄颈驳颈迟补濒 is physically changing what the store looks like inside,鈥� she said. 鈥淐hanging what you鈥檙e going to be able to interact with, touch, feel.鈥�.

GenAI and social are set to heavily influence the UK commerce and advertising landscape in 2025, while thrifty consumer behaviors persist and video viewing shifts to mostly digital.

The Super Bowl is one of the few collective experiences left: That鈥檚 why Walmart, Amazon, and Aldi are going head-to-head on grocery deals, and retailers like Abercrombie are making plays related to the game.

Malls are struggling to stay profitable as consumer behaviors change and shopping moves even more online. While foot traffic and occupancy rates are down, there are some opportunities for growth. By changing up their retail mix and mastering the omnichannel experience, malls can regain relevance among shoppers.

They will earn 2 points and tier credits for every $1 spent on hotels, dining, gas stations, and grocery stores. Cardholders will earn 1 point and tier credit for every $1 spent everywhere else, including deposits on BetMGM, the company鈥檚 online sports betting and gaming platform. Cardholders will also get a $200 resort credit upon account opening and on their card anniversary each year.

UK retailers are leading the charge on in-store retail media, thanks to their already extensive digital screen networks. Here鈥檚 what brands and retailers worldwide can learn from the digitization of UK stores.

But the biggest determinant of where consumers buy their groceries is their proximity to a store. Opening more stores makes its locations more convenient to more consumers, helping the retailer capture more grocery spending.

While many networks are comparable (such as similar grocery retailers), they each offer unique audiences, measurement capacities, and ad formats. Media planners should make sure retail media networks with which they partner are providing return on ad spend, and be open to switching to new players if their current ones aren鈥檛 optimal. This was originally featured in the 蘑菇AV Daily newsletter.

Announced last month, Amazon鈥檚 Alexa+ will update some Echo devices to create smart home routines, order groceries, and analyze images. Our take: If Apple doesn鈥檛 accelerate AI deployment, it risks losing Gen Z and millennial consumers who are already adopting AI-enabled assistants from its biggest rivals.

The next front in Temu鈥檚 campaign against Amazon will revolve around low-cost grocery. Temu could appeal to inflation-weary consumers by introducing the gamified, group-buying grocery shopping concept that made sister app Pinduoduo enormously popular in China. Mounting pressure will squeeze the long tail of retail media networks.

Amazon鈥檚 everyday essentials business鈥攚hich includes nonperishable groceries along with beauty, health, and personal care products鈥攊s growing 50% faster than the rest of its retail business, retail CEO Doug Herrington said at an all-hands meeting, largely because more than half of those essentials are now being delivered same- or next-day.

Travel companies leveraging first-party data to power proprietary ad networks are establishing a presence in the commerce media landscape. Advertisers can enhance their digital strategies by incorporating travel into the commerce media mix.

Walmart鈥檚 clear value proposition helped it attract consumers across the income spectrum鈥攅specially in the grocery category. And its Walmart+ membership service helped it retain those customers by quickly delivering online orders at no additional cost. The combination of Walmart鈥檚 booming grocery and ecommerce sales also fueled its highly lucrative advertising business.

Walmart鈥檚 own research has found that many consumers are already comfortable with the idea of allowing digital agents to make purchases on their behalf. Nearly half (47%) would trust them to choose and buy household essentials within a set budget, followed by 41% for home goods, 38% for food and groceries, and 38% for technology and electronics.

Ecommerce hasn鈥檛 overtaken physical stores: An excerpt from our recent report explains how retail stores stack up against digital channels in driving new product discovery and conversions.

It鈥檚 not just music platforms like Apple Music or YouTube Music with their own versions: Gaming platform Steam, grocery service Instacart, and many other apps across industries also roll out end-of-year personalized campaigns.

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.

Chernofsky said that retailers need to stop viewing stores as isolated sales channels and instead see them as part of a "harmonized journey" where physical and digital elements complement each other. "We need to start recognizing that the journey of the customer is not just online. It's this kind of harmonized journey going between the store and digital channels," he said.

Grocery run: Though grocery is further behind other categories, at 20.0% adoption, it is the fastest-growing app category in the US and has been for several years now with no sign of slowing. 鈥淭he rapid growth in grocery app users could feed the retail media craze,鈥� wrote our analyst Yoram Wurmser in his Mobile App Users 2023 report.

Digital shelf labels are small screens that attach to retail shelves, enabling retailers to update prices and product information in real time.

Nonalcoholic beer, wine, and spirits retail sales in the US grew 31.3% YoY in 2024, per a November report from Circana. 83% of Gen Z adults typically buy alcohol in-store at a supermarket or liquor store, according to an October 2024 survey from Attest.

The most popular category of subscriptions among all consumers is digital media, followed by delivery services, gaming, and food and groceries, according to SurveyMonkey. Subscription OTT connected TV platform ad spending will grow 40.5% this year to reach $7.54 billion, per our March forecast.