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UK retail sales are performing better than expected, with consumers still spending despite high inflation鈥攂ut ecommerce will lose further share this year as shoppers continue returning to stores and cut nonessential spending.

Walmart dominated the US retail landscape in 2024: The mass merchant鈥檚 ability to offer savings and convenience won over shoppers, and its growing ecommerce and advertising businesses are helping it make inroads against Amazon.

But shoppers are also seeking loyalty savings in other categories. In France, department stores have the biggest share of loyalty memberships, per Capterra. Apparel and beauty and personal care stores also have significant loyalty membership across the former EU-5. Financial benefits are the priority鈥攂ut Gen Zers also want experiential rewards.

This was particularly true of beauty products, which young influencers like Evelyn GRWM have been showcasing on their own accounts. Shein and Casetify worked with Gen Alpha influencers, while Claire鈥檚 focused on the generation with a new fragrance line. Drunk Elephant made a post about which of its products were safe for children. And Dior even launched a $230 perfume for babies.

Duty-free sales in Hainan province, a popular destination for luxury shopping, fell 29.3% YoY in 2024, per Reuters. Similarly, retail sales in Hong Kong fell 7.3% YoY in November, the ninth-straight month of declines, despite a 5.3% YoY increase in the number of visitors from mainland China.

Dupe culture goes mainstream: Target and e.l.f. Beauty are among the companies benefiting from Gen Zers鈥� affinity for cheaper versions of premium products.

Amazon Fresh could get a refresh to conquer the grocery market, Finesse uses AI to reduce fashion waste, and Claire鈥檚 leans on content to engage Gen Zalphas. Meanwhile, Macy鈥檚 downsizes, e.l.f. Beauty aims to go viral, and Walmart makes strides in media. Here are six retailers that are most likely to makeover, reinvent, go viral, and more, as predicted by our analysts in a recent 鈥淩eimagining Retail鈥� podcast episode.

With over 34 million members, Sephora鈥檚 Beauty Insider loyalty program is generally regarded as one of the best loyalty programs in the US. To keep customers coming back, Sephora is balancing gamified experiences with the classic rewards that it knows customers like. Here are five tips from Emmy Brown Berlind, senior vice president and general manager of loyalty at Sephora, on how retailers can level up their loyalty programs and deliver a best-in-class experience.

Our analysts have already made their big predictions for the year ahead, but the newsletter team has a few more to add to the list. As Amazon hits the gas on grocery, it may use its Amazon Fresh stores for fulfillment. Plus, we think beauty will get personal, Amazon could give digitally native brands a helping hand, and a healing economy could spell trouble for discount stores.

According to Piper Sandler鈥檚 45th semi-annual survey of US teen consumers, Gen Z spending was up 2% YoY to $2,419 annually. We dig into some of the key findings from the survey and offer our perspective, including why Ulta Beauty is proof the 鈥渓ipstick effect鈥� is in full swing and how Amazon can keep up with platforms like TikTok.

Consumer spending patterns shifted in 2023: Retailers like Walmart, TJ Maxx, and E.l.f Beauty benefited from consumers growing cost consciousness.

鈥淥耻迟-辞蹿-丑辞尘别鈥檚 beauty is its proximity,鈥� said Steve Nicklin, senior vice president of marketing and analytics at the Out of Home Advertising Association (OAAA). 鈥淲e're also intercepting consumers when they're most likely to act.鈥�

Forty-four percent of US adults plan to spend their normal amount on health and beauty products this year, according to a MetaPack survey. More than two-thirds said they鈥檙e not changing their spending on apparel (39%) or on DIY and gardening (34%).

鈥淭丑别 beauty of a clean room is that it's a privacy-centric way for CVS to share data from its 74 million Extra Care members and for us to share the data from our 498 million users, and end up with a repository of powerful, completely anonymized first-party data,鈥� said Carrie Sweeney, VP of retail at Pinterest. 鈥淭丑别n we can connect our users with targeted ads without sharing any of their personal data, just as CVS can on its website.鈥�

In August, brands got physical, with Olipop entering a new stadium, Nordstrom inking a deal with Rihanna, and Walmart growing with nonendemic retail media opportunities. Others took a more digital approach, making shopping more seamless on social media sites and AI-powered search. Here are the moves that made our analysts name eight brands to our unofficial most interesting list in August.

Victoria鈥檚 Secret, Party City, and Lush Cosmetics are the newest retail partners DoorDash has added to its platform as it expands beyond restaurant delivery to offer customers on-demand delivery for alcohol, grocery, and convenience items.

Many shoppers are using ecommerce to purchase new items in traditionally offline categories, like food and beverage. But in-store buying has remained popular in mature ecommerce categories, such as clothing. Social commerce shows its strength in several key categories.

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands have attempted to break into D2C ecommerce in recent years, to varying degrees of success. How can they avoid unprofitable strategies and develop a viable D2C ecommerce channel?

And so a lot of beauty brands, their measure of success is when a user is on Beauty Talk, I want to be the first three videos that people swipe through versus one that randomly gets a million views. (27:14):. The social media space has been innovated upon and evolving, but something that we've been noticing is how easy it is to buy impressions.

Electronics, toys, appliances, and beauty were also top performers鈥攊n part because some shoppers (and retailers) saw an opportunity to get ahead of tariffs that will likely drive up prices in the coming year. Brick-and-mortar loses out: While shoppers were happy to spend online, retailers had a tougher time convincing them to shell out on in-store purchases.

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.