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In response to rising costs, retail in 2024 was dominated by consumers鈥� desire for deals and discounts. And as President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 proposed tariffs will raise some prices even higher in 2025, consumers may turn to in-person shopping to control their spending.

Instacart鈥檚 revenues and profits spiked in 2022, helped by its growing ad business: That could speed up the timeline for the grocery delivery company鈥檚 long-awaited IPO.

Instacart鈥檚 ad growth slowed in Q4: That could create problems for the company as it relies more heavily on ads to offset softening grocery delivery demand.

Returns have always been expensive for retailers, but right now they鈥檙e at an all-time high. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a lot of the fast-fashion retailers like Zara and others like J.Crew, and Abercrombie & Fitch starting to charge return shipping for online orders,鈥� said our analyst Sky Canaves. But there鈥檚 more to it than charging. Here are six strategies for reducing returns.

Amazon will offer grocery delivery to non-Prime members nationwide: The retail giant also plans to resume opening Amazon Fresh stores next year.

On today's episode, we discuss the most important retail trends we're watching in 2023: how frugality and value are hollowing out the middle, why click and collect is so popular, why return policies will make or break retail loyalty, and more. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Suzy Davidkhanian and Carina Perkins.

On today's episode, we discuss whether streaming's golden age is suddenly waning, the race to build a do-everything app, Amazon's new TikTok-like shopping feature, how Disney+ is doing, Walmart's drone deliveries, the numbers that best sum up this year, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, vice president of Briefings Stephanie Taglianetti, and analyst Paul Verna.

On today's episode, we discuss why brands should be thinking more about community; Apple rolling out its buy now, pay later offering; consumers' shipping priorities; H&M's new resale program; what in-store retail robots can do; facts about US national parks; and more. Tune in to the discussion with our forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian, and analyst Blake Droesch.

Walmart鈥檚 strong Q3 bodes well for its holiday performance: The retailer鈥檚 sales and profits beat expectations thanks to healthy ecommerce growth, more affluent shoppers, and recovering general merchandise sales.

Amazon has a customer satisfaction problem: Shoppers complain of delayed deliveries, poor customer service, and irrelevant search results, dragging its satisfaction rating to a record low.

Attentive鈥檚 findings challenge SMS frequency fears: Holiday shoppers welcome more personalized, frequent messages, doubling retailer revenues with minimal opt-outs.

This week, Meta announced its Variance Reduction System, which it says will equitably distribute ads via census data and machine learning. The new tech was created in partnership with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the first instance of direct court oversight for Meta鈥檚 ad targeting and delivery, according to a DOJ statement.

On today's episode, we discuss what to make of Meta's new Threads app, whether the internet is becoming more like TikTok, the argument against "click to cancel," ad-supported versus ad-free video streaming, how shipping works, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood and analysts Zach Goldner, and Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what Amazon's next big hit is, whether X (formerly Twitter) might become a subscription-only platform, whether SEO is already dead, if most retailers will stop offering free shipping, the shortest commercial flight you can take today, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha and analysts Ross Benes and Blake Droesch.

Our take: Temu鈥檚 turbo-charged growth prospects make it an attractive destination for Amazon sellers looking to diversify their business, especially given the sweetener of lower advertising and fulfillment fees. But launching on Temu comes with its own set of risks.

The top two reasons shoppers worldwide buy directly from brands are a better price (53%) and free delivery (49%), followed by fast and convenient delivery and free returns (both 36%), according to Wunderman Thompson.

Ultrafast delivery app downloads exploded worldwide during the pandemic. The top 10 apps in this space were downloaded 23.1 million times collectively in Q1 2022, according to Apptopia. Getir leads by a wide margin, ahead of rivals like Gopuff and Gorillas.

Supply chain headaches mount for retailers: Disruptions in the Red Sea are driving up shipping rates and creating backups at key ports.

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.

Brands and retailers need to understand what customers expect from the ecommerce experience鈥攁nd how to deliver on it. This infopack provides the most relevant information to help you navigate the opportunities in ecommerce.

Consumers aren鈥檛 splurging on discretionary home improvement projects: That鈥檚 a big reason Lowe鈥檚 expects year-over-year sales to decline for 2024.

Retail media will set the pace for digital advertising growth in the coming years as more retailers invest in monetizing the channel and more advertising options become available to media buyers.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starts tomorrow, but companies have already begun announcing their latest consumer technology innovations. Here are two recent announcements and what they could mean for retail media.