蘑菇AV

Ten years after its establishment, Amazon Business is expanding its seller network and product selection to serve an 8 million global organization customer base, which has grown 33% from 6 million in 2023. Many of the capabilities that individual shoppers enjoy on Amazon鈥檚 B2C platform鈥攂road selection, cost savings, and advanced technology鈥攁re being applied to its B2B marketplace to help organizations work smarter and more efficiently. As Amazon Business continues to innovate, it is poised to compete for more sales from companies seeking to save time and resources.

US retail social commerce sales.

Traveling for the holidays? Here are four episodes of our "Reimagining Retail" podcast for your listening pleasure.

Our first-ever worldwide forecast for retail media ad spending shows enduring momentum and lots of good news for Amazon and other ecommerce platforms around the world.

LiveRamp CEO's growth strategy: Neutral positioning and network effects fuel commerce media and CTV expansion as ad budgets rebound.

The news: Ulta Beauty acquired upscale UK beauty retailer Space NK for an undisclosed amount, the company said, as it turns to new markets to offset slowing US growth. Our take: The US beauty market is becoming increasingly saturated as more retailers lean on the category to boost sluggish sales. While expanding to new markets comes with its own set of challenges, Ulta鈥檚 decision to rely on acquisitions and distribution partnerships will help smooth its path.

The news: Amazon has partnered with delivery firm Gopuff to bring ultra-fast delivery to several UK markets, including Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, and Manchester. Our take: Amazon鈥檚 focus is crystal clear: Get orders to shoppers鈥� doors as fast as possible. In the US, it has pushed next-day delivery as the new standard鈥攅ven as it rapidly expands same-day service. In some cases, delivery happens within hours (for example, a Prime Day order we placed at 6 am today arrived at our door by noon.) To extend that promise beyond urban hubs, Amazon is investing over $4 billion through 2026 to triple the size of its rural delivery network. By year-end, it expects to bring same- or next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and rural communities. Speed isn鈥檛 just a perk. It is the key component within Amazon鈥檚 growth strategy. The faster the company delivers, the more frequently consumers turn to Amazon for their everyday needs鈥攁nd the harder it becomes for competitors to keep up.

Getting your commerce media tech stack right takes time. Building partnerships and integrating workflows likely won鈥檛 happen all at once, so businesses should shop the market for the right partnerships, implement with care, and make sure to evaluate and reevaluate your operations as you scale. Here are steps businesses should keep in mind.

What is shoppable media and which formats have the most potential?

In 2024, retail media and CTV converged: First-party data enables precise targeting, while connected TV enhances ad personalization and tracks purchase behavior.

Retail media networks and AI search capabilities are expected to drive search growth. Nonvideo formats will account for just $12.75 billion of incremental spend through 2028. Our take: Digital advertising's robust growth reflects the market's continued evolution, with video emerging as the dominant force.

Consumer payment method choice will expand in 2025 as real-time 鈥減ay by bank,鈥� iPhone NFC access, and digital credentials take center stage. And financial media networks will turn more payment providers into marketers.

Two in three (66%) of US digital ad-buyers were either using AI or planning to use AI for ad personalization, per our September 2024 "US Retail Media Networks Perception" report. Use this chart:. Marketers can use this chart to defend their own initiatives and to show that AI is often an element of marketing work. Related 蘑菇AV reports:.

Ad buyers will see a year of agency changes, privacy problems, AI innovations, and media network competition in 2025. Here are five charts to help media planners prepare for the year ahead.

The news: Shopify partnered with Coinbase and Stripe so customers can pay with the USDC stablecoin at checkout. Our take: Coinbase is the biggest winner in this partnership. Cryptocurrency needs to gain traction with a wide merchant network to accelerate its use, and Shopify represents a huge score for Base.

The insight: The US is mired in the 鈥渨orst housing market in almost 50 years,鈥� RH CEO Gary Friedman said during the company鈥檚 Q1 earnings call, as high housing costs and economic uncertainty chill demand. Our take: With the sluggish housing market showing few signs of improvement, retailers must lean into any pockets of opportunity they find. For RH, that鈥檚 burnishing its luxury credentials and pushing deeper into hospitality, while Wayfair is leaning on its diverse supplier base. The resilient pro market is another area companies should look to take advantage of as they try to ride out the downturn.