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The UK budget will eat into retailers鈥� bottom lines: Primark owner Associated British Foods expects its national insurance bill to rise by 鈥渢ens of millions鈥� of pounds.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we bring you the major themes that we witnessed directly from the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Recorded from the conference floor, we discuss the data and tech required to offer customers payments choices, expectations in embedded finance, and consumers鈥� privacy and trust. Tune in to the discussion with host Rob Rubin, our principal analyst Tiffani Montez, and Sean Welsh, senior vice president and managing director of financial institutions at Affinity Solutions.

It released draft legislation to provide more safeguards for UK consumers, many of whom are under financial strain.

Its global same-store sales fell 1.5%, a much bigger decline than the 0.6% that analysts surveyed by StreetAccount expected, due to struggles in international markets such as the Middle East, France, and the UK. That was the second-straight quarter the company鈥檚 global same-store sales have fallen.

E.l.f. Beauty strikes $1 billion deal to acquire Hailey Bieber鈥檚 Rhode: The move could reignite slowing growth and boost its appeal to Gen Z and more affluent shoppers.

On today鈥檚 episode, host Bill Fisher is joined by our analysts Paul Briggs, Matteo Ceurvels, and Carina Perkins to examine what impact global economic turbulence is having on retail and ecommerce in different markets.

So it's places like US, Spain, Italy, Norway, UK that are the most likely to own those smart, slightly nice-to-have devices. It's in parts of Asia in particular where we see the other end of the spectrum, where ownership is lowest. If I can fly the flag for the UK for a second, we are the top country in the world for tablets, smart TVs, games consoles, smart home products, and smart watches.

Amazon will capture more than half (51.1%) of all retail ecommerce sales in Germany this year, according to our forecast. Canada will have the second-highest share of Amazon ecommerce sales among the countries we track, at 41.5%, followed by the US, UK, Japan, and Mexico.

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.

However, both ecommerce retailers saw only slight increases in daily active users, with Shein鈥檚 UK daily active users growing 5% MoM and Temu鈥檚 growing 10%. While the increase in ad spend was heavily concentrated on the UK and France, the platforms also boosted spend in Germany, Spain, and Italy.

The news: British money transfer fintech Wise is embracing partnerships abroad and diversification at home to bolster growth. It partnered with Mumbai-based private lender IndusInd Bank to provide remittance services from the US and Singapore to India with no hidden fees or exchange rate markups.

In the UK, bank customers ranked messaging apps like WhatsApp above mobile app notifications for fraud alerts, ID verification, and overdue payment notices, highlighting how WhatsApp has become a trusted B2C channel in the heavily regulated finance industry.

As consumers become increasingly comfortable abandoning brands, marketers and retailers are betting on personalized experiences to keep them around. 81% of Gen Zers and Millennials, and 74% of all shoppers worldwide have switched brands in the past year, per a December 2024 Salesforce survey. Enhancing personalization efforts and building brand trust and loyalty are two of the top priorities among marketing leaders worldwide, according to a December 2024 survey from The Marketing Geeks.

The news: Amazon announced its Prime Day event will run from July 8 at 12:01 a.m. PDT through July 11, starting eight days earlier than last year and lasting twice as long as previous events. Our take: Amazon recognizes that while consumers have grown more selective about when and where they spend, many will still jump at the chance to save if they find compelling offers. By extending Prime Day鈥檚 duration, adding tech-driven shopping tools, and broadening its footprint across countries and third-party sites, Amazon is turning the event into an inescapable, large-scale retail moment. Even in a margin-squeezed environment, the visibility and sales potential of Prime Day may be too significant for sellers to pass up.

Part of that's been driven by the cost of living crisis, but I think also players such as Klarna are really pushing it in the UK. Buy Now, Pay Later volumes expected to account for 12.1% of UK E-commerce payments by 2025.