蘑菇AV

Credit card issuers can steal share from debit cards by expanding grocery-focused rewards and promoting budgeting tools

The news: US inflation ticked up 0.1% last month and 2.4% YoY, a softer read than many economists expected but one that kept the pressure on consumers already dealing with a higher cost of living. Our take: Retailers, especially grocers and discounters, can set themselves apart by helping consumers save money and be more financially responsible. Offering digital coupons, using in-store signage spotlighting sales on daily essentials, and rewarding loyal shoppers for repeat purchases can foster smarter spending.

And American Express told 蘑菇AV it expanded its rewards program by working with a large grocery retailer to target frequent but not loyal customers, offering discounts to make consumers shop there more often and build larger baskets.

BNPL consumer behavior trends: How consumers use BNPL speaks to the fragility of their financial health, per a LendingTree survey. 41% of BNPL consumers made at least one late payment in the past year, up from 34% the previous year. 25% of BNPL users have used installment loans to buy groceries, up from 11% last year. 23% of BNPL users have held three or more active BNPL loans at one time. 33% see BNPL

German grocery retailer Lidl launched a TikTok Shop pop-up in the UK, marking one of the first major grocery retailers to experiment with TikTok鈥檚 ecommerce capabilities.

Last month, M&M's launched its first loyalty program, Fun Club, allowing consumers to earn points by completing activities and redeem them for sweepstakes entries or M&M's merchandise. While loyalty programs are typically associated with high-frequency purchases鈥攍ike groceries, travel, or restaurants鈥攅ven low-frequency brands are using loyalty to increase engagement, gather data, and drive sales amid rising competition.

"DoorDash doesn't have the location data that Lyft does, and Lyft needs the kind of restaurant and grocery delivery data that DoorDash has,鈥� Feger said. 鈥淚 think that's going to really strengthen both of their ad networks.鈥�. These partnerships help address the fragmented nature of travel purchase journeys by connecting data on where customers are going with hyper-local market information. 3.

From fridge to cart: Samsung said its Bespoke refrigerator models will identify low-stock items and enable consumers to reorder groceries on Instacart via the fridge screen. The fridge integrates Samsung鈥檚 AI Vision food recognition, which the company says can identify up to 37 items. It also uses Instacart鈥檚 product-matching API to link users to product listings on the delivery platform.

Per a 4A鈥檚 study cited by The Financial Brand, consumers were least receptive to financial institutions鈥� online advertising, at just 12% (by contrast, 49% of consumers were receptive to grocery companies鈥� ads). Seeing already unpopular ads in contexts they find offensive could be the last straw. New threats to banks鈥� brand safety on social media. Influencers are muddying the financial advice waters.

Many commerce intermediaries built their businesses in high-frequency categories including food/drink and grocery. They have sought to deepen their relationships with users by expanding into other lower-frequency categories鈥攖hink Instacart partnering with 1-800-Flowers or Pet Supplies Plus, for example.

This should drive debit gains in top categories like grocery, pharmacy, online-only retailers, and big-box stores. Ecommerce Routing Hits Debit Revenues. US regulations governing debit routing will expand to card-not-present payments this summer. Issuers will be required to give merchants multiple network options to route transactions.

The company delivered over 2 billion essential items in the US within a day last year鈥攁 50% YoY increase鈥攈elping consumers feel more comfortable ordering items like toothpaste and toilet paper online. These sales are important to Amazon鈥檚 growth, especially as economic uncertainty looms.

Digital commerce platforms and traditional POS service providers are becoming more alike. Digital commerce platforms have typically served as the foundations for ecommerce sites and owned digital channels.

Walmart+ is winning the partnerships push right now, offering perks from Paramount+, Burger King, and online vet Pawp. Instacart has made similar moves, partnering with Peacock and UberEats for its Instacart Plus members. 鈥淭hat not only makes them competitive with Amazon Prime but also with competing services like DoorDash,鈥� Droesch said. 3. Amazon will finally figure out grocery.

Consumers taking weight loss drugs cut back on grocery purchases. Households with at least one GLP-1 user decreased grocery spending by an estimated 5.5% during the first six months of treatment, per a December 2024 Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and Numerator study. That increases to 8.6% among households earning over $125,000 annually.

颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 digital ad sector grows 12.1% in 2024: Economic slowdown shifts ad dominance to platforms like Tencent and Pinduoduo.

But digital sales will eclipse the halfway mark for the first time, underscoring the growing popularity of online shopping even as consumers tighten their purse strings. Douyin, 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 version of TikTok, has been the fastest riser among the country鈥檚 online shopping platforms.

Physical stores possess many surfaces for digital media experiences. These include TV walls, front-of-store kiosks, between-aisle signage, digital shelving, checkout aisles, self-checkout terminals, smart carts, end caps, and cooler doors. Nearby exterior experiences, such as digital signage at gas station pumps and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, will also factor in.

Smart carts enable brands to put their products right in front of shoppers as they move through the store. Digital cooler screens use bright, informative visuals to pique consumer interest. And digital end caps add an element of interactivity to the old-school format. Here鈥檚 how retailers can put them to use to up their retail media game.

Inflation has eased, but consumers remain anxious: 60% are tracking spending more closely, and more than one in three are cutting back on essentials like groceries or leaning on credit more often. Economic sentiment among luxury consumers dropped 13 points in one quarter, while the travel industry is experiencing more last-minute bookings and falling fares.