Ä¢¹½AV

Digital buying is still on the rise in Latin America. This year, more than half of Latin America’s population ages 14 and older will make an online purchase, according to our forecast. This is up from roughly a third that did so in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

The influx of younger shoppers with relatively less spending power will bring down sales-per-online-buyer growth, which will remain below the overall ecommerce growth rate. Social is a critical channel for capturing shares of Gen Z attention and wallets.

While the long-term effects of Trump’s tariff moves will take time to settle, the immediate takeaway is simple: Agility, not size or proximity, will define success in this new era of commerce. This content is part of Ä¢¹½AV’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports.

Media and commerce continue to converge. Shoppable ads and other integrated marketing formats remain a focal point for retailers, social networks, CTV platforms, broadcast TV networks, and online publishers. As these lines blur, brands are seizing new opportunities to connect content and commerce. Shoppable media offers two alluring advantages for marketers.

No other market in the world comes close to China when it comes to ecommerce. Its highly competitive digital market has spurred retail innovations that are making their way around the world.

Key stat: From January to July 2024, a record $280.4 billion was spent through mobile devices, accounting for nearly half (49.3%) of all online sales, according to Adobe Analytics. This marks a 10.2% YoY growth over the same period.

What do brands need to know about the next wave of digital growth?

Time spent on media and consumer spending are plateauing, making one company's gain another's loss. Diving into these market dynamics, we explore innovative strategies for advertisers and retailers to win consumers in the new digital era.

This data is being featured as part of our special coverage of AI in Commerce. Methodology: Data is from a January 2025 Ä¢¹½AV and CivicScience study, conducted by CivicScience. The study draws from multiple data sets, generated by ongoing online surveys of US adults ages 18+. Data from all sets is weighted according to the US Census.

However, brands are becoming more selective about where they invest as the demands for better measurement, improved audience segmentation, and clearer visibility on ad performance rise, attendees at this week’s inaugural Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta noted. The RMN bulwark: In a tough economy, retail media has a lot going for it.

These new features are transforming digital wallets into commerce enablers. They help users organize their commercial experience and maximize deal-seeking. Examples range from Apple Wallet’s digital order tracking and receipts to Google Pay’s loyalty program integrations. Strong Gen Z adoption will propel growth.

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.

PayPal—a brand globally synonymous with commerce—is approaching two years since it launched PYUSD, and its coin hasn’t even cracked $1 billion in market cap. But it seems like maybe even PayPal isn’t actually interested in using its stablecoin for payments.

The trend may catch on among other commerce or retail giants, which would drastically change the banking landscape.

Prediction 4: A major US issuer will pilot a digital-only consumer credit card by the end of 2024. While virtual cards grew in popularity in 2024, issuers still offered physical cards alongside them. No major issuer in the US launched a digital-only card, likely due to consumers' reluctance to ditch their physical wallets.

"I expect that new devices that are mobile [like smart glasses] are going to become more important for commerce specifically," our analyst Yory Wurmser said in an episode of the "Behind the Numbers" podcast.

Search is the next big commerce battleground. Emerging search habits are blending social and ecommerce. More people are now starting their product searches on social media, putting the platforms in more direct competition with ecommerce sites for consumers’ wallets—and ad dollars.