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The news: Walmart is teaming up with Meituan to make its goods available on the Chinese delivery company鈥檚 app, the company announced in a WeChat post. The partnership should provide a boost to Walmart鈥檚 ecommerce business in China, which already accounts for nearly half of its sales in the region.

We use a couple of tools to organize the chaos, such as incremental return on ad spending (iROAS) in platforms like Skai for RMNs and our proprietary measurement software, BlissPoint, across the digital landscape. Q: What signals help you understand what鈥檚 really driving results in performance? Marsten: Topline revenue is a good indicator.

Food services and drinking place sales (i.e., restaurant sales, restaurant delivery ordered online); travel sales; event ticket sales; payments such as bill pay, taxes, or money transfers; and gambling and other vice good sales.

I mean, that's obviously a good way to draw in Gen Z. And Emmy, you mentioned that Gen Z might not necessarily need to go to malls because they can do the same sort of socializing online.

To combat any difficulties in sealing the deal, Charter and Cox are positioning the merger as 鈥淸putting] America first by returning jobs from overseas and creating new, good-paying customer service and sales careers.鈥� The merged company will 鈥渁dopt Charter鈥檚 sales and service workforce model, which will fully return Cox鈥檚 customer service function to the US.鈥�.

I think Meta and other social platforms are going to capture some of that shopping behavior, but there's a long list of other beneficiaries, and it's also a really good moment right now for a lot of social shopping startups.

However, across the combined regions, 鈥涣苍濒颈苍别 advertising service鈥� accounted for $1.65 billion (63%) of total revenues of $2.62 billion in 2022. This was down significantly versus 2021, when advertising accounted for 81% of total revenues. A good chunk of this share is going to livestreaming. The larger marketing potential that TikTok offers is significant.

This issue is exacerbated by the elimination of the de minimis exception, which allowed foreign retailers to ship low-cost goods to US consumers. Increased operating costs could cause retailers to compensate by reining in ad spending. Zuckerberg made clear how the company plans to offset these threats: by building its AI investments.

US insurance digital ad spending growth will slow even further this year, lagging all other financial service sectors. Instead, insurers will focus squarely on maximizing their digital dollars.

The pandemic gave advertisers in Germany a taste for digital. Digital advertising will see record levels of growth for the next three years鈥攚ith retail media as the main driver鈥攆ar ahead of spending on traditional media.

She joined Hy-Vee in 2024 after leading retail media at Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods. Why this matters: Retail media talent has the opportunity to climb to the top of the corporate food chain. While the lion鈥檚 share of retail media ad spending is claimed by Amazon, Mazza鈥檚 ascendance shows that brick-and-mortar companies are paying special attention to the rapidly growing sector.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss how GenAI is changing the customer shopping journey the most, the impact of AI agents, and how to maintain brand messaging in a more conversational universe. Tune in to the episode with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, our Analyst Jacob Bourne, Vice President Suzy Davidkhanian, and Global Digital Commerce Senior Director, Strategy & Execution, Todd Hassenfelt. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Our take: Molson Coors鈥� acquisition of Cruz Blanca was a savvy, small-scale move that could have large-scale implications if Trump implements steep tariffs on Mexican goods. This article is part of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 client-only subscription Briefings鈥攄aily newsletters authored by industry analysts who are experts in marketing, advertising, media, and tech trends.

On Monday, the US and China agreed to halt reciprocal duties for 90 days, cutting tariffs down to 30% on most Chinese goods and 10% on US goods. Negotiations will resume in coming weeks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Ad support: The rollback includes cutting the de minimis tariff on low-cost goods from Chinese and Hong Kong to 54%, down from 120%, reducing losses for Temu and Shein.

While TikTok Shop has been the primary driver of live shopping adoption in the US, some of that spending could shift to livestreaming companies like Whatnot, which sold more than $3 billion worth of goods last year.

The federal Inform Consumers Act is designed to make it harder for thieves to resell stolen goods on online marketplaces, and the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023鈥攚hich has not yet passed鈥攍ooks to help prosecute criminals and recover stolen goods.

Good arguments, gents. Let's move to question three, and we're going to have Blake going up against Ross. Are free returns a goner? H&M is the latest retailer joining Zara, Uniqlo and others to move away from free online returns. Our retail briefings analyst, Rachel Wolfe, explains that H&M will charge shoppers 2.50, $2.50 a package.

The fragmented, churn-addled video landscape is good news for creators, who can take advantage of free-to-use platforms where users are watching their content. Next year, more people will watch YouTube and use social networks than will watch linear TV, per our forecast. Expect to see ad spend follow that trend, Mitchell-Wolf said. Watch the full 蘑菇AV Summit here.

All right, very good. Zach, you're up next. What do you think is the most interesting time spent trend? Even more interesting than this Netflix one, which is pretty good. Zach Goldner (12:53):. Yeah, let's talk about the fastest growing video form, which is free ad supporting streaming TV, aka FAST TV. So FAST TV is moving from niche to the mainstream.

Bonded warehouses: These federally licensed facilities allow goods to be stored without immediately paying tariffs, deferring duty payments for up to five years. Demand for bonded space is soaring, per Bloomberg. Foreign trade zones: Importers can defer tariff payments by moving goods into these zones while awaiting clarity on future trade policies.

Our take: The platform鈥檚 happiness research isn鈥檛 just a feel-good story鈥攊t鈥檚 a direct appeal to advertisers under pressure to show meaningful outcomes. In a world of mid-scroll ads and declining attention spans, joy may be one of the few remaining differentiators that actually moves the needle.

While more visibility is good news for brands, these placements come with new concerns. 鈥淭he challenge so far has been that Google isn鈥檛 providing transparency around when ads serve in AIOs (AI Overviews), or controls for opting into/out of this inventory,鈥� added Michelle Merklin, vice president of paid search innovation and growth at Tinuiti.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e not somebody who is well-versed in what [influencer marketing] needs to do for your company, then you could be choosing good creators on a perfectly good exchange that aren鈥檛 moving the needle for your company鈥�-and blame it on the creator or the Creative Exchange.鈥�. Utilizing鈥攔ather than relying on鈥攑latform tools.

In 2025, retailers must prioritize data-driven measurement, seamless online-to-store experiences, and programmatic out-of-home (OOH) advertising. Seeking heightened measurement has nearly half of marketers emphasizing attribution, making actionable insights crucial. Meanwhile, bridging digital and physical shopping and leveraging real-time OOH campaigns can help retailers stay competitive. Here are three areas retailers should prioritize in 2025, according to industry experts.