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The news: Consumers increasingly trust shopping suggestions from AI, even more than product suggestions from content creators, positioning the technology as a trusted and personalized guide rather than a back-end tool. 27% of US consumers trust AI shopping recommendations, per Walmart鈥檚 Retail Rewired Report, compared with 24% who trust suggestions from social media influencers. Our take: AI retail tools are most likely to succeed if they offer both speed and a sense of user control. Retailers should let users set spending caps and offer options to pause or customize recommendations to help AI agents feel more like a trusted assistant than a pushy salesperson.

Record holiday sales helped retailers, but purchasing patterns across income groups diverged starkly. Middle- and lower-income consumers grew more selective, carefully weighing where and when to spend amid economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, higher-income shoppers continued to spend freely.

The insight: Gen Z consumers are starting their purchase journeys more often on Google properties, including YouTube and Gemini, according to a Business Insider report citing Morgan Stanley data. Our take: Google is doing a good job of leveraging the popularity of YouTube and increasing interest in genAI-powered shopping tools to win over younger shoppers and establish itself as the first port of call in their customer journeys.

The insight: Walmart sees a (near) future where customers will shop directly from their smart TVs鈥攑referably one powered by Vizio, which the retailer purchased for $2.3 billion last year. Our take: Shoppers are gradually becoming more comfortable with the concept of shoppable TV. Whether those occasional behaviors become habit will depend on platforms鈥� ability to offer ads that are personalized and relevant. That puts Walmart at an advantage, given its troves of first-party data鈥攁lthough it faces tough competition from the likes of Amazon and Roku.

24% of shoppers have used generative AI (genAI) in shopping experiences, while 35% are aware of the use of genAI in shopping and plan to use it in the future, per November 2024 Capgemi data.

The insight: Discounters are experiencing a resurgence as concerns about rising prices and economic stability spur shoppers of all income levels to seek out bargain retailers. Our take: The uncertain environment in many ways benefits Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Five Below, whose value initiatives are enabling them to win spending from cautious consumers. But鈥攁s with the broader retail industry鈥攖ariffs are a costly challenge for all three, particularly as they try to minimize price hikes and maintain their value advantage.

The news: Generative AI (genAI) is taking on a multifaceted role in users鈥� lives, as an influencer, a personal companion, and a consumer proxy. 87% of genAI users would consider asking the technology for social or relationship advice, per Accenture鈥檚 Me, My Brand and AI: The New World of Consumer Engagement survey. Our take: Embedding AI tools like chatbots, agents, and recommendation engines into brand websites can help users shop faster and discover new content. Offering transparency around data use and building opt-out features could help users trust the tools more and give them the peace of mind to hand over personal information in exchange for assistance and recommendations.

Temu and Shein ad impressions dropped to 0% as both retailers effectively cut off Google Shopping ad spend in April.

This is the Q2 2025 installment of our "Retail and Ecommerce Sales Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps retailers and brands gauge their sales mix against the market.鈥�

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss our 鈥榲ery specific, but highly unlikely鈥� predictions for 2025. What would happen if Google preemptively broke itself into smaller pieces, if online shopping flatlined, and if the audio ad space doubled in size in short order. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Director of Reports Editing Rahul Chadha, and Senior Analysts Blake Droesch and Max Willens. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Over half (53%) of US hispanic adults look for websites or retailers that offer Spanish-language options at least sometimes when shopping online, according to March 2025 data from ThinkNow Research.

General Medicine debuts as a platform where consumers can shop for medical care: While the healthcare marketplace concept isn鈥檛 new, the startup could have an upper hand by allowing people to see prices for medical care based on their unique health insurance details.

Brazil鈥檚 digital economy is rapidly evolving, fueled in part by ecommerce growth. Our three-report collection explores key trends and opportunities shaping Brazil鈥檚 commerce landscape in 2025.

Over 4 in 10 (44.4%) of US Adults are somewhat or very likely to use an AI tool like ChatGPT or Copilot to research potential purchases, according to April data from Attest.

US TikTok Shop employees prepare for layoffs: Tariffs and de minimis changes have pushed the platform鈥檚 ambitious commerce goal further out of reach.

Google has entered the AI shopping arena: The company鈥檚 AI Mode experience aims to assist consumers throughout every step of the shopping experience鈥攆rom finding inspiration to buying at the right moment.