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UK food price inflation is hitting record highs鈥攂ut grocery sales are flat. Faced with rising bills, consumers are changing shopping habits to keep spending in check.

Inflation in the UK is easing but remains near a 40-year high. That鈥檚 tamping down consumer spending across all categories鈥攚ith total retail sales set to grow by just 1.7% in 2023, versus a pre-pandemic growth rate of around 4%.

The UK is seeing stagnant social network user growth. But while reach remains huge, marketers should look at how their target markets are spread across platforms because this is where the real change is happening.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss the differences between how US and UK consumers shop for groceries. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank two grocery stores doing digital well, two taking an alternate approach, and why both can work. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.

Discover the dynamic shift toward digital wallets in the US and the UK in the latest podcast episode of "Behind the Numbers: The Banking & Payments Show." Delve into the compelling discourse on how younger generations' move to digital is rendering traditional wallets obsolete. Join host Rob Rubin, our US-based analyst Tyler Van Dyke, and UK-based analyst Carina Perkins as they unravel trends in digital transactions for dining, shopping, and ID verification. In the "For Argument's Sake" section, we dissect the fierce competition for market dominance among industry giants like Apple and Google, established players like PayPal, rising star Paze, and potential disruptors. Tune in for a forward-looking conversation and hit subscribe for the latest insights. Key insights: - Youth-led shift: Analysis reveals a robust trend among younger consumers pivoting to digital wallets for everyday activities, indicating a cultural and technological shift. - Market dominance debate: We uncover the strategic moves by tech titans and emergent challengers vying to capture the largest share of digital wallet users. - Cross-Atlantic perspectives: Insights from US and UK analysts present a diverse view on the adoption of digital wallets, offering a broader understanding of the global digital economy.

Gen Z steals the limelight in the UK when it comes to digital habits. But millennials are even more digital, and Gen X sweetens its own 鈥渄igitalness鈥� with financial clout.

US grocery ecommerce sales will grow 17.4% in 2024 to total $219.04 billion, according to our forecast. Meanwhile, UK grocery ecommerce sales will grow only 5.1% to total $37.06 billion in 2024. 鈥淎t the end of the day, consumers in the US enjoy the conveniences of delivery, but they鈥檙e not necessarily willing to pay an exorbitant fee,鈥� said our analyst Blake Droesch, emphasizing the perceived value of Walmart+ and Amazon Prime memberships to these shoppers.

UK regulators block Microsoft鈥檚 attempt to consolidate a gaming behemoth, sending Activision Blizzard stock spiraling. Microsoft faces a tough antitrust fight.

Just as the tech blows up in banking, UK startup Evident has created a non-biased index that scores banks on AI development and implementation.

While a multichannel approach might seem ambitious, this strategy has proven successful鈥攃ompanies using multichannel marketing retain an average 89% of their customers, per research from Aberdeen Group, and 53% of UK agency and brand marketers report that multichannel campaigns hit KPIs most of the time.

While the EU and China are forging ahead with comprehensive AI regulations, the UK and the US have taken a pro-innovation, 鈥渓ighter touch鈥� approach鈥攚hich could get even lighter in the US under the new administration. The varied policies will create an added layer of complexity for global organizations scaling up AI. Sustainability will form part of responsible-use guidelines.

The news: A study conducted by UK research firm Say No to Disinfo found that AI-generated fake news on social media raises the risk of bank runs, per Reuters. How we got here: We鈥檝e covered how social media can fuel bank runs鈥攁nd it certainly contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. And we鈥檝e analyzed how it can change consumer behavior鈥攅ven if that behavior is illegal.

The news: Free ad-supported TV (FAST) services are growing in several key markets, including the US, the UK, Canada, and Germany, per a report from Nielsen鈥檚 content data business unit Gracenote. The number of active FAST channels has increased by 42% globally since mid-2023, exceeding 1,610 channels.

Tesco鈥檚 newest venture takes aim at Ocado: The UK grocer鈥檚 Transcend Retail Solutions division aims to help international supermarket chains develop their ecommerce operations.

Adults in France now spend more time with digital media than with traditional media. While media habits are fairly advanced in that respect, the country still sits behind the UK, so French marketers could look there for ideas about strategy.

Note that GWI interviews and represents each country's online population ages 16+ (in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Israel, Singapore, the UK, and the US) or ages 16-64 (in other markets)鈥攏ot its total population.

When Apple, which pledged $500 million to US manufacturing, faced UK pressure for an iCloud encryption backdoor, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called it 鈥渁 clear and egregious violation of Americans鈥� privacy and civil liberties,鈥� per The Associated Press. Gabbard asked the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other US agencies to review the request.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the reasons that retailers are launching new store formats, what those layouts look like in the US vs. the UK, which ones are working, and which ones are not. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Carina Perkins and Zak Stambor.