蘑菇AV

The finding: Despite dramatic anti-theft measures put in place by retailers like Walmart and Walgreens, few have found a silver bullet鈥攁nd many have instead faced unintended consequences. Theft prevention measures are irritating. Nearly 4 in 5 (78%) of consumers say it鈥檚 annoying when products are locked up or secured in cases, per a recent Zebra survey.

But Walmart has a significant slice, 8% all by themself, which leaves 16% for all other players, of which there are a lot. And we thought we'd start today's episode by talking about a few of the most interesting ones. (05:21):.

The company has previously partnered with Walmart Connect and Kroger Precision Marketing on streaming solutions. This was originally featured in the Retail Media Weekly newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

Experiential marketing clients include: Nike, Verizon, Modelo, Walmart, Microsoft. Saatchi & Saatchi X (Publicis). Founded in 1999 as shopper marketing agency ThompsonMurray and acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi in 2004. Key clients: Crest, General Mills, CoverGirl, Olay, Vicks. dotdotdash (Omnicom). Formed in 2015 as an experiential marketing agency. Acquired by Omnicom鈥檚 TBWA Worldwide unit in 2022.

Those conditions have been a boon to retailers like Walmart and off-price merchants like TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack. But that sharp focus on value has posed a significant challenge to niche retailers like Party City and The Container Store, which both filed for bankruptcy protection in the days leading up to Christmas.

Amazon has also begun removing Buy Now buttons from product listings when it finds the same items listed on Temu at lower prices, a policy that it previously applied to listings on other platforms such as Walmart. The policy appears to have pushed Anker Innovations, which had had its products listed on Temu at much lower prices than on Amazon, to close its US Temu storefront.

For example, Walmart now lets shoppers purchase prescription medications online and have them delivered alongside groceries and other items on the same day. Some 55% of its customers expressed a desire for such a service, and it was most requested by customers who self-identify as time-sensitive, busy families, according to Walmart.

Walmart recently completed its acquisition of Vizio, creating a force of nature in CTV and retail media that Roku will need to outpace. Disney recently announced plans to acquire a majority stake in streaming service Fubo and merge it with Hulu + Live TV, creating a large pay TV service and clearing the way for Venu Sports to launch and disrupt sports streaming.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of February. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Analyst Arielle Feger and Senior Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Vice President Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Analyst Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

The lack of concern could be because most of these players鈥攊ncluding Walmart, Costco Wholesale, The Kroger Co., and Albertsons Companies鈥攁lso operate pharmacies. So any spending decline for groceries could be offset by more customers picking up GLP-1 prescriptions. Meanwhile, a slew of food sellers and CPG brands are developing product lines and reformulating items with GLP-1 users in mind.

Walmart and NBCU teamed up again for shoppable ads during Thanksgiving Day NFL games. It also rolled out several Walmart Connect updates earlier this year: It offered offsite media to non-endemic brands and made its display ads available to 鈥渂rands of all sizes鈥� through the programmatic Walmart Ads marketplace.

As Walmart demonstrates with its AR showrooms, the next step will be integrating conversational AI into these immersive environments. Shoppers may interact with AI assistants within virtual storefronts, getting real-time advice as they virtually try on clothes or arrange furniture in digital homes. What does this mean for marketers?

Walmart eyes Vizio acquisition for $2 billion: The purchase could redefine smart TV advertising and give the big box giant an edge in revenue from shoppable ads and streaming fees. Read article. Gen Z led social media trends. TikTok鈥檚 growing influence: TikTok is becoming a key news source for Gen Z, with more young people using it for news than traditional media. Read article.

Target and Walmart weren鈥檛 the only retailers with mixed Black Friday results. Lowe鈥檚 also saw foot traffic rise on Black Friday (up 1.8%), per Placer.ai, but visits to The Home Depot and Tractor Supply Co. were down, by 7.1% and 2.1%, respectively. What it means: Target has faced stiff competition from Walmart this year.

But its decision to cede the rapid-delivery market to its local competitors (and Walmart) cost it market share and growth opportunities. Amazon鈥檚 share of India鈥檚 ecommerce sales is expected to fall to 30.5% this year and continue dropping into 2026, per our forecast.