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All eyes are on streaming. Last year, non-pay TV viewers surpassed traditional pay TV viewers in the US, per our forecast. Years of streaming platform proliferation are over, yielding to consolidation and fragmented ad measurement. Bundles between streaming platforms and partnerships with retail media platforms are forming, leaving media buyers with a headache over how to strategize.

Looking ahead: Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, Domino鈥檚 remains optimistic, forecasting 3% growth in US comparable sales for the full year. Even as delivery slows, Domino鈥檚 sees major growth potential through third-party aggregators.

US TV ad spend will fall 8% this year, per our forecast. Its share of total media ad spend is also in decline as marketers turn to faster-growing formats such as connected TV (CTV) and retail media.

Cross-border buyer numbers are rising in Europe as shoppers seek value and variety鈥攂ut consumer expectations and regulatory changes could challenge future growth.

Crush stands out for its performance-aligned model, charging based on growth instead of traditional agency fees鈥攁 strategy tailored to ecommerce-native clients. Why it matters: Retail media is booming, but brands need more than just ad buying鈥攖hey need partners who can manage the full funnel.

On today's episode, we discuss whether we're finally back to pre-pandemic travel levels, the most interesting parts of the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, how best to support LGBT+ causes, if the future of sports is actually streaming, what to make of new state-level data privacy rules, what the best universities in the US are, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Blake Droesch, director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, and vice president of Briefings Stephanie Taglianetti.

And getting consumers to own crypto is a major step in converting them to crypto payment users: We forecast only 2% of US internet users will make a crypto payment this year, or 16% of crypto owners. Our take: Despite the Trump administration鈥檚 commitment to crypto, the industry still faces hurdles to becoming mainstream.

But context is important: Sales will be more than 59% higher than they were in 2019鈥攁nd 51.9% higher than where we forecast 2024 sales would land back in February 2020. The companies also expect to benefit from the painful initiatives they鈥檝e endured throughout this year. Go further: Read Data Drop: 4 Charts on the State of the US Toy Industry.

Omnichannel retail media will reach $61.24 billion in US spending this year, up 18.1% from 2024, per our forecast.

In part due to this earnings season, we took our 2024 US search ad spending forecast from 11.1% to 14.5% growth as AI-integrated search rolled out faster than expected. Our 2024 US retail media forecast dropped from 26% to 20.4% due to total growth overexpectations from channel leaders.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the numbers that summed up this year鈥檚 record breaking WNBA season the most, how TV鈥檚 biggest attraction (the NFL) is getting on, how a new 鈥渃lick to cancel鈥� rule will change consumer behavior, how much store themed marketing can move the needle, what percentage of college athletes make it to the pros, and more. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, Senior Forecasting Analyst Zach Goldner, and Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco.

This report presents five of the most intriguing and/or under-the-radar positive forecasts for 2024 that clients should be aware of, as compiled by our forecasting team.

Klarna benefits from a much more established international presence than Affirm鈥檚 US-heavy base. Narrowing in on the US market, our forecast shows Affirm and Klarna are neck-in-neck in payment value. Klarna documented 100 million active customers in April 2025, an increase from 84 million in Q1 2024. And 125,000 new merchants joined the platform during Q1 2025.

Amazon introduced advertisements to Prime Video in January 2024 and began experimenting with interactive, directly shoppable video ad formats last May鈥攔epresenting a significant expansion of Amazon鈥檚 retail presence beyond traditional ecommerce. Shoppable ads were tested again during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend on Prime Video, connecting video content directly to consumers鈥� shopping carts.

We forecast Affirm鈥檚 total US payment value will hit $30.58 billion this year. The bigger picture: BNPL players have been pushing platform and other nonmerchant partnerships to reach more merchants faster and more easily. For example, Affirm expanded its tie-up with Shopify in the UK and Canada, and Klarna partnered with Worldpay, JPMorgan Payments, and Adobe Commerce.

Though the ecommerce giant is itself expected to feel tariff pressures, its clear path to purchase, 99.8 million US Prime households, and popular streaming content means advertisers are likely to continue investing in the platform. For Roku, there are similar benefits: The company鈥檚 more than 90 million streaming households and the rise of FAST have made Roku a significant contender in the CTV space.

Over half (53%) of US business leaders at midsize companies identified the introduction of new products/services as their growth strategy through 2025, per a January report from J.P. Morgan.

The trend: Summer retail sales are starting earlier and stretching longer than ever. Our take: Retailers aren鈥檛 just chasing summer sales鈥攖hey鈥檙e building revenue engines that integrate ecommerce, loyalty programs, and retail media into a more durable flywheel. By making sales events exclusive to members or offering perks like early access to deals, they鈥檙e encouraging sign-ups, deepening engagement, and boosting long-term customer value. The longer promotional windows give retailers more time to drive discretionary spending, alleviate fulfillment bottlenecks, and monetize digital traffic through advertising. That鈥檚 especially critical this year, as economic uncertainty prompts more consumers to pull back on nonessential purchases.

The news: Klarna will offer unlimited 5G data, talk, and text for $40/month with coverage on AT&T鈥檚 network in the US, per a press release, with plans to expand this deal to the UK and Germany soon. Our take: Klarna鈥檚 ambitions to be a BNPL provider, a mobile phone service, a neobank, and most recently鈥攁ccording to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski鈥斺�渁 digital financial assistant,鈥� per CNBC, signals the company鈥檚 voracious appetite to be everything at once.

Amazon links its speed to a sharp uptick in demand for groceries and household goods鈥攁 category that鈥檚 now growing more than twice as fast as all others in the US. Our take: Amazon Prime is already enormous, with roughly 3 in 4 US households, or 99.8 million, subscribed, per our forecast.

Strong quarters drove both companies to hike their full-year forecasts. Deckers expects fiscal 2025 net sales to grow roughly 12% year over year (YoY) to $4.8 billion, up from its previous guidance of 10% growth. It also boosted its diluted earnings per share (EPS) forecast to a range of $5.15 to $5.25.

TikTok Shop expands in Europe as US fate remains uncertain: Launch in France, Germany, and Italy underscores push for growth amid pressure to boost sales.