蘑菇AV

Douyin, TikTok's Chinese sibling, is about to become China鈥檚 largest social platform. It's also crashing the country鈥檚 ecommerce party. Already the fourth largest online shopping platform by sales, its market share is rapidly approaching JD.com's.

Amazon opens a 鈥減arapharmacy鈥� in Milan: The store is part of a broader push into beauty and personal items and marks its latest attempt to crack the brick-and-mortar code.

The retailer鈥檚 worldwide sales rose 6% year over year in constant currency in the fiscal year ending September 14, but in the UK comparable sales rose just 1% as cold, wet weather in April and June weighed on demand. Our take: Even as ABF expects mid-single-digit sales growth this fiscal year, it (and other British retailers) need to find ways to offset cost increases to protect their bottom lines.

Yum China bucks difficult retail environment thanks to more promotions, rapid store expansion, and durian pizza: The KFC and Pizza Hut operator鈥檚 efforts to offer more value and reach consumers in lower-tier cities drove sales and transaction growth in Q3.

To drive consumers to spend, the retailer hosted its Way Day sale in early October. Overall, the retailer鈥檚 total revenues fell 2.0% year over year (YoY), and US revenues decreased 2.3% YoY. The company鈥檚 adjusted earnings per share was 22 cents, ahead of the expected 15 cents. That compares with a loss of 13 cents per share a year ago.

Our annual report on ecommerce in Canada highlights our most recent forecasts for total retail, ecommerce, and mcommerce sales. We also detail the number of digital buyers in the country by age and provide sales estimates for the dominant Amazon. Key Question: What percentage of Canada鈥檚 retail sales is transacted online?

Our take: Shoppers鈥� growing comfort with genAI is welcome news for companies like Google, Perplexity, and Amazon, which are all betting that buyers will rely more heavily on AI to assist with product research and decision-making. In some ways, that鈥檚 a pretty safe bet.

For Walmart, Black Friday officially starts on November 11: The retailer will offer savings throughout the month, with exclusive deals and early sales access for online shoppers and Walmart+ members.

Roblox wants to be an ecommerce platform: After a pilottesting physical goods sales with Walmart and E.l.f. Beauty, the gaming platform sees big potential in online sales.

In the US, same-store sales fell 6%. In China, where the company faces pressure from local low-cost chains like Luckin Coffee, same-store sales fell 8%. Our take: Niccol wasted little time diagnosing what ails Starbucks. However, it will take him some time to reposition Starbucks as a premium brand and experience.

Looking ahead: The economic indicators point in the direction of a relatively strong holiday season; we expect sales to rise 4.3% YoY in the final two months of the year. However, the presidential election could upend those expectations if the results are not immediately known, if they鈥檙e disputed, and if they lead to significant protests or civil unrest.

US ecommerce growth will come from large retail categories with historically low online sales share. And growth will stay healthy even as traditional drivers of online sales take a backseat to emerging categories.

US sales will total $197.94 billion this year, a growth of 2.7% YoY, per our October 2024 forecast. Nearly half (49.3%) of toy and hobby retail sales will take place online this year, per our forecast. Use this chart: Marketers and retailers can use this chart to benchmark sales performance, consider which brands鈥� marketing tactics to study, and strategize toy inventory planning.