蘑菇AV

Our take: 鈥淎s competitors brace for volatility, Mercado Libre鈥檚 multibillion-dollar bet on Latin America鈥檚 ecommerce potential offers a powerful buffer against economic headwinds, reinforcing its position as the region鈥檚 undisputed ecommerce leader,鈥� said Matteo Ceurvels, 蘑菇AV principal analyst for Latin America and Spain.

The news: Mastercard and PayPal have co-developed features on One Credential so shoppers can access multiple payment options through a single credential. What this means: One Credential will let PayPal users access their various funding mechanisms through a single card credential. This could include everything from PayPal and Venmo鈥檚 credit and debit cards to Pay Later and PayPal Credit.

Ralph Lauren has been moving upmarket, which is attracting less cost-sensitive shoppers who are more likely to pay full price. At the same time, the company鈥檚 tiered brand structure allows shoppers who are priced out of its top-tier labels to still engage with its more affordable Polo and Lauren brands鈥攐r, at the very least, get a pick-me-up from Ralph鈥檚 Coffee.

X鈥檚 financial ambitions: Since Musk took the app over in 2022, his chief goal was to turn X into an 鈥渆verything app鈥� styled after China鈥檚 WeChat, which blends messaging, shopping, entertainment, and payments all on one platform. Musk鈥檚 vision has taken longer than planned. X Money only started beta testing last month, after targeting a 2024 launch.

Both Walmart鈥檚 and Amazon鈥檚 drones have a maximum payload of five pounds, which limits what and how much shoppers can order. The range they can fly is also limited, as is their ability to operate in certain weather conditions. That makes the unit economics challenging鈥攅ven for companies like Walmart that are relying on third parties to handle the delivery piece.

While many struggled to get it right, ecommerce giants like Amazon and Mercado Libre accelerated retail鈥檚 digital transformation, setting a precedent that other sectors are now racing to replicate. CMNs should prioritize third-party tech integration to accelerate time to scale efficiently.

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.

The robots are operating at a closed course the size of a coffee shop in the Big Tech giant鈥檚 San Francisco offices. The humanoid robotics team is working on incorporating large language models (LLMs) from Chinese companies DeepSeek and Alibaba so the bots can contextualize real-world surroundings.

Go further: Check out our FAQ: How the US-China Trade War Is Affecting TikTok Shop, Temu, and Shein and Impact of Tariffs on US Businesses.

That鈥檚 forcing them to walk a fine line: absorb those costs or pass them along to shoppers without losing volume. With consumer price sensitivity on the rise, many are tightening operations, shedding complexity, and concentrating on their most profitable segments.

It makes sense to ensure its cardholders can use their Amex cards at their vacation destinations 鈥攖hat way, Amex can capture everything from booking the flights to dining and souvenir shopping.

But its broader ambition is to 鈥渂uild the Apple stores of apparel,鈥� according to Grede鈥攚hich means prioritizing locations on high-end, high-trafficked corridors like New York City鈥檚 Fifth Avenue and London鈥檚 Regent Street, grade-A malls, and outdoor shopping centers.

Use this chart: Retail marketers should consider highlighting private label value messaging in digital promotions, expanding premium store brand offerings to capture trade-down consumers who don鈥檛 want to sacrifice quality, and leveraging shopper data to identify national brand loyalists who may be ready to switch. Related 蘑菇AV reports:.

UK retail footfall declined in November as shoppers waited for Black Friday deals: Poor weather and subdued confidence also weighed on traffic, souring retailers鈥� holiday prospects.

Ultimately, Amazon鈥檚 ad platform appeal lies in its capabilities: full-funnel attribution, real-time optimization, and access to high-intent shoppers, all anchored by rich first-party data and integrated tools. This allows brands to precisely target, measure, and convert across channels, often generating double-digit gains in sales and efficiency.

The news: Urban Outfitters is teaming with Nike to debut 鈥淥n Rotation,鈥� an in-store concept designed to deliver community-driven, experience-rich retail environments that cater to the evolving shopping habits of Gen Zers.

Beyond content consolidation, the new platform will include digital-only perks like live stats, betting tools, fantasy integrations, and ecommerce features. Disney CEO Bob Iger emphasized the unified user experience across all Disney-owned platforms, saying the services will be 鈥渇ully integrated鈥� for a seamless feel. Sign of the times: ESPN isn鈥檛 the only legacy player recalibrating.

At the same time, shoppers are paying closer attention to what they put in their bodies. 鈥淏etter for you鈥� products like yogurt and anything protein-infused are high in demand, even at more expensive price points.

Retailers are already feeling pressure to absorb significant tariff-related costs without driving away price-sensitive shoppers. But that鈥檚 a significant strain for many; 34% of retail executives say they can鈥檛 absorb any more tariff costs without raising prices, per a recent 7thonline survey of retail executives.

That unease extends to affluent consumers as well: Just 28% of luxury shoppers feel optimistic about the economy鈥攁 sharp 13-point drop since January, per the Saks Global Luxury Pulse. That growing pessimism is translating into softened spending intent.

Steep discounts drove shoppers to splurge on Black Friday: Consumers scooped up bargains across several categories, helping online sales jump 14.6% YoY the day after Thanksgiving.

Off-price retailers pushed past weather-related headwinds in Q3: 厂丑辞辫辫别谤蝉鈥� sharp focus on value helped Burlington, Ross, and Nordstrom Rack deliver solid results in Q3.

While 88% of consumers use retail site search, per a July 2024 Disqo survey, retailers have an opportunity to optimize the search experience. 68% of consumers say retail website search needs improvement, per a December 2024 Constructor survey. 42% of shoppers say that although their search results seem technically relevant to their queries, the products aren't what they're actually hoping to see, per Constructor

An example of the latter is Amazon Prime Video targeting using shopping history on the ecommerce platform. Additionally, retailers are opening their media networks to non-endemic buyers (brands that don鈥檛 usually sell through the retailer property but offer related products that appeal to certain user behaviors). In-store ad inventory also represents a growing opportunity.

Ecommerce platforms Temu and Shein claimed the third spot as they began raising prices in response to import costs and potential tariffs on Chinese goods. This price adjustment creates a critical strategic challenge for platforms whose primary competitive advantage has been ultra-low pricing.