蘑菇AV

The news: Forty-five percent of US consumers prefer using buy now, pay later (BNPL) for purchases rather than credit cards, per a survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Affirm.

Zooming out: We forecast that nearly one-quarter (24.2%) of US consumers, or 83.2 million people, use a smart wearable that monitors or measures health and fitness activities such as an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Oura Ring. We project modest growth in wearable user penetration through 2028.

Need for speed: 71% of consumers in the US, the UK, and Canada said short wait times make them feel the most respected by a company, per Five9, though some worry it signals a lack of interest in customer satisfaction.

With the company鈥檚 biggest China rival, Luckin Coffee, looking to make its US debut, Starbucks will be under even more pressure to produce a menu and customer experience that can persuade cost-conscious consumers to venture through its doors.

For instance, creator-commerce platform LTK rolled out a shopping tool in June that鈥檚 specifically focused on DMs. Users who comment 鈥渟丑辞辫鈥� on an LTK creator鈥檚 Instagram post receive a DM including a link, where they can shop products in the post. But most social users in the US 补谤别苍鈥檛 shopping within a messaging context.

But on-site ad inventory is finite, and its worth to advertisers is inextricably tied to ecommerce traffic, which leaves most retailers at a disadvantage. Further adding to on-site woes, advertisers have begun to question the ROI of ads so close to the bottom of the purchase funnel. Retail media鈥檚 biggest players are maxing out their owned and operated surfaces.

This week, consumers are concerned about tariffs but continue shopping via mobile and on low-price retailers associated with China. Consumers are also less focused on fast delivery and flocking to Google for reviews.

These tactics have been more heavily investigated in the EU and the UK than in the US. Microsoft and OpenAI鈥檚 deal gives Microsoft 20% of OpenAI鈥檚 revenues and rights to its IP through 2030, though that partnership may be fragmenting. In March 2024, Microsoft hired nearly all of Inflection AI鈥檚 workforce and purchased the licensing rights to its software for about $650 million.

The loss of TikTok in the US would cause a ripple effect across the media, marketing, and commerce landscape. Meta and YouTube stand to gain the most, but there is a long list of other winners鈥攁nd losers.

The company鈥檚 struggles have been compounded by a misjudged push upmarket, which failed to draw in wealthy consumers while putting its clothes and accessories out of reach for aspirational shoppers. While early efforts to go 鈥渂ack to basics鈥濃�攁nd a more reasonable price point鈥攕howed promise, particularly among US consumers, those gains could quickly be wiped out by tariffs and macroeconomic volatility.

The test is open to US creators on an invite-only basis, per Business Insider. This sharpens Meta鈥檚 efforts to acquire users and boost content through monetization programs. Our take: Meta is using referral and bonus programs as a growth engine to compete with TikTok, YouTube, and other rivals.

"Demand-side platforms (DSPs) deeply integrated with retailers' authenticated audiences and shopping behaviors are going to enable brands to reach consumers with more precision targeting.". Latin American markets are still in the early stages of first-party data utilization compared to the US, according to Fasano.

The news: Apple denied a request for Fortnite to be added to the US App Store and the Epic Games Store in the EU, according to Epic Games. 鈥淪adly, Fortnite on iOS will be unavailable until Apple unblocks it,鈥� Epic Games said on X. Last year, the EU鈥檚 Digital Markets Act forced Apple to let Fortnite run on iPhones through Epic Games鈥� third-party app store.

But many of these sellers may not have any choice but to continue spending on US-based retail media networks. 鈥淚f you take Amazon, Walmart away from a lot of these smaller, independent Chinese sellers, they basically lose their ability to access US 肠辞苍蝉耻尘别谤蝉.鈥�.

Meta is still the top dog in social media, but smaller platforms like Snap and Pinterest are focusing on augmented reality and ecommerce, respectively, to stand out in a crowded field. Meta鈥檚 ad revenues surged as AI investment intensified. Meta delivered a standout Q4, with revenues climbing 21% YoY to $48.38 billion.

US immigration policy fuels hospitality and retail concerns: Deportations exacerbate hospitality labor shortages as consumer-goods makers cite softer sales.

PayPal partnered with Verifone to pair the point-of-sale (POS) provider鈥檚 hardware with Braintree鈥檚 payment processing and ecommerce capabilities, which are being rebranded as PayPal Enterprise Payments. This can help the company, which dominates ecommerce checkout, make inroads in store.

What this means: We forecast that 43.2 million US consumers used Klarna last year鈥攎aking up more than half of all US BNPL users. That means less than 1% of its US base signed up for the service, which is not a promising sign for future consumer demand. Few BNPL users find it worthwhile to commit to a subscription service.

Customer data collection, the dawn of retail media, and AI-assisted shopping has upended a retail industry already in the midst of a big-box transformation at the tail end of the 20th century. And then there is one of the biggest elephants in the room: Amazon. Here are some of the most impactful changes that marketing leaders have seen over the last 25 years.

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.

Spend on affiliate marketing will surpass $10 billion in the US for the first time this year, and will increase 47.4% by 2028, according to 蘑菇AV鈥檚 latest forecast. However, with traffic from Google declining and consumers becoming more discerning, both publishers and advertisers are grappling with shrinking margins and rising competition.

AXON鈥檚 performance is pulling in spend across gaming, ecommerce, and connected TV, giving AppLovin a foothold in markets far larger than its original mobile gaming roots. What could trip things up? Regulatory risk, geopolitical volatility, or platform gatekeepers like Apple shifting their rules pose threats to AppLovin鈥檚 growth flywheel.

According to 蘑菇AV senior director of forecasting Oscar Orozco on our recent tarrif-centric webinar, businesses are leaning more heavily into what can be tracked, adjusted quickly, and tied to outcomes. Platforms like search continue to win budget share because they offer marketers the ability to reach buyers closer to a purchase decision.

The road ahead will hinge on pricing power, supply chain agility, and the company鈥檚 ability to keep shoppers engaged as household budgets tighten.