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Many brands still draw their commerce media dollars out of shopper marketing budgets, giving small RMNs a new wave of competition. But RMNs and commerce media networks could wind up complementing one another in lots of different ways. Companies from a wide range of industries are pursuing the commerce media opportunity.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss (now that tariffs are here), how they鈥檙e impacting consumer behavior, some unexpected outcomes, and the numbers that will guide retailers in the months ahead. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Analyst Rachel Wolff and Senior Analyst Zak Stambor.

Google wants to be a retail hub: Less than a month after rolling out a rebuilt Google Shopping, the tech giant launched a host of in-store and local shopping features.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what the high-income shoppers path-to-purchase looks like and how best to market to them. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Senior Analyst Sky Canaves and Analyst Paola Flores-Marquez.

TJX鈥檚 value proposition won over shoppers of all ages and incomes in Q3: That momentum has carried over into Q4, putting the off-price retailer in pole position to benefit this holiday season.

These partnerships solve for measurement challenges in social media advertising while providing new channels for retailers to reach shoppers. CVS Media Exchange (CMX) launched a collaboration with Reddit, combining CMX鈥檚 data with Reddit鈥檚 community engagement to help brands reach consumers within conversations. The move comes as Reddit has been working to build out its own advertising business.

Retail media has evolved from ecommerce side hustle into a compelling opportunity to generate high-margin revenues. Retail media has captured the attention of multibrand retailers looking to offset ecommerce margin drains. Across the retail landscape, ecommerce sales penetration continues to inch up, following a major boost during the pandemic.

With Amazon accounting for 76.7% of the US retail media industry鈥檚 $60.81 billion in ad spend, smaller retail media networks (RMNs) have to innovate to differentiate themselves in the longtail of the marketplace.

This allows it to pair SmartCast viewing behavior with Walmart鈥檚 first-party shopping data. Dallaire added that Walmart is pushing the Vizio team to expand the SmartCast OS to more TV brands beyond Vizio, further extending its presence in American households. Why it matters:. It creates an end-to-end closed loop.

Our take: Amazon鈥檚 capacity limits are yet another headache for third-party sellers on its marketplace to navigate鈥攁nd one that will affect their ability to manage tariff costs, as well as their performance during crucial shopping periods like Prime Day. One option is to move more inventory into the retailer鈥檚 long-term bulk storage offering, known as Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD).

Streaming video, social media, and online shopping are Gen Z鈥檚 leading digital habits. Digital video鈥攅specially user-generated鈥攃ontinues to be the generation鈥檚 preferred content type. Nearly all Gen Zers (96.3%) are digital video viewers compared with 80.5% of the general population.

Expect a surge in tests of genAI-powered retail offerings鈥攍ike virtual shopping companions鈥攆or both online and offline shopping experiences. The integration of genAI in retail will enable novel and ultrapersonalized shopping experiences. AI influencers will become truly mainstream, as will AI-powered tools for product discovery and engagement across Asia-Pacific.

The diversification trend is evident when looking at both China鈥檚 export data and the actions of some of its largest ecommerce companies. April exports to the US sank 21% YoY in April as the prospect of 145% tariffs forced companies to put orders on hold.

Douyin investments are helping P&G shore up China sales: It鈥檚 taking advantage of the platform鈥檚 popularity among deal-seeking shoppers to boost its brands鈥� profiles.

Larger holding companies like Publicis and Omnicom are also acquiring ecommerce shops but often slow them down with bureaucracy. Acadia sees its edge in direct access and strategic flexibility. As brands expand into CTV, off-site media, and advancements in first-party data monetization, the strongest agencies will treat RMNs as full-funnel ecosystems鈥攏ot just media buying channels.

TikTok Shop wants to be a holiday season shopping hub: The platform鈥檚 Brand Palooza campaign features steep discounts, an extended returns window, and TikTok Lives from celebrities, brands, and creators.

Walmart鈥檚 strong Q3 bodes well for its holiday performance: The retailer鈥檚 sales and profits beat expectations thanks to healthy ecommerce growth, more affluent shoppers, and recovering general merchandise sales.

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.