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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.

CEO Bill Nash expects the company to grow sales and market share this year, as tariffs disrupt vehicle supply and drive shoppers to seek more affordable options. Our take: Cars are an essential expense for a majority of Americans. But as the cost of ownership (including insurance, maintenance, and gas) rises, more consumers will be forced to cut spending in other areas.

But despite consistent regulatory pressure, Amazon remains insistent that its strict pricing rules are necessary in order to guarantee a positive shopping experience and provide value, and that any changes would harm both customers and sellers.

Announced in 2023, Netflix Houses are in-mall locations where fans can eat food, shop for merchandise, and participate in activities themed after Netflix originals like 鈥淲ednesday,鈥� 鈥淥ne Piece,鈥� and 鈥淪tranger Things.鈥�. Why it matters: Netflix House is striking at a moment when mall traffic is showing resilience thanks to luxury and experiential offerings.

Venmo is marketing itself as a payment platform shoppers can use for 鈥渆verything鈥� as it tries to make the app more profitable by breaking out of the P2P box. Extending its volume opportunities through tuition, school purchases, and athletic events could build payment habits in young consumers that lead them to use PayPal more frequently through the rest of their lives.

For consumers, healthcare price-shopping to find the best deal on care or treatment will become commonplace instead of accepting whatever one鈥檚 insurance plan offers. This would be a win for D2C healthcare brands that already provide a better customer experience than incumbents, and now can offer upfront pricing that might not be much more than what patients would pay through their insurance anyway.

But the ecommerce platform has also been dealing with mounting consumer complaints over a range of product issues. Alibaba said that it will collaborate with authorities and vowed to tighten supervision of its supply chain. Predictions. Chinese ecommerce platforms will make major concessions to regulators to continue operating in other countries in the region.

The company is pulling multiple levers to stay resilient鈥攊ncluding brand extensions like the Limited Edition Milano Caramel Caf茅 au Lait and the return of the London Fog variety鈥攄emonstrating a keen understanding of both value-seeking and trend-driven shoppers.

US adults spend over 32.3 hours monthly on the Spotify app, compared with 3.5 hours on Amazon Music and less than an hour on Apple Music, according to a January 2025 Comscore study.

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.

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.

Shoppers are also pulling back sharply from brands based on their (perceived) immigration stances. Coca-Cola鈥檚 North America sales took a hit in Q1 after a video falsely claimed the company was reporting undocumented workers to ICE, triggering a boycott among Hispanic consumers. Our take: The US economy depends heavily on immigrants, documented and undocumented.

Perplexity takes on Google: The AI-powered search engine launched a Buy with Pro ecommerce feature, along with a host of other shopping-related elements to broaden its utility and appeal.

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).

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.

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.

Gap鈥檚 momentum continues into the holiday season: Weather-related headwinds notwithstanding, the retailer鈥檚 brand reinvigoration efforts are resonating with shoppers and driving sales.

Retailers don鈥檛 want inventory shortages to steal their holiday cheer: That鈥檚 why most of them have taken steps to ensure trending products are available during peak shopping periods.