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The PE shop primarily invests in consumer and retail brands and is most known for buying Staples for $6.9 billion in 2017. But to our knowledge, Walgreens will be Sycamore’s biggest purchase yet, and its first in the pharmacy/healthcare space. There’s no direct comparison of a PE company buying a big US pharmacy chain, but private equity firms have drawn criticism in healthcare.

A lot happens in a week, so every Friday we're going to analyze all the new data and provide you with some of the key takeaways. Welcome to the Friday 5. This week, Temu and Shein get a scare, consumers use buy now, pay later (BNPL) apps to discover new products, and Super Bowl viewers don’t really care about ads for AI products or services.

Tying up with DoorDash gives the BNPL provider a massive volume opportunity

BNPL credit reporting has been hotly debated, but Affirm argues it will help consumers build credit

Adoption will spike by 82.1% from 2024 to 2026—but from a very low base. This translates to only 2.6% of the population using cryptocurrency payments in 2026, affirming its status as a nascent-stage payment option.

Marketing beyond the screen: Studios are embracing cross-industry partnerships, with "A Minecraft Movie" leveraging gaming, beauty, and food brands to expand its audience reach and deepen fan engagement before its release.

Retail media will account for about 1 in 5 digital ad dollars this year. That’s about double the share it held in 2020. We expect it to surpass the one-quarter mark by 2028.

From partnership matching to payments, its AI agent slashes the nine-hour grind of creator outreach to five minutes.

The partnership will give the BNPL provider a boost and help it better compete against rival Affirm

US restaurant sales rose just 1.5% YoY in February: That’s one of the troubling signs in February’s weaker-than-expected retail sales numbers.

Two US payment systems—FedNow and the RTP network—are driving real-time payments growth. New features, industry innovation, and emerging use cases will help them overcome implementation hurdles.

Retailers cut 6,419 jobs in January: That’s up 20% YoY, with more to come as chains like Joann plan to close hundreds of stores.

Our second annual study of US banking consumers reveals the key characteristics that make each generation’s customer journey unique. Banks can tailor their acquisition and retention strategies accordingly.