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Western Europe鈥檚 retail sales growth will tick up slightly in 2025, and major markets like India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America will continue on their previously expected trajectories. Ecommerce sales growth worldwide will decline this year but rebound in 2026. China heavily drives the worldwide ecommerce figures.

Farmers in Brazil, the world鈥檚 top coffee exporter, have struggled with damaging frosts and severe droughts, while attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have forced some coffee shipments to detour around the Cape of Good Hope鈥攅xtending delivery times and adding shipping costs. Orange growers in Florida face similar headwinds.

Retail platforms in regions like Latin America and Southeast Asia may offer less competition and more growth potential, especially for brands looking to establish an early footprint. Related 蘑菇AV reports:. Worldwide Retail Media Ad Spending 2025 (蘑菇AV subscription required). Impact of Tariffs on US Retail Media Ad Spending(蘑菇AV subscription required).

The deluge of applications is making it increasingly difficult for recruiters to find qualified candidates in a sea of nearly identical submissions. AI鈥檚 vicious cycle: Recruiters now depend on AI to screen, interview, and assess as applicant numbers grow. LinkedIn鈥檚 AI agent helps screen r茅sum茅s and recommends top candidates.

Zooming out: The settlements come amid a sea of legal battles for Google that are chipping away at its market position. A federal district court judge ruled for a second time last month that Google maintains an illegal monopoly in ad exchanges and ad servers used by publishers to manage ad inventory.

Aiming for authenticity in a sea of AI: As AI fatigue sets in, tools that can replicate professional photo and video output that鈥檚 publication ready can drive down advertising production costs, or at the very least accelerate ideation with precise, high-quality assets.

But while Omnicom and IPG expected the merger to come in the second half of 2025, the FTC鈥檚 latest push against ad boycotts could complicate things, as the update comes amid a sea of struggles for advertisers navigating a volatile political climate.

Bloomberg reports that construction slowdowns in Ohio, the UK, and Southeast Asia are linked to rising material costs and tariff-related uncertainty. These pullbacks, while described as demand-aligned, may also reflect growing industry concerns over AI overcapacity. Our take: Microsoft is proving that it鈥檚 more than a one-note cloud player.

In Q1 2025, Latin America and Southeast Asia accounted for the biggest share of short-form drama app downloads globally, at 27% and 24%, respectively, according to Sensor Tower data. These regions also represented the fastest-growing market for downloads, increasing by 69% and 61% YoY, respectively, per Sensor Tower.

Standing out in a sea of platforms: Neptune aims to reward creativity with diverse monetization streams, including tips, subscriptions, and livestreams. The app is shifting focus away from algorithms and metrics to reduce performative stress on creators.

With a booming economy and a flourishing middle class, Indonesia has become an intense battleground for leading ecommerce players, including Shopee, Tokopedia, and TikTok Shop.

TikTok Shop leverages the popularity of short video and livestreaming in Southeast Asia. TikTok Shop is on the verge of surpassing Lazada鈥檚 sales in Southeast Asia (not including Tokopedia, the retailer acquired by TikTok鈥檚 parent company, ByteDance). While Shopee鈥檚 sales far exceed TikTok Shop鈥檚, the latter is growing faster.

But other regions are gaining鈥擟hina led in AI publications and patents, and high-quality models are emerging from the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Overall, AI optimism is growing, with some divides: 83% of people in China think AI services and products are more beneficial than harmful, compared with 40% of Canadians and 39% of people in the US.

The Southeast Asia coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Sea of content: Netflix remains the leader among connected TV (CTV) streaming apps, thanks to its mix of original titles, live programming, and licensed content. It鈥檚 also one of the only top streamers that doesn鈥檛 sell 脿 la carte titles on top of subscriptions, like YouTube and Prime do.

In several regions鈥攕uch as Latin America and Southeast Asia鈥攏o country will do so. Outside of China, digital advertising has enormous headroom for growth in much of Asia-Pacific. Click here to view our full forecast for digital ad spending penetration by country and region.

Their options are also limited by the simmering geopolitical tensions between the US and China, which is keeping Shein from pursuing plans to diversify manufacturing to Southeast Asia and could hinder both companies鈥� efforts to expand their US supply chain. Their loss will be Amazon鈥檚 gain.

AI-powered avatars are likely to make inroads in Asia-Pacific鈥檚 influencer marketing and live commerce鈥攂oth of which have boomed in China and Southeast Asia thanks to human influencers. AI-powered avatars such as Indonesia鈥檚 Rini (@rini_ibuonline) by AvataraLabs will soon be as lifelike as humans in promoting products.

These same market drivers are cited in analysis on regions from Latin America to Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Gulf States. What鈥檚 often missing is the fact that these factors don鈥檛 necessarily indicate an ecommerce market is set to soar in the near future.

Regulatory scrutiny around Chinese retailers is ramping up in Southeast Asia due to their adverse effects on local small and medium-sized businesses. In late 2023, Indonesian policymakers banned in-app online shopping transactions via social platforms. That led to a temporary closure of TikTok Shop (and eventually resulted in TikTok鈥檚 acquisition of local ecommerce giant Tokopedia).

Some are looking to shift production elsewhere, such as to Southeast Asia, which is for the time being safe from tariffs. But the most likely outcome is that consumers will be forced to shoulder most of the cost increases, which will hurt sales for even value-oriented retailers like Walmart and Costco.

Retail ecommerce sales growth in Southeast Asia, which has been blazing ahead in recent years, is set for a slowdown as the global economy faces challenges and tech funding shrinks. This year, the Philippines and Malaysia will lead the region in growth.

It鈥檚 also a chance to boost ad revenues, as sellers look for ways to stand out amid a sea of listings. The big takeaway: Operating an online marketplace has many advantages鈥攂ut finding success can be complicated.