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They could also grow their acceptance network into higher-spend categories like travel鈥攍ike Affirm鈥檚 partnership with Hotels.com. This article is part of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 client-only subscription Briefings鈥攄aily newsletters authored by industry analysts who are experts in marketing, advertising, media, and tech trends.

The economy is still under pressure, but investment in digital advertising will continue apace. Retail will continue to lead the ranking for total spend. Travel will lead in terms of growth, followed closely by CPG and retail.

The trends:. People are increasingly quitting retail and hospitality jobs. The quit rate among retail workers reached 4.1% in January, topping the prepandemic highs for the industry for the first time since last April, per the US Labor Department. The rate for hotel and restaurant workers is even higher, at 5.4% for January, although the trend line is more muddled.

Travel demand is particularly high this year, in part because Beijing extended the public holiday period by an extra day. An estimated 9 billion trips will be made across China between January 14 and February 22, according to government officials. That鈥檚 an increase of nearly 7% YoY. Consumers are taking advantage of the longer holiday to travel further, both domestically and internationally.

Not only will it gain new cardholders and more revenues, but solidifying itself as the sole co-brand partner to one of the largest US airlines can boost the issuer鈥檚 push into travel. The company launched a booking platform, Citi Travel, in partnership with Booking.com in 2023 that lets cardholders book flights, hotels, car rentals, and other travel services.

Other airlines like Alaska Airlines have also pushed into the premium space as the cards can bring in higher volume and revenues

Inflation hasn鈥檛 made a dent in travel demand: Airbnb, Marriott, and United all reported strong Q4 earnings despite higher prices for airfare and lodging.

The trend: Retailers and tech giants are actively experimenting with AI agents that can act on behalf of consumers鈥攁utomating product discovery, price comparisons, replenishment, and even purchases. The latest examples:. eBay has launched a shopping assistant that offers real-time, personalized product picks. It responds to user input or proactively suggests items based on browsing behavior.

Retail Trends to Watch in 2025. Advertising Trends to Watch in 2025. Methodology: Data is from the November 2024 National Retail Federation (NRF) report titled "Estimated Impacts of Proposed Tariffs on Imports: Apparel, Toys, Furniture, Household Appliances, Footwear, and Travel Goods" prepared by Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC.

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Partnership negotiations will have to deal with the program鈥檚 list of hurdles

Some customers may not have their preferred travel credit cards saved in Venmo but will want to use them to rack up points. Others may be making the purchase on their desktop without their phones in reach, which creates friction when you have to use the QR code.

Digital ad spend by the US travel industry will grow by 14.3% this year for a total of $6.79 billion, according to our forecast.

Why this is happening: Part of these debt trends have to do with where Gen Zers are at in their financial lives. They鈥檝e had fewer earning years and therefore also likely have less money saved. Many are also prioritizing fun (like spending on travel and entertainment) over financial discipline.

The card鈥檚 unique waitlist promotion can help the card gain a sizable user base

More than half of Black consumers are willing to travel a bit farther to shop at businesses that carry Black-owned products, according to Nielsen. This preference also extends to media, with 68% of Black viewers stating it鈥檚 important for TV shows and movies to have diverse creative teams.

Companies like Instacart, DoorDash, and Gopuff are expanding their ad formats and leveraging their first-party data, indicating broader trends in retail media creativity and off-site advertising growth. Non-retail verticals like financial services and travel are adopting the retail media model to monetize their first-party data, though advertiser demand remains uncertain.

Backlash builds against US brands as more tariffs loom: Global consumers are shunning US products, posing a threat to retailers, CPG companies, and the travel sector.

We covered a recent Forbes analysis showing how fintechs are outpacing banks in new checking account openings鈥攁nd we found that multi-banking is behind that trend. Gen Z favors cashback and discounts, driving adoption of credit cards (46% for rewards, 36% for convenience).

We project this trend will hold through 2026. What鈥檚 driving these trends? Healthcare and pharma products and services most often target older demographics. These patients typically require more medical care and take more medications than younger generations do. They鈥檙e also the most likely to consume traditional media.

Key skills include writing code, booking travel, and managing investments, requiring minimal oversight and greater understanding than what chatbots are capable of. Shopping is emerging as a popular application among users, with 60% of Gen Zers鈥攁nd 44% of consumers overall鈥攊nterested in AI-assisted shopping, per PYMNTS.

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The trend: Pandemic-era credit card perks could take a toll on issuers as headwinds buffet the economy this year, per the Wall Street Journal. How we got here: As consumers shifted toward debit at the onset of the pandemic, many issuers revamped their rewards to encourage credit card spending. This included pivoting rewards from travel toward everyday spending categories like groceries.