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Retail media is taking Latin America鈥檚 digital ad industry by storm, with advertisers spending nearly $2 billion this year, per our inaugural forecast. Here are the latest trends you need to know.

On today's episode, we discuss what to make of Microsoft putting ads in its AI-powered Bing Chat platform, the biggest pitfalls of companies using generative AI, and publishers' concerns about AI chatbots cutting readership. "In Other News," we talk about how much retail media networks are actually boosting the US ad market and which car manufacturers are leading the US electric vehicle (EV) race. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Gadjo Sevilla and Max Willens.

Inditex-owned Zara will soon begin hosting 鈥淶ara Streaming鈥� live-shopping shows for customers in the US, the UK, Canada, and select European markets, following success with the format in China. The retailer plans to host the live shows exclusively on its app and website in an attempt to exert maximum control over aesthetics, as well as drive more shoppers to its owned channels.

Trump鈥檚 tariffs roil the retail industry: Reciprocal measures will touch virtually every sector, leading to higher prices for the consumer.

Methodology: Data is from the November 2024 Bazaarvoice report titled "Shopper Experience Index Vol 18." 8,000+ shoppers worldwide in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, the UK, and the US were surveyed online by Savanta during September 2024.

Our take: Bank of America鈥檚 and Citi鈥檚 earnings were steady in Q1 despite the larger uncertain economic environment that started in March with President Donald Trump鈥檚 threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico. But both issuers agree that these results may not repeat themselves in the coming quarters.

The market鈥檚 retail media ad spending jumped 45.8% in 2024, according to our data, suggesting a rapid shift toward ecommerce-driven advertising channels. Our take: Brazil鈥檚 prominence in regional ad spending growth is a reminder that advertisers must look beyond established markets to remain competitive.

A bleak outlook: The fact that Abercrombie, with its solid growth streak, is cautious about the future underscores the challenging road ahead for the retail industry. Tariffs are eroding consumer confidence, weakening their desire (and ability) to purchase trendy apparel and other discretionary goods.

As a result, more than a third (34%) of ecommerce retailers in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain plan to increase their delivery charges in 2024, per a November 2023 study by ShipEngine and Retail Economics. But consumers don鈥檛 want to pay extra for delivery.

The company is expanding Amazon Just Walk Out, its cashierless checkout offering, to more retail spaces. It鈥檚 also brought its hand-scan checkout solution, Amazon One, to more proprietary retail locations, including several Whole Foods stores. And Amazon partnered with Affirm to bring buy now, pay later (BNPL) to US and Canadian customers.

In our first edition of the Global Digital Index, created in partnership with the RLC Global Forum, we explore retail and ecommerce in the Gulf States of the Middle East.

Loyalty data can supercharge retail media strategies. Shoppers are willing to trade valuable personal data for coupons. More than two-thirds of UK shoppers would join a retailer鈥檚 loyalty scheme and share personal data in order to get a coupon, per savi. Supermarkets are already leveraging loyalty data to enhance their retail media capabilities.

A ransomware attack at supply-chain services provider Blue Yonder affected Starbucks鈥� ability to manage schedules and pay workers at 11,000 stores in the US and Canada. The attack also impacted UK grocers Morrisons and Sainsbury鈥檚.

The news: Publicis Groupe has won Coca-Cola鈥檚 US and Canada media business, taking it from WPP, according to Adweek. The decision followed a closed-door review between the two holding companies and marks a major shift in Coca-Cola鈥檚 media strategy.

What happened: Earlier this year, a Canadian court ruled against Air Canada after its chatbot gave incorrect information about a funeral policy. The airline's defense that the chatbot was a separate legal entity was dismissed.

Methodology: Data is from a February 2023 Metapack report titled "Ecommerce Delivery Benchmark." 8,000+ adults ages 18+ in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US were surveyed by Retail Economics during November 2022.

In addition, TJX reported higher-than-expected Q1 earnings and plans to continue capitalizing on price-sensitive shoppers with another 1,300 new stores in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Listen to the full episode. This was originally featured in the Retail Daily newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

The role of mobile apps in retail media. Shoppers spend nearly twice as long on Temu鈥檚 app than its competitors. How to reach Gen Z in 2024, according to new data. Nearly a third of in-store shoppers buy something immediately after discovering it.

Over the past few years, Walmart has opened its marketplace to international merchants from China, Canada, Japan, and the UK, according to our US Retail Ecommerce Marketplaces Forecast 2023 report. Now, the marketplace offers around 400 million SKUs from marketplace sellers, up from 75 million pre-pandemic, per our report.

Despite early adoption, programmatic has stopped gaining much new ground in Canada. Though similar to the US in many respects, Canada likely owes its slightly higher programmatic penetration to Meta鈥檚 outsize influence. Like other social networks, Meta serves the vast majority of its ads programmatically. Meta will account for 30.2% of digital ad spending in Canada this year.

While the administration鈥檚 evolving policies create uncertainty, we鈥檝e modeled three scenarios for 2025 retail spending鈥攔anging from limited to heavy tariffs. In the heavy tariff scenario, retail sales are projected to decline 1.0% YoY, compared to 2.9% growth under the limited scenario, making it clear that tariffs will significantly slow retail growth.

US retail marketplace ecommerce sales will grow 11.4% to reach $428.30 billion this year, per our forecast. Because Amazon (73.4%) and eBay (8.2%) will rake in the majority of those sales, smaller marketplaces like Shein, Michaels, and Wayfair are getting creative and taking the battle for sales in-store.

This was originally featured in the Retail Daily newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

The president-elect recently said he would impose tariffs of 25% on Mexican and Canadian imports and an additional 10% on Chinese imports. During the campaign, Trump had proposed tariffs as high as 60% for Chinese goods, but business and inflationary concerns could have softened his approach.

Tariff escalation reshapes Latin America trade: New duties disrupt retail margins, inventory flows, and regional growth forecasts.