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Amid real challenges, retailers get a glimmer of good news: Retail sales rose 4.2% YoY in January, and spending at restaurants and bars jumped 5.4% YoY.

The news: China is outpacing the US in retail media鈥檚 global rise, with nearly half of its digital ad spending now flowing through retail platforms. While Amazon still leads globally, its growth is slowing鈥攅xpected to rise just 18.6% in 2025. Meanwhile, players like Uber Eats, Meijer, and Albertsons are growing ad revenues at triple-digit rates. Our take: Retail media is becoming more fragmented and competitive. Success now requires portfolio diversification, especially as new channels鈥攍ike last-mile delivery and in-store signage鈥攇ain momentum. What began as an Amazon-centric, US-led trend is now a worldwide shift reshaping how consumers discover, consider, and buy.

The news: Bluesky, the text-based social media platform created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is seeking a valuation of $700 million in a new funding round, per Business Insider reporting. The news comes as Bluesky is working to differentiate itself from leading social platforms and Elon Musk鈥檚 X.

The same is true for international expansion: Ad revenue growth was strongest in Meta鈥檚 rest of world segment, which includes Latin America and Africa, at 33%. LinkedIn becomes more social. LinkedIn helped Microsoft鈥檚 bottom line as it added subscribers and engaged them with video content. Its revenues rose 10%. Revenues: $4.57 billion (10% YoY increase).

And don鈥檛 be surprised if central banks in other countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia try to replicate Pix and UPI. This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Payments Innovation Briefing鈥攁 daily recap of top stories reshaping the payments industry. Subscribe to have more hard-hitting takeaways delivered to your inbox daily. Are you a client? Click here to subscribe.

With privacy and blocking policy uproar at X, Bluesky continues to thrive, positioning itself as a strong competitor in the social media landscape.

The news: Bluesky, the text-based social media platform created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is raising a new funding round at a valuation of $700 million, per Business Insider reporting. The news comes as Bluesky is working to differentiate itself from leading social platforms and Elon Musk鈥檚 X.

Price hikes for individual subscriptions are expected to roll out in Europe and Latin America later this year. Our take: Spotify鈥檚 freemium model continues to prove resilient, supporting user retention even as subscription prices rise.

Gap Inc expects its brands to be 鈥渢he winners in any challenging market鈥�: The retailer is confident its focus on product innovation, newness, and social buzz will insulate it from economic pressures.

Nubank leans on social media and digital platforms to share financial education content. Its 鈥淔ala, Nubank鈥� blog amassed almost 63 million readers in 2022, per a recent Nubank report, and the brand had 11.9 million followers across social media platforms by the end of that year.

PayPal is the preferred digital wallet for social commerce: 39.3% of social buyers used PayPal to make a purchase on social media in the prior year, per our March 2024 US Social Commerce survey. But Apple Pay takes the cake among Gen Z, with 34.2% of Gen Z social buyers using it in the past 12 months鈥攎ore than twice the proportion of buyers overall (16.4%), per our survey.

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.

The news: Cannes Lions 2025 kicks off June 16, with media companies and platforms turning the festival into a proving ground for brand innovation. Spotify is merging live acts like Cardi B with audiobook tastings and celebrity panels, while Canva hosts CMO roundtables alongside design influencers. Google, Uber, and Influential are anchoring talks on TV, sports, and creator-driven engagement鈥攚ith yacht-side podcasts and fundraising activations adding a new layer of purpose. Our take: This year鈥檚 Cannes isn鈥檛 about opulence鈥攊t鈥檚 about ownership. Brands that bring substance, not just spectacle, will emerge with more than headlines鈥攖hey鈥檒l leave with lasting partnerships and fresh strategic playbooks.

Our regional flash survey explores how consumers in Latin America research products, the formats they prefer most, and the influence of sponsored product ads on their purchase decisions. It also provides marketers with actionable insights into how to best position their brands on the path to purchase.

The new policy introduces a demand shock for international markets鈥攑articularly the EU and emerging Asia-Pacific markets like China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, while Latam appears less exposed to reciprocal penalties. Inflationary pressures are expected to hit the US especially hard, squeezing real incomes and weighing on consumer spending.

Among internet users, podcasts will essentially be just as popular in Latin America as in Western Europe (28.2% versus 30.3% in 2023). Outside of China, most of the fastest podcast growth in the world will come from Latin America for the next several years.

Facebook and Instagram have historically taken a 鈥渉alf-hearted鈥� approach to integrating shopping into their platforms. 53% of US consumers distrust products sold via social platforms, according to Aibuy's 2023 Social Media Shopping Report. Many social shoppers prefer to browse on social media but complete purchases on retailer websites due to trust and security concerns.

It beats Latin America鈥攖he reigning leader in music streaming, social/messaging, and mobile鈥攂y 2 minutes. The popularity is partially motivated by the fact that podcasts consume less data (once downloaded) for lengthy content. Social/messaging time spent dropped below 3 hours for the first time since GWI began tracking it in 2019.

Both apps see user spikes in light of Trump鈥檚 win and Musk鈥檚 divisive moves, signaling an appetite for other social media models and the potential for new advertising platforms.