In the last of five reports in our “Payments Ecosystem” collection, we look at what’s influencing retail sales growth across in-store, online, and social commerce channels—and what it means for payment providers.

97% of US TikTok shoppers also shopped at Amazon in the past five months, according to February 2024 data from Earnest Analytics.

“Creator is in their name. So let them create.” That was the advice Sophie Jamison, CEO of Lightning Media, shared at the recent EMARKETER Summit. Jamison warned against giving creators too much direction and was optimistic about the future of social media marketing, even if TikTok goes away.

Major players like TikTok, Meta, and Google unveiled new partnerships, AI innovations, and streamlining solutions. Here are three key developments you may have missed.

Brazil is Latin America’s largest retail ecommerce market by total sales volume and will be this year’s third-fastest-growing digital economy worldwide. Understanding the nuances of how and where Brazil’s diverse consumer base spends its money online is key for brands and retailers to thrive in this highly competitive ecommerce market.

Total media ad spending growth has stabilized, and digital ad spending is set for an extended period of low double-digit annual increases. Amazon, TikTok, and Instagram will be the main growth drivers this year.

Financial institutions that have relied on the platform to reach young consumers must come up with a Plan B—or face losing brand awareness.

Instacart and Uber team up to keep DoorDash at bay: Instacart hopes the deal will protect its grocery business and widen consumer appeal, while Uber looks for new customers.

LinkedIn is at a turning point: Users are more engaged than ever, ad revenues are rising, and creators are inking deals on the platform. And LinkedIn’s appeal among both B2B and B2C marketers is growing.

“There's a big change in the luxury market. The consumers are still there, but they're being more selective about what they buy and when they buy it,” our analyst Sky Canaves said on an episode of the “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. Expanding into new markets and raising prices isn’t always an option for luxury brands, but there are other areas of opportunity. Here are three ways luxury brands can fuel discovery, spark engagement, and develop loyalty.

For August, a digitally native direct-to-consumer brand of period care products, TikTok gives more than it takes down. For example, in January 2020, its launch video was immediately removed by the platform. “I still get videos taken down for what the app believes is graphic content,” said August co-founder Nadya Okamoto. Still, Okamoto credits TikTok for helping her cultivate a community of nearly 4.5 million followers across her personal and brand TikTok accounts, as well as allowing her to open a dialogue for authentic marketing.

Social video is getting an additional boost in daily time spent this year. It’s mostly coming from a less expected place—Meta—even as TikTok continues to dominate in total time spent.

51% of US teens and parents think teens spend the right amount of time on smartphones, while 64% think they spend the right amount of time on social media, according to October 2023 data from Pew Research Center.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss in-store retail media: what's holding it back, cooler screens and smart carts impact, and what digital advertising looks like outside the store. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top three heritage brands that have found a way to become cool again. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Zak Stambor.

Social media marketers are using genAI to analyze data, brainstorm ideas, and meet content demands. But these tools come with their own sets of limitations and concerns, often requiring human guidance and intervention.

“What will happen next?” That’s the big question marketers have following the signing of a potential TikTok ban into law, according to Liz Cole, chief social officer at VML. While marketers don’t know if parent company ByteDance will sell TikTok, shut the platform down in the US, or find a way to fend off the legislation in court, they can prepare now for what’s to come.

TikTok’s potential ban isn’t putting brands off TikTok Shop: The platform’s sales potential is driving companies like Rare Beauty and Tarte Cosmetics to deepen their investment.

US social media ad spending will ride the momentum platforms built in H2 2023 thanks to AI, social video advertising growth, and a fixation on bottom-funnel outcomes.

Only 8.3% of users who noticed shopping-related content changes said their TikTok usage decreased, the same report found, according to our April 2024 “US Social Commerce” survey.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what happens now that the TikTok ban bill has been signed into law, whether AI is ready to significantly change search, the likelihood that Threads ads will be a hit, what social commerce's ceiling will be, the WNBA and the sports gender pay gap, and more. Tune into the discussion with analysts Jasmine Enberg, Minda Smiley, and Max Willens.