The Future of Retail

Hey there Scooper 🍨

Ready for another day of staying ahead of the competition in the Virality race?

Oh and before we go ahead! If your friend sent this to you, be sure to subscribe here! So you don’t miss out on any scoops

RETAIL

💡 The Future of Retail: Amazon, Walmart & Roblox’s Bold Moves
^{Insights from Chain Store Age} 

Amazon and Walmart are set to dominate U.S. retail sales, while Roblox and Shopify are pioneering in-game shopping, blending virtual and physical commerce. These developments highlight the growing fusion of e-commerce with traditional and digital platforms.

The Scoop:

• Amazon & Walmart’s Retail Future: By 2029, Amazon and Walmart are projected to account for 25% of U.S. retail sales, with their combined online sales reaching $1.1 trillion. As U.S. retail sales climb to $6 trillion, online retail penetration is expected to hit 29%, driven by significant growth in non-durable goods categories like clothing, food, and pet supplies. Categories such as clothing and toys will see more than 50% online sales penetration by 2029.
  

• Roblox’s Shopify Integration: Roblox, popular with Gen Z, has partnered with Shopify, allowing brands to sell physical items directly within its games. This integration enables creators and brands to engage with Roblox’s 80 million daily users, offering a seamless shopping experience. Retail giants like Walmart and beauty brands like E.l.f. are already leveraging this immersive space for real-world sales, with Walmart pioneering the sale of real items paired with virtual avatars.

As Amazon and Walmart continue their retail dominance and in-game shopping gains traction on platforms like Roblox, retailers must embrace these shifts. The blend of physical and digital commerce is a key opportunity for brands to stay competitive in a rapidly changing retail environment.

TOGETHER WITH LEVANTA

Forecast Your Potential Revenue Lift from Affiliate Marketing

Introducing the FREE Affiliate Marketing Revenue Lift Calculator 2.0 for Amazon Prime Day events—purpose-built to help Amazon Sellers project their potential earnings from running affiliate promotions for Prime Big Deal Days this October.

Wonder how your product(s) could perform?

Last Prime Day (July 2024), Amazon sellers experienced significant growth with affiliate marketing, including a 20x increase in sales volume and a 10x lift in conversion rates.

Get your prediction(s) with Levanta's Lift Calculator.

• Free: Forecast your potential Prime Big Deal Days earnings by category, including the surrounding month.

• Data-Driven: Uses benchmarks from thousands of brands that succeeded during Prime Day this July 2024.

Boost your earnings with affiliate marketing by driving highly qualified traffic, controlling your commissions, and leveraging Amazon's Brand Referral Bonus for an average 10% kickback on sales driven through external traffic.

Request your FREE forecast now →

MONTHLY STATS

💡 August Update: Ad Spend & Growth Opportunities in 2024
^{Insights from Search Engine Journal}

The IAB’s August update of the 2024 Outlook Study provides key insights into ad spend projections, growth opportunities, and challenges for the rest of the year, with input from 200 buy-side decision-makers at brands and agencies.

The Scoop:

• Revised Ad Spend Projections: 2024 ad spend projections have been revised from +9.5% to +11.8%, driven by increased political spending and cyclical events like the Summer Olympics.
  

• Channel Growth: Retail media continues its rapid rise, with projections jumping from 21.8% to 25.1%, particularly in consumer-packed goods (CPG) and beauty. Other channels expected to grow include Connected TV (18.4%), social media (16.3%), paid search (13.1%), digital video (12.5%), and podcasts (12.6%). Even linear TV is expected to grow by 4.3%.
  

• Shifting Focus: There’s a decline in the focus on newer KPIs like attention metrics and weighted CAC, with marketers prioritizing established metrics to drive cross-funnel goals. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is becoming essential for measuring business outcomes like sales and store visits, although many still find this “the road less traveled.”

With upward ad spend trends and rising channel growth, marketers need to optimize their cross-channel strategies and refine established KPIs. Understanding evolving consumer behaviors and mastering measurement tools like GA4 will be key to thriving in 2024.

ADOBE FIREFLY

💪Adobe’s Firefly AI Set to Revolutionize Video Creation in 2024
^{Insights from TechCrunch}

Adobe is gearing up to introduce groundbreaking generative AI tools in 2024, aiming to transform video production through its Firefly model. The tools promise to empower creatives by enabling text-to-video, image-to-video generation, and extending existing videos seamlessly.

The Scoop:

• Generative AI Features: Adobe’s Firefly model will bring three key features to video creation: Text to Video, Image to Video, and Generative Extend. These tools, currently in private beta, will allow users to generate five-second video clips using text or image prompts and extend existing footage by two seconds, simulating additional video content effortlessly.
  

• Firefly’s Commercial Safety: A significant advantage of Firefly is its promise of “commercial safety,” as it is trained on licensed content, mitigating copyright concerns. In contrast to competitors like OpenAI’s Sora model, Adobe emphasizes ethical data usage in its AI training.
  

• Seamless Integration: Firefly’s tools will be integrated across Adobe’s Creative Cloud and Premiere Pro applications. The beta versions will be accessible on Firefly’s website and in Adobe Premiere Pro by the end of 2024. Adobe is also exploring additional third-party integrations to further streamline creative workflows.

As Adobe rolls out these generative AI features, creatives will gain unprecedented control over video production. By leveraging tools like Firefly, professionals can accelerate their workflows and create content with minimal effort, ushering in a new era of AI-driven media creation.

QUICK SCOOP

🥅 How did Bedrop achieve 35% higher AOV in search channels than in social? With over 500M daily active users, you can beat your CPA goals with Taboola’s advanced algorithm, and get 50% more views and 10x higher engagement rates compared to traditional display ads. Start maximizing your ad performance with Taboola today! 

📮Are your email stats and overall deliverability plummeting? Try Inbox Mailers and generate up to 3X higher open rates. LEGITIMATE open rates. It works by perfectly sending your emails when your subscriber is actively in their inbox. Book a free demo and see it in action for yourself!

⏰Meta has expanded access to Instagram Reminder Ads via its Marketing API, enabling third-party apps to use features like Instagram Reels placement and optimized event reminders aligning with Meta Ads Manager, providing more flexibility for businesses to enhance ad reach and engagement addressing feedback on missing features. 

🏷️Google is testing a new ad format with a taller gray background and more prominent labels like "Sponsored" and "Promoted results" to make ads stand out more in search results compared to the current subtle labeling.

That’s all for today! While we curate another Viral Scoop for tomorrow, let us know how you felt about today! And share this with someone who’d love it.🥰