As podcast advertising becomes even more competitive, smaller brands are trying to fine-tune their strategies and spending to best reach their target demo.

Tariffs

‘You want to play defense’: Amid economic pressure, brands usher in Black Friday by trimming deals

November 24, 2025

Turmoil from tariffs and pressure on margins are forcing some brands to play it safer this Cyber Week.

Marketplace Briefing: Some Amazon sellers skip Black Friday deals as tariffs and platform fees bite

November 20, 2025

Some Amazon sellers are reducing or skipping their Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions as tariffs and platform fees squeeze margins.

Other news to know

  • Brands’ AI strategies
  • This year, Guitar Center launched a chatbot to help customers find the right products and an employee training tool that simulates customer interactions.
  • Kroger has launched a weekly AI-generated insights report for brand executives, analysts or category managers to analyze their performance.
  • In partnership with OpenAI, Target has launched a new Target app within ChatGPT, allowing shoppers to ask for ideas, build multi-item baskets, shop for fresh food and check out using their Target account.
  • John Furner’s tenure as the next CEO of Walmart will at least initially be defined by how the company evolves from testing and experimenting with AI to implementing it throughout the company.
Top Stories Dec 05

Marketplace Briefing: TikTok Shop and Whatnot notch record-breaking Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales as live shopping surges

December 04, 2025

Live-shopping platforms TikTok Shop and Whatnot reported record-breaking sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday as online live selling drives more holiday spending.

Ulta, Best Buy and Adidas dominate AI holiday shopping mentions

December 04, 2025

As more people use ChatGPT to do their holiday shopping, big companies like Ulta, Adidas and Best Buy seemed to dominate mentions in Black Friday shopping queries, according to data from Profound.

Tractor Supply bets on OpenAI as its primary AI partner

December 04, 2025

Tractor Supply is honing in on OpenAI as its main partner for AI technology. A tech executive at Tractor Supply said he wanted to pair up with OpenAI to learn the best ways to implement AI and to create consistencies around governance and its future roadmap.

Luxury resale is angling to be the big winner of this year’s secondhand gift boom

December 03, 2025

Luxury resale is having a moment this holiday season as it benefits from people looking for value and a growing acceptance of pre-owned items as gifts.

Tariffs

Cash register with a receipt with lots of dollar signs popping out of it

‘You want to play defense’: Amid economic pressure, brands usher in Black Friday by trimming deals

November 24, 2025

Turmoil from tariffs and pressure on margins are forcing some brands to play it safer this Cyber Week.

Marketplace Briefing: Some Amazon sellers skip Black Friday deals as tariffs and platform fees bite

November 20, 2025

Some Amazon sellers are reducing or skipping their Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions as tariffs and platform fees squeeze margins.

Why US shoppers are still getting hit with tariff invoices on overseas e-commerce orders

October 27, 2025

Online shoppers are getting blindsided by tariff invoices from shipping carriers and U.S. customs. Logistics experts say the complicated issue of accidental bills could drag on for months.

Podcasts

Technology

‘AI is permeating everything we do’: How Guitar Center developed 2 AI tools this year

December 02, 2025

Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto says that “AI is really permeating everything we do right now.” In an interview with Modern Retail, he explained how Guitar Center came up with two AI tools it has rolled out this year, called Pitch Practice and Rig Advisor.

Instacart tripled its smart cart store count this year

November 25, 2025

Instacart’s smart carts are in triple the number of stores this year than they were in 2024, the company told Modern Retail.

Why location data is the next personalization tool for brands and retailers

October 09, 2025

While personalization is something customers increasingly ask for, they also are wary of anything verging on creepy. Real-time location data doesn’t rely on who a shopper is but where they are. It’s a foundational signal for effectively engaging consumers and driving sales — and it can be used at every touchpoint. Timely location-based messages boost […]

Marketing

A mobile phone with a bunch of push notifications like "Shop our Black Friday sale!" and "Cyber Monday sale extended!"

Brands Briefing: Changing Cyber Week patterns and drawn-out sales force brands to shift strategies 

December 02, 2025

Consumers are demanding value, which only made it more crucial that brands got the lead-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday right this year. Brands like Brooklinen, Tecovas and Made In adopted slightly different strategies to ensure they made their value proposition clear to customers in the weeks and months leading up to Cyber Week.

‘Unwrap the chaos’: Carter’s new CMO pushes for more emotional, relatable marketing

December 01, 2025

Carter’s CMO Sarah Crockett joined the company in the summer of 2025 with a goal of doing more realistic, relevant storytelling around childhood and parenting. In an interview with Modern Retail, she shared more about her approach.

MAC Cosmetics maps out its holiday live-shopping push

November 28, 2025

MAC Cosmetics’s svp of global marketing, Emily Bromfield, shared how the brand is thinking about live shopping on platforms like Douyin, Tmall and TikTok Shop.

Operations

From UGC to R&D: POV Beauty’s Ani Hadjinian on leveraging community for every product launch

December 03, 2025

POV Beauty CEO Ani Hadjinian breaks down how creator intuition, community feedback and social commerce are reshaping beauty’s growth playbook.

TikTok Shop sheds bargain-bin reputation as average prices climb across categories

December 02, 2025

TikTok Shop’s once-ultracheap prices are rising as subsidies fade, tariffs climb and major brands join the platform, driving average unit costs sharply higher across multiple categories.

Valuespending: Turning intentional shopping into lasting loyalty

August 28, 2025

John Shapiro, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Lightspeed Commerce   Competing for consumer dollars has never been tougher. Today’s shoppers still care about price and quality — but they’re also asking who made the product, where it came from and whether it aligns with their values. This shift toward intentional purchasing, or “valuespending,” is changing the […]