Target’s net sales grew just 0.9% in Q3 2024, well below Walmart’s growth of 5.0% and Amazon’s 8.7%, according to company earnings releases.

Consumers spent a record-breaking $314.9 billion online globally during this year’s Cyber Five, according to Salesforce. But there’s lots more to learn beyond top-line sales numbers—from Target's Taylor Swift-fueled Black Friday surge to Gen Z's big spending habits. Here are five key stats on Cyber Five performance you may have missed and what they mean for the rest of the holiday season.

Fifty-eight percent of US households are “extremely concerned” about inflation: While grocery price growth has normalized, the rapid increases over the past few years continue to influence shopping behaviors.

Retailers try to rein in return fraud: Ecommerce’s growth this holiday season increases the pressure on retailers to combat fraud without pushing consumers away.

Walmart and Target reported their Q3 earnings last week. Despite varying retail success, both reported strong growth in their retail media networks—Walmart Connect’s US business grew 26% while Roundel’s growth was in the mid-teens, per CEO Brian Cornell.

Consumers turn to genAI to help with holiday shopping: Nearly one-fifth of global Cyber Five sales this year will be influenced by AI agents and other tools, Salesforce says.

Trump’s tariffs threaten to upend retailers’ supply chains: Companies are rethinking sourcing and stocking up on goods early to minimize additional costs and disruptions.

Target had a rough Q3: The retailer is struggling to adjust to the macroeconomic environment, and its challenges aren’t going to get easier anytime soon.

To keep pace in a complex landscape and meet increasing demands from advertisers, commerce media players need to invest in fresh channels, tools, and innovation.

Amazon launches Temu competitor Haul to maintain price advantage against online retailers: However, growing pains like shoddy AI-generated imagery could limit its traction with customers.

US beauty demand is normalizing as price sensitivities creep into purchasing behavior: That’s good news for e.l.f. Beauty but an added struggle for Coty and Estée Lauder, for which China remains a hurdle.

46.6% of US internet users are also Amazon Prime members, nearly two times as many as Costco (25.1%), the No. 2 biggest retail membership , according to data from Comscore.

The phrase “retail apocalypse” once dominated industry conversation, Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing at Placer.ai said during the EMARKETER Summit on November 1. “We were convinced [that] the store was dying,” Chernofsky said. “It was a thing of the past, and we were going to move to this fully online environment.”

On today's podcast episode, we discuss a special edition of the unofficial list of the retailers who have made a comeback (from the dead). This month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers who have most impressively come back from the brink, and how they did it. In this month's episode, Committee members Senior Analyst Sara Lebow and Senior Director of Content Becky Schilling will defend their list against Senior Analyst Sky Canaves and Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

A number of retailers and brands have eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs this year. These changes may not present a PR issue for many brands, said Dr. Marcus Collins, clinical assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Grocery prices remain front of mind for many consumers: That presents an opportunity for value-oriented merchants such as Aldi, Target, and Walmart to steal share by offering low prices for Thanksgiving staples.

Dollar General’s Popshelf format announces app, loyalty, and store updates to attract wealthier shoppers: The retailer will also close all locations in DG Market stores after the assortment failed to win over the dollar store’s core customer base.

Drugstores’ decline is hurting the US beauty market: Both Coty and L’Oréal linked the sector’s challenges to softer beauty demand, although sales broadly remain healthy as ecommerce and specialty retailers pick up the slack.

To help shoppers search more quickly and efficiently, Google has revamped Google Shopping, using AI to deliver more relevant, personalized information, product listings, and deals.