Universal Music Group and Meta have expanded their license arrangement, providing more opportunities for artists and songwriters across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

Reuters reported that Universal, which initially licensed Facebook in 2017, sees this agreement as an opportunity to further incorporate music into Meta’s ecosystem.

The deal also covers compensation for artists and songwriters. While Universal recently dissolved its cooperation with Meta for premium music videos, the new agreement focuses on more popular music items across Meta platforms.

Walmart’s total US retail sales in 2023 reached $533.96 billion, up 6.9% year on year, according to the National Retail Federation and Kantar.

Amazon ranked second among top US retailers by total sales, with $250.11 billion and 7.6% growth.

Amazon dominates e-commerce. According to EMarketer’s July 2024 projection, Walmart will account for 8.2% of retail e-commerce sales this year, and Amazon will account for 40.9%.

Walmart is making investments to close the e-commerce sales gap. For example, it employs automated warehouses to expand its marketplace operations and improve delivery speed.

According to EMarketer’s July 2024 forecast, Walmart’s retail e-commerce sales will expand 19.0% this year, outpacing Amazon’s 10.4%.
Increased sales will lead to greater retail media advertising opportunities.

Walmart’s retail media ad revenue will increase by 25.1% next year, hitting $4.65 billion, according to EMarketer’s March 2024 prediction.

Shopify exceeded analysts’ expectations for its second-quarter results, driven by implementing AI-powered tools that attracted more merchants to its platform.

The company’s revenue increased by 21% to $2.05 billion, surpassing the anticipated $2.01 billion, reported Reuters.

Additionally, Shopify’s gross merchandise volume rose by 22% to $67.2 billion, leading to a 17% rise in its shares.

The AI tools, introduced in June, have helped merchants manage buyer data, payments, and advertising more efficiently, noted the report, contributing significantly to Shopify’s growth.

A recent report by the Collage Group reveals that over half of US consumers, specifically 53%, enjoy playing video games. This enthusiasm is even more pronounced among Gen Z, with a remarkable 72% expressing their love for gaming.

Mobile devices dominate the gaming landscape, surpassing computers and gaming consoles in popularity, reported EMarketer. This shift is reflected in the projected $8.59 billion in US game ad revenues for 2024, with $7.77 billion attributed to mobile gaming.

The gaming industry is also seeing a surge in advancements in in-game advertising technology, spearheaded by companies like Electronic Arts, Roblox, Pubmatic, and Activision Blizzard. These advancements are making the gaming experience more appealing to advertisers.

According to Razorfish and GWI data from December 2023, adults globally have 98 percent more smartphone access than children (90%).

However, reported EMarketer, youngsters are more likely to have access to laptops, gaming consoles, tablets, and smartwatches than adults.

The Razorfish study shows that 65% of Gen Alpha (people born between 2010 and 2024) parents believe technology benefits their children.

Revenues increased by 22% year over year to $39.07 billion, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth exceeding 20%.

Meta expects revenues to range between $38.5 billion and $41 billion in the upcoming quarter, exceeding analyst projections, reported EMarketer.

The number of users across all of its apps increased by 7%, impressions jumped by 10%, and the price per ad increased by 10%.

“Meta pulled ahead of fellow duopoly member Google, which underperformed in earnings and missed expectations on YouTube. Google’s ad sales grew just 11%,” noted EMarketer.

“Meta’s strong financial performance and optimistic outlook suggest the company is effectively navigating challenges in the tech industry,” Emarketer stated.

YouTube revealed last week that ad sales rose 13% year on year to $8.7 billion, while connected TV (CTV) views increased 130%, illustrating the platform’s enormous potential for marketers.

YouTube is crucial to digital advertising, including Shorts, its primary short video platform that competes with TikTok and Instagram Reels, and its expansion into CTV.

According to EMarketer’s February 2024 forecast, 241.8 million people will watch YouTube this year, accounting for 90.4% of all digital video watchers in the United States.

YouTube is the most popular app among US smartphone users, according to Comscore statistics from January 2024, ahead of Facebook, Instagram, and any of Google’s other services.

According to EMarketer’s June 2024 forecast, mobile accounts for 41.2% of all time spent on YouTube in the United States.

In January 2024, social media marketers worldwide told Hubspot and Mention that YouTube outperforms Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X regarding audience targeting.

Google is launching a new feature that bridges the gap between Google Merchant Center and Google Ads, improving the ad creation process for e-commerce enterprises.

According to Search Engine Land, this connection enables advertisers to use their existing product photographs directly within Google Ads’ AI image editor, which speeds up the creation of high-quality visual assets for campaigns.

Among the features: advertisers can now connect Performance Max campaigns to Merchant Center feeds.

This feature seeks to streamline the ad creation process, saving advertisers time and resources while enhancing ad quality.

Women are more likely than men to take action after seeing a TikTok video, according to DISQO statistics from April 2024.

For example, women are 9% more likely than males to make a purchase after viewing a TikTok video (31% vs. 22%).

According to an EMarketer survey, more than one-fifth (20.2%) of US marketplace customers purchased from TikTok Shop within seven months of its introduction.

Gen Z is the most likely group to make a purchase on TikTok Shop, according to Morning Consult.

Approximately 40% of Gen Zers aged 18 to 26 and 24% of those aged 13 to 17 had made at least one purchase on the site, compared to 37% of millennials and 14% of Generation X.

According to EMarketer, US TikTok users aged 18 to 24 spend 73 minutes (1:13) each day scrolling the platform, more than any other older age group.

According to a SPAR Group survey published in May 2024, 50% of US shoppers use retail apps to find the greatest deals.

EMarketer predicts that 163.8 million US consumers will use retail apps on smartphones in 2024, accounting for 76.5% of all smartphone users.

According to SPAR Group, shoppers use retail apps for various reasons, many of which are price-related. These include accessing loyalty points (46%), receiving personalized coupons (34%), and checking on retailer deals and promotions (26%).

Nearly half (47%) of US retailers feel branded apps and loyalty programs attract shoppers, according to Jumpmind data from April 2024. According to the SPAR Group survey, 42% of shoppers find apps helpful.

According to SPAR Group, four out of every ten shoppers use a mobile device during in-store shopping journeys, primarily for price comparisons (47%), researching discounts and promotions (40%), and accessing coupons (35%).

Mobile is having a greater impact on how customers make purchases. EMarketer expects retail mobile commerce sales, including those via retail applications, to reach $534.88 billion this year, representing a 12.7% year-on-year rise.