Retail

But will it stick?

Apps to rent fashion, even straight from others’ closets, are booming.

One major growth sector is retail advertising, when a brand pays retailers like Amazon or Walmart to highlight their products to that retailer’s customers. It’s expected to grow to over $190 billion in 2026.

Applications are booming across the board, but retail has seen a particular spike.

Even as holiday spending is expected to surpass $1 trillion, retailers are set to hire the lowest number of seasonal workers in decades.

Many survey respondents said they took items because of affordability concerns, while others stole because they were fed up with the machines.

New technology like robots and self-checkouts mean even while consumers are spending, retailers aren’t hiring more.

Traffic from AI sources like chatbots to retail sites is up nearly 760%, according to Adobe Analytics data.

“Buy now, pay later” transactions, which are essentially zero-interest, short-term loans, topped $1 billion for the first time this past Cyber Monday.

Dollar Tree, Dollar General and Five Below will all report quarterly earnings this week, after a year of tariffs, a government shutdown and an increasingly K-shaped economy.