US LinkedIn user growth is projected to accelerate 6.3% this year. A projected total of 75.8 million users by year end. And US ad revenue growth will hit 8.8% this year on LinkedIn for a total of 3.95 billion, and that is expected to accelerate in 2024 by 15.1% growth.

AKI reports that based on their study, 47% of consumers expect to shell out more than $500 each on holiday gifts this year. And their study also offers a deeper look into what shoppers are planning to buy this year: 73% of consumers plan to purchase jewelry or apparel, 67% cash or gift cards, and 46% will buy beauty related items and/or services.

Rob Goff, VP and GM of retail at Salesforce says, "After a few years of accelerated e-commerce adoption throughout the pandemic, retailers are under pressure to drive sustainable growth & customer loyalty while maintaining their margins. If you're a retailer hoping to hear those cash registers ringing this holiday season, you better have well-planned discounts & updated return policies that reflect expectations of today's consumers".

Roth MKM'S 2023 millennial survey, Amazon is now pushing Google as a top source for consumer inspiration and information when it comes to making purchases. 39.5% of respondents pointed to Amazon as their top source. As for social media, YouTube leads the pack for about 30% of millennials, followed by TikTok at 24%.

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How consumers use online to influence offline purchases: Before shopping in store, 58% are researching deals and prices, 51% check product reviews, and 42% check in stock status. And now consumers are not only doing this asynchronously before going in store, they're engaging in online to offline experiences while in store in real time.

While worries about a recession is cooling, consumer purchasing power is 11% lower than it was just two years ago.

A study from Constant Contact asked how specifically are businesses using AI? 52% use it for better social media execution, 44% for content creation, 41% email campaigns, 35% for ad targeting, 34% use it in analytics and 34% use it in website forms.

Why is this happening? The decreasing traffic just might be a sign that the novelty of this amazing technology is wearing off, said SimilarWeb Senior Insights Manager, David Carr.

New research from ICSC, a trade organization that represents the shopping center industry. The survey reports about 48% of US adults plan to buy some back to school items this year, spending an average of $969 during the season, an increase of about $911, almost double from 2022.