There is a seemingly never-ending stream of bad news for America’s department stores, facing declining foot traffic, declining shopping mall environments, and competition from Amazon to Zara.
But there is, perhaps, one trend working in their favor: the ongoing shift in fashion to new see-now-buy-now business models. Department stores are doing their part to make sure their available merchandise matches what customers are buying: Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s are all speeding up the production processes for their private labels, to get items on the sales floor faster.
More in Marketing
After watching X’s ownership issues play out, marketers brace for TikTok whiplash in 2026
TikTok’s ownership drama has echoes of X (formerly Twitter), but ad performance has kept marketers for fleeing—for now.
‘There’s no room for purists’: Generative AI is altering the agency junior talent search
AI is altering agency business models. It’s altering the skills they’re hiring for and where they’re hiring them from, too.
For platforms, here’s what’s not going to happen in 2026
Rather than the traditional platform predictions, this is a list of what Digiday believes won’t happen next year.