Around this time last year, many were hoping for the light at the end of the pandemic tinged tunnel. After 2020 shuttered office doors, in-store shopping and in-person events, 2021 promised vaccinations that could end the pandemic and return things to normal.
However, no one could have predicted the realities that 2021 brought with it, including everything from Apple and Google’s privacy crackdown to the surging preference for shopping online over in-store.
As another year of the pandemic sunsets, Digiday takes a look at the predictions versus realities of 2021:
More in Marketing
OpenAI’s measurement gaps are keeping ChatGPT ads budgets at test level
OpenAI’s ChatGPT ads have a measurement catch-22
In Graphic Detail: Where brands stand when AI agents do the shopping
Getting picked by the agents is the new commerce fight
How Kroger, Giant Eagle and DoorDash are building their agentic AI assistants
Companies are finding that they must deploy practical AI tools that bridge the gap between physical stores and online ordering.