Robinhood has partnered with Gopuff to deliver cash that customers have withdrawn from their Robinhood bank accounts. Robinhood is building on its super-app strategy for Gen Zers and millennials to draw them in with entirely new financial products: It recently added trading for nontraditional assets as well as “event contracts” to trade bets with other users. The Gopuff cash delivery partnership blends premium banking services that younger consumers expect with the digital access and convenience they’re accustomed to.
Cash App released a slew of updates across its payments ecosystem, per a press release. Cash App’s continued focus on expanding financial services and tools for unbanked, underbanked, and lower-income consumers also reveals Block’s ambition to own this market, as Venmo hones in on students and educated young professionals. Making Afterpay’s BNPL tool more easily accessible to Cash App users helps this demographic navigate economic uncertainty with a tool they may see as less risky than revolving credit.
Apple debuted Digital IDs derived from iOS users’ US passports, per a press release. The Digital ID is in beta at more than 250 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints in the US for domestic flights. Digital IDs can make mobile wallets more useful and encourage users to complete transactions with their phones instead of a card. But adoption will only take off if a critical mass of merchants and airports accept them as a valid form of ID.
50.3% of US grocery shoppers say they'd use in-store digital tools if instant savings and coupons were exclusive to those tools, according to July 2025 data from Amazon Ads and EMARKETER.
From grocery aisles to gig apps, the biggest names in commerce are converging on the same conclusion: Grocery has grown into the ultimate testbed for convenience, loyalty, and AI-driven efficiency.
Quick commerce startup Gopuff raised $250 million at an $8.5 billion valuation—a significant downgrade from the $15 billion it commanded four years ago. Gopuff claims to be in the “strongest financial position in company history,” with record revenues and continued growth for its core businesses. To get to that point, the company has forged partnerships with companies like Amazon, Starbucks, and Disney, a strategy that has broadened its audience and the appeal of its advertising platform. However, consumers’ reluctance to use quick commerce platforms, coupled with competition from DoorDash and Uber, could hamper Gopuff’s growth prospects.
Nearly one-third (31.4%) of US adults will purchase a prescription drug at an online pharmacy this year, per EMARKETER’s first-ever forecast of online pharmacy users. Online pharmacies won’t dominate prescription drug purchases anytime soon, but they’re becoming a core part of how consumers shop and pay for medications. Pharmacies that combine the best of in-person and digital offerings will be well-positioned to win customers. That means staffing stores appropriately during busy hours, ensuring pharmacists can answer questions both online and in person, and providing intuitive websites and apps for prescription management and payment. Online-only pharmacies will want to clearly showcase their accreditations in consumer marketing.
The FDA appointed long-time cancer therapy regulator Dr. Richard Pazdur as the new director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). Pazdur’s appointment is likely to reassure drugmakers that have been concerned about regulatory changes and slower drug reviews and approvals, and signals a return to more predictable science-driven drug evaluation and oversight.
Hours after online healthcare company Mangoceuticals claimed partnerships with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to provide discounted weight loss drugs to cash-pay customers, both drugmakers denied any affiliation. As GLP-1 compounders lose their pricing edge, smaller players must resist overstating their ties to Novo and Lilly. While any healthcare provider can prescribe Lilly’s or Novo’s GLP-1s, manufacturer-set discounts won’t be made available to companies that engage in misleading marketing.
Telehealth provider Hims & Hers is adding direct-to-consumer lab testing services in a new partnership with Quest Diagnostics. While the ability to self-order lab tests through platforms like Hims offers convenience and new insight into potential health risks, it also puts more responsibility on consumers.
The European Commission (EC) opened a probe into Google over concerns that it’s unfairly demoting some news media and publishers in search results, marking rising tensions between the company and the media industry. The inquiry focuses on Google’s site reputation abuse policy—which was introduced in 2024—and whether it penalizes websites that include content from commercial partners. Instead of abandoning publisher partnerships while the EC investigates the policy, brands should treat the relationships as part of a broader content strategy where Google is less dependent on news and more strict about third-party content.
An overwhelming 98% of music listeners failed to differentiate between human-made and AI-generated music in a blind test of three songs that contained two made with AI, per a survey of 9,000 consumers in eight countries from Ipsos and music platform Deezer. In the immediate future, advertisers are likely to disclose AI use in formats like video, where its more abrasive elements are easier to spot—but also as a way to position themselves as technology-forward brands.
JD.com beat analyst expectations in Q3 as subsidies, lower prices, and a more diversified revenue base encouraged spending despite China’s soft consumer climate. Growth in users and shopping frequency supported double-digit retail gains, while the company’s push into food delivery lifted sales but squeezed margins. JD is also testing its Joybuy platform in Europe and investing in Ceconomy AG to expand its footprint. While these moves help the company outpace a slowing market, the momentum relies heavily on subsidized growth, raising doubts about how sustainable the gains will be once incentives scale back.
Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) US consumers already use AI for shopping, and another 52% plan to in the future, according to a new report from the IAB.
Venmo launched Venmo Stash, a bundled brand rewards system for users, per a press release. Cardholders can select handpicked bundles of their favorite brands—which include Uber, Lyft, Target, Walmart, and Sephora—to earn a flat 1% back on their purchases. Users can raise that rate to 2% by enabling auto-reloads to their wallets and 5% for adding at least $500 in direct deposits on Venmo each month. Injecting more choice into consumers’ rewards adds incentives to make a card top of wallet. Leaning into flexible rewards and card-linked offers can help secure younger consumers who are looking for value and functionality at checkout during economic uncertainty.
AI is reshaping the ad agency landscape and eliminating the need for entry-level hires, according to a Sunup report that found that 91% of US senior agency leaders expect AI to reduce headcounts and 57% have slowed or paused entry-level hiring.
Netflix advertising chief Amy Reinhard claimed the streaming service has 190 million monthly active viewers (MAV) worldwide—a new advertising metric the company shared after it stopped reporting subscription numbers earlier this year. Netflix wants to help advertisers more clearly understand an ad’s potential reach and ROI. Low churn, high-value content, and maturing ad offerings means Netflix will be an attractive option for brands for years to come—but the picture is about to get more complicated.
Another data-access domino fell this week as Charles Schwab followed Fidelity’s move to restrict credential-based access for fintechs and other third parties. Open banking for bank accounts has thrived in the private sector as banks, vendors, and trade groups have partnered to enable a rich ecosystem of fintechs and other software providers. Data security and liability are only reasonable excuses for FIs to kick third-parties out of their systems when they don’t have the resources to build alternative access methods.
Block’s latest earnings report revealed strong performance from Cash App, in contrast to Square's disappointing results. Banks once feared that neobanks would usurp them, but it’s now clear that these fintechs primarily compete with each other. After consolidating industry niches, they’ve scaled rapidly—expanding their product offerings as they fight for the same consumers.