Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses social commerce and its value to consumers, as well as the value of social media to both retailers and consumers.
• In 2016, direct online sales accounted for 11.6% of total US retail sales ($394 billion), but digital touchpoints actually impacted an estimated 49% of total US retail sales, according to a recent report from the National Retail Federation and Forrester.
• The Confederation of British Industry announced that growth in both private sector and consumer confidence was 10% in the three months ended January 2017. Retailers reported “decent growth” and output growth among manufacturers was strong, while growth was flat in the service sector.
• Ant Financial, the digital payments arm of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, announced an agreement to acquire US-listed money transfer service MoneyGram for about $880 million in cash. The purchase of MoneyGram, which competes with Western Union, would give Ant Financial a platform for expanding its services to many other parts of the world.