Shoppers’ search for value is steering them to budget-friendly retailers—off-price chains, dollar stores, and other discounters—that benefited from a surge in sales and traffic in Q2. Value is top-of-mind for today’s consumer, regardless of income level. That’s good news for discounters and dollar stores, which are ideally placed to benefit from consumers’ financial anxieties. However, risks such as renewed tariffs or dips in consumer confidence mean retailers need to carefully manage their assortments and pricing.

The backdrop: The EU’s two largest economies face different but converging risks. Germany’s economy contracted 0.3% in Q2—worse than the preliminary -0.1% estimate—as manufacturing slumped after a temporary surge in US orders aimed at dodging tariffs, per Destatis. French Prime Minister François Bayrou will seek a vote of confidence in the National Assembly on September 8, a move likely to topple the government and inject fresh uncertainty into an economy heavily reliant on consumer spending. A political crisis could even push France into recession, Carrefour SA CEO Alexandre Bompard warned, per Bloomberg. Our take: While German households are pulling back amid economic gloom, French consumers have so far kept growth afloat. But if political turmoil erodes confidence, the two largest markets could synchronize into a broader slowdown. That would leave retailers with limited room to offset weakness, forcing many to lean on discounting, cost control measures, and/or value-driven formats to sustain sales.

Japan-based agency holding company Dentsu is considering selling its international business, ending its goal to compete against rivals Publicis and WPP. Selling its international business could allow Dentsu to reposition itself as a specialized player in its core market rather than stretching itself thin internationally where it can’t match competitors. The change could make the company more sustainable in the long run, but even if it focuses solely on Japan, rapid adoption of emerging technologies in the ad sector will still necessitate innovation.

The situation: Best Buy’s comparable sales rose 1.6% in Q2, its fastest pace in three years, driven by gains in gaming, computing, and mobile phones. A major boost came from the high-profile launch of Nintendo Switch 2, which pushed June sales up nearly 10%—the retailer’s best month since March 2021, per Bloomberg Second Measure, which tracks US debit and credit transactions. Our take: Best Buy is experimenting to reignite growth. Earlier this month it rolled out a third-party marketplace to broaden its assortment and began testing a store-within-a-store partnership with Ikea, positioning its appliances inside Ikea kitchens and laundry rooms. While neither move is likely to be a game-changer, in today’s tough environment, even small wins matter. Still, to spark lasting growth, Best Buy may need to augment these moves with bolder bets in services and subscriptions.

The trend: Neurologists don’t recall specific brand names of drugs. They think of medication in broader terms, like the type of conditions they treat (e.g., autoimmune disease drugs), or which class of drug category they belong to (e.g., anticonvulsants), according to a July 2025 survey of 57 US neurologists. The big takeaway: Marketing that leads with the product’s name works well for some drug categories. That’s the case for blockbuster cancer drugs such as Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo—both of which have strong unaided recall rates with oncologists, per previous ZoomRx research. Neurology is a broad category that treats a diverse range of conditions, however. Most HCP marketing strategies in this space should detail how their product tops others in the same drug category or for a particular indication (e.g., “a leading anti-seizure drug), supplemented with peer-reviewed efficacy and safety data, as well as physician prescribing patterns and patient testimonials.