This week, it’s all about technology—what matters to marketers, consumers and retailers from smart watches to programmatic ad spending.

Getting Social

Programmatic advertising is at an all-time high, with more than half of marketers dedicating a majority of budgets to it, according to a new report by AdRoll. Seventy-seven percent of marketers surveyed ran programmatic ads on social media in 2016, while 53 percent did so on mobile and 37 percent ran programmatic ads in video. More than half—54 percent—reported paid social media to be the most successful channel for marketers to attract new customers, followed by organic social media (35 percent), and programmatic display advertising (32 percent).

Wearables Look To The Future

Are consumers worn out with wearable technology? Apple Watch shipments dropped a staggering 71 percent in the third quarter of 2016, while Microsoft killed the Band 2 and Jawbone reportedly halted production last year. While the current state of wearable tech looks bleak, AYTM Market Research suggests that these products will regain their popularity in about five years.

A poll of 1,000 US internet users ages 18 and older in February 2017 asked if they had ever purchased smart clothing or wearable devices. While nearly three-quarters had never purchased such an item, nearly half indicated that they indicated that they planned to in the next five years.

Twenty-six percent of those surveyed weren’t sure if they planned to do buy a wearable device or article of smart clothing, and another 27.6 percent said they were at least somewhat unlikely to within the next five years.

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Trust No One

These days, the internet is an endless sea of conspiracy theorists, haters from all sides and blissfully unaware folks hitting the “share” button before actually reading, much less fact-checking an article. All this strife is making us all a bit jaded, but it’s especially troubling to women, according to a study by SheSpeaks. More than 80 percent of women surveyed claim to distrust the news media, citing “inadequate fact-checking” and “political bias” as the primary causes. Advertising didn’t fare any better, with 80 percent claiming they don’t trust ads, either, and 61 percent don’t trust brands to live up to their promises. Women were four times more likely to trust information from friends and family over advertising.

Internet Of Buying Things

The retail industry is preparing for the Internet of Things (IoT) in a big way, according to a study by Research Now and Qualtrics for Zebra Technologies. A global survey of 1,700 executives across multiple retail segments found that 67 percent have already implemented IoT capabilities in some form, while 96 percent said they are ready to make changes needed to adopt the technology. In-store tracking is an obvious and popular use for the technology, with 35 percent saying that they currently have the ability to know when specific customers are in their stores. Seventy-five said they plan to have that capability by 2021.

Seventy-eight percent of retail executives said integrating eCommerce and in-store experiences are important or critical to business, while 76 percent said the same about connecting the online activities of a customer with their in-store actions. More than a quarter (26 percent) said they plan to roll out an IoT initiative within the year.