Retailers Forecast Strong E-Commerce Sales

Fresh off a year in which retail e-commerce sales grew by 15%, retailers are expecting another healthy year of e-commerce growth.

Source: BDO USA

Americans Love Tumblr

Tumblr may not be a popular player on the world stage, but it’s heavily used by Americans, relative to other popular sites.

Source: comScore

Social Networking Adoption Leveled Out in Late 2012

The proportion of internet users aged 18-29 who reported using social networking sites dropped to 83% in December 2012.

Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. 

Moviegoers Prefer Action & Adventure

Action and adventure movies are the most likely to draw a crowd of moviegoers. Asked the types of movies they like to see most in theaters, 61% of American moviegoers chose action and adventure flicks, with comedy (50%) rating as the second-most popular.

Source: Nielsen

More Americans Pro-Actively Researching Companies

56% of Americans agree that now more than ever, they're pro-actively trying to learn more about the companies they hear about or do business with.

Source: Harris Interactive

Tech Sector Enjoys Best Reputation of Any Industry in the US

79% of Americans believe that the technology industry has a positive reputation. The tech industry continues to get stronger in this area, climbing from 76% rating it positive last year and 75% in 2011. Next on the list, the travel and tourism sector, which follows tech's upward trend, up from 55% rating it as having a positive reputation in 2011 to 61% this year.

Source: Marketing Charts

54% of Female Business Owners Say Website is Very Important

54% of female business owners say their website is very important to their 2013 marketing investment plans, and another 31% say it's somewhat important, per results from a study conducted by Web.com and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

Source: Marketing Charts

9 in 10 Use Smartphones,Tablets for Financial Activities

Slightly more than 9 in 10 smartphone and tablet users engage in one or more of a variety of financial activities on their devices, per results

Source: Marketing Charts

Top Metro Areas by High-Income Household Density Found Mainly on the Coasts

The Census Bureau has released an American Community Survey brief relating to the geographic spread of high-income households during the 5-year period from 2007-2011.

Source: Census.gov

Smartphones Shares of US Mobile Market Grow by 19%

During the 3-month average ending in December 2012, 54% of US mobile subscribers owned a smartphone, which represents a 19.2% rise from the 3-month average ending March 2012.

Source: comScore

3 in 4 US Senior Execs Believe Customer Experience Impacts Loyalty

74% of American senior executives surveyed by Oracle strongly agree that customers’ experiences impact their willingness to be loyal advocates.

Source: Oracle

Video Streaming, Communication Apps Dominate Data Consumption

Video streaming and communications apps like YouTube, Hulu and Netflix now account for half of data consumption on tablets.

Source: Cisco

Only 17% of Emails Read

Average email read rates around the world were less than 17% in Q4 2012.

Source: Return Path

Brands Only Respond to 32% of Twitter Questions

According to new research, brands are only responded to 32% of Twitter questions posed in the last quarter of 2012.

Source: Social Breakers

27% of Users Plan to Spend Less Time on Facebook

61% of Facebook users have taken a voluntary break from using the site at one time or another and 27% plan to spend less time on the site this coming year. Even so, two-thirds of online adults are now Facebook users.

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

Google Greater than ABC for Ad Companies

Google is the #1 partner for advertising companies in 2012, beating out ABC, the previous year's winner, according to a survey of thousands of top-tier advertising professionals.

Source: Advertiser Perceptions

Mobile Shoppers Buy More Electronics

Mobile owners who shop on their devices tend to purchase more electronics and entertainment items.

Source: BuzzCity

2 out of 3 Shoppers Influenced by Flyers

Two in three shoppers report being influenced by flyers and weekly circulars.

Source: Meredith

55% Say that Social Networks Updated them about Brands

55% of people report that social networking keeps them updated about brands and products.

Source: IPSOS

Brands Responding Faster to Facebook Questions

Brands are getting better at responding to questions posed to them on Facebook. As the volume of questions posted to Facebook brands grew by 26% between Q2 and Q4 2012, Socialbakers finds that 55% of those questions were answered, a healthy rise from 48% in Q3 and just 30% in Q2.

Source: Socialbreakers

Travelers Not Loyal to Hotel Brands

Less than half of travelers always or often  stay at the same hotel brand.

Source: Deloitte