Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

New York – Retail mall vacancies slightly rose in the fourth quarter of 2014, from 7.9% in the prior quarter to 8%. According to real estate research firm Reis Inc., the closure of 200-plus Sears stores during the year drove the increase, the first recorded since the third quarter of 2011.

Reston, Va. -- Retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers for the entire November-December 2014 holiday season totaled $53.3 billion, up 15% from the corresponding days last year.

Americans’ appetite for e-commerce grew again in 2014 with holiday sales slightly exceeding an optimistic forecast by digital measurement firm comScore.

Total desktop online sales for the entire November through December holiday season advanced 15 percent to $53.3 billion, comScore said. Cyber Monday retained its crown as the highest volume day with e-commerce spending of more than $2 billion.

Arlington, Va. – Consumers who may need some time to decide if they want to keep a purchase should consider applying for a Discover card. According to the 2015 Credit Card Extension Report from CardHub, Discover Cards received top overall score (98%) for their return extension program.

Coming in second and third were Chase Sapphire Preferred (88%), and a tie among Chase Freedom, Barclaycard Arrival and Barclaycard Arrival Plus (79%).

Chicago -- Nearly a quarter (21%) of consumers said that they are likely to return or exchange at least one of the presents that they received this holiday season. Additionally, male respondents expressed a greater interest in returning or exchanging gifts (30%) than female respondents (20%) by as much as 10%. That’s according to a survey by Retale, a location-based mobile platform connecting shoppers with their local retailers

San Francisco, Calif. - Apple accounted for 51% of the new device activations worldwide during the week leading up to and including Christmas Day (Dec. 19 - 25). According to data from mobile analytics provider Flurry, Christmas Day typically sees the highest number of new device activations and app installs each year, with 2014 following the trend.

Washington, D.C. – Restaurant operators continued to hold a sunny outlook even as the weather turned gray in November. The Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 102.1 in November, down slightly from its October level of 102.8.

New York -- The minimum wage rose in 20 U.S. states and in the District of Columbia on Jan. 1.

The increase brings the total number of states with a minimum wage above the federal wage floor to 29, according to the New York Times. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Nine states are increasing their minimum wage levels through automatic adjustments for cost-of-living expenses and other economic factors. Increases in the other states occurred through legislative or ballot changes.