Research Topic

New York -- Technology-related spending by chief marketing officers (CMOs) is on the rise.

According to a study from Foundation Capital, technology spend by CMOs will increase 10 fold in 10 years, growing from $12 billion to $120 billion.
 

New York -- Global mobile commerce is set to explode, according to Coupofy.com, a Seattle-based database of online coupon codes.  
The company predicts global mobile commerce will grow 42% annually between 2013 and 2016, compared to 13% for regular e-commerce. Mobile shoppers will spend an estimated $600 billion in 2018, up from $200 billion in 2014.

See more here.

Walmart plans to stop selling certain types of assault and sporting rifles, the company said on Wednesday.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of demand for those products so we replaced them with products we have seen customers coming into purchase it," Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg told Fortune. 

The move comes as the largest seller of guns and ammunition in the U.S. has been a large part of the national gun debate following recent shootings.

Chicago -- The nation’s finance chiefs have a lot on their minds these days, from uncertainty in the U.S. economy to cybersecurity to regulatory and compliance issues. Another big concern: Congressional dysfunction around tax reform.

New York -- Consumers didn’t let the heat get them down in August.

Consumer confidence rebounded in August, rising 10. 5 points to the strongest reading in seven months after having fallen sharply in July.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its index of consumer confidence rose to 101.5 in August, up from a revised July reading of 91.0. It was the best showing since January.

Cambridge, Mass. – It’s not only middle-aged women that like to browse retail stores.

Bucking demographic stereotypes that suggest men and millennials are more tech-oriented, it turns out both groups are more likely than other consumer groups to browse in-store.

At least that’s according to a new study from Adroit Digital, “Marketing to Millennials,” which found that 57% of millennials do the majority of their retail browsing in-store, close to the 61% of consumers 35 and older who are in-store browsers.

Seattle – In the aftermath of the Ferguson riots, Starbucks Corp. asked store employees and managers to be extra sensitive to customers who may be feeling emotional about racial issues. Now Starbucks is asking workers in stores to show financial sensitivity.

According to Fusion, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sent an internal email to employees and managers in stores asking them to recognize and respond to customers who are experiencing stress and anxiety resulting from the recent global stock market crash.

New York -- As if retailers didn’t have enough to worry about, teens are shopping more like their parents.

Click here for the story.
 

Westlake Village, Calif. – Target Corp. may be exiting the pharmacy business, but the retailer is doing so on a high note.

According to the new 2015 U.S. Pharmacy Study from J.D. Power, Target, which in June announced it would sell its pharmacy business to CVS Health for $1.9 billion and rebrand its nearly 1,700 prescription departments as CVS/pharmacy, ranked highest among mass merchandiser pharmacies.

As the 10th anniversary of Hurrican Katrina approaches, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are making a commitment to disaster relief efforts.