Research Topic

Washington, D.C. -- Site and market challenges, underwriting challenges, and operational challenges are the key factors that hamper retail development in some lower-income communities, according to a report from the Urban Land Institute.

The report, Retail in Underserved Communities, defines underserved communities as those that fall into one or more of four categories: urban locations lacking businesses, underserviced markets, locations without cultural offerings, and isolated rural or small towns.

Westlake Village, Calif. -- Hhgregg ranks highest among appliance retailer websites, with a score of 865, up by a significant 41 points from 2013, according to the J.D. Power 2014 Appliance Shopper Website Evaluation Study. The improvement is attributed to an increase in the speed of the website, up 63 points to 875, and a redesign of the website review section to include the highest and lowest customer appliance ratings at the top of the site.  Following Hhgregg in the rankings are The Home Depot (842) and Best Buy and Lowe's in a tie (839).

New research from an organization called the Luxury Institute found that half the executives in a recent survey are spending at least 30% of their marketing budget on digital methods with an even larger percentage concerned it isn’t enough.

New York - India, China, and Malaysia are the top-ranked offshoring destinations. According to the 2014 Global Services Location Index (GSLI) from A.T. Kearney, India, China, and Malaysia remain the top three offshoring destinations, and Asia continues to dominate, with six of its countries among the top 10.

E-commerce as a segment of the total retail market is growing at 30% per year and will reach $2 trillion in sales in 2015, according to e-commerce platform Bigcommerce.

Based on research conducted across its more than 55,000 clients, and combined with third-party research from Sagence, Bigcommerce’s Democratization of E-commerce Report also predicts that the U.S. small and medium business ecommerce market will exceed $100 billion in total sales in 2015.

New York - While the majority of consumers prefer to both shop and spend their money in brick-and-mortar retail stores, more than 60% are increasing their online shopping activities, according to a survey of 1,515 consumers by digital marketing firm SmartFocus. This trend is most prevalent among women (71%) and Millennials.

This fall, T.J.Maxx is partnering with Erika Christensen and designer Jenn Rogien, who has made headlines for her wardrobe curations for hit TV series such as “Girls” and “Orange Is the New Black,” for a new ad campaign revolving around a woman’s style.

Washington, D.C. --  August retail sales – excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants – increased 0.5% seasonally adjusted month-to-month and 2.7% unadjusted year-over-year, according to the National Retail Federation. When combined with revisions to July, August sales indicate a consistent improvement in consumer confidence and spending.