Research Topic

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart has designated this Friday as the official start of Halloween shopping with its "Orange and Black Friday" event.

Kmart's "Orange & Black Friday" event features: 50% off Halloween costumes and Halloween kitchen textiles, tabletop, decor, as well as a "Kmart Kreator" tool (www.Kmart.com/kreator), a social tool where users can create their own Halloween "Kreature" using costumes and accessories available at Kmart.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation released its 2012 holiday forecast on Tuesday, which shows sales increasing 4.1% to $586.1 billion, down from last year’s 5.6% growth.

However, the NRF’s 2012 estimate tops the 10-year holiday sales growth average of 3.5%.

New York -- Smartphone and Internet users actively seek out and prefer to engage with mobile-friendly sites, but such sites must meet certain expectations in order to convert users from visitors to consumers, according to a Google study conducted by independent market research firms Sterling Research and SmithGeiger.

NEW YORK — Research released Monday by Citigroup and published by Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch found that digital sales for the holiday 2012 shopping season are expected to increase at least 20%, thanks to two additional shopping days and amped-up retail marketing efforts.

Los Angeles -- Survey results released Tuesday by online shopping site PriceGrabber found that 88% of shoppers plan to research their holiday gift purchases in advance to find the best deals.

Of those, 38% plan to spend three to six hours researching holiday gift purchases, 29% plan to spend up to two hours, 19% said they plan to spend over 10 hours and 14% indicated between seven and 10 hours.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation released its 2012 holiday forecast on Tuesday, which shows sales increasing 4.1% to $586.1 billion, down from last year's 5.6% growth.

However, the NRF's 2012 estimate tops the 10-year holiday sales growth average of 3.5%.

Washington, D.C. -- Shop.org’s holiday 2012 online sales forecast, released Tuesday, expects sales to grow 12% over last holiday season to as much as $96 billion. Last year, according to the Dept. of Commerce, e-commerce sales grew 15% during the months of November and December.

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble has introduced its Pantene Expert Collection, which addresses the needs of both aging hair and extreme hair damage.

The Expert Collection brings two new premium hair care lines to Pantene: AgeDefy and Advanced+ Keratin Repair. The products utilize Pantene’s most advanced technologies and promise to help women experience healthy-looking hair with luster, bounce and damage repair.