Research Topic

New York City -- Apple brands dominate the youth market, and account for the top rankings in computers, tablets and mobile phones, according to the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study by Harris Interactive. The annual study tracks the brands that Americans aged 13 to 24 prefer. It estimates that

With young Americans expected to spend $211 billion in 2012, knowing which brands they favor will help corporate America prepare for the upcoming holiday season, according to the survey.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot's fiscal third-quarter net income more than doubled, but its adjusted results missed analysts’ expectations amid sales declines in North America.

The company earned $91.7 million for the period ended Sept. 24, compared with $32 million a year earlier. But excluding $6 million in restructuring charges and other costs and a $99 million tax benefit, the company lost about $700,000, or break-even per share.

More Americans were online in September, and traffic to such major retail sites as Amazon.com and Walmart.com increased, but Target.com traffic was flat in the first full month following a late August site relaunch, according to the most recent “Top 50 Web Properties” report from online measurement firm comScore.

New York City -- VF Corp. reported that its third-quarter net income rose 24% on higher prices and sales, and raised its full-year outlook and quarterly dividend.

The clothing and footwear company said profit growth came from its September acquisition of Timberland and strong sales across most of its categories. 
 

WASHINGTON — The Grocery Manufacturers Association has highlighted the U.S. food and beverage industry's accomplishments on Food Day, which celebrates the more than 15 million Americans who work to provide billions of consumers with safe, healthy, convenient and affordable food.

Los Angeles -- Fifty-two percent of consumers plan to spend $500 or more on gifts this season, according to a new survey by PriceGrabber, a part of Experian. Thirty-six percent said they will spend less than $500, and 12% indicated that they do not have a budget.

Other key findings of the survey, conducted from Sept. 7-15, 2011, include:

Consumers overwhelmingly chose clothing as the most popular holiday gift purchase (chosen by 66%), followed by gift cards (52%), books, CDs, DVDs or videogames (46%) and toys (43%).

New York City -- While 43% of smartphone owners have installed and used a retailer's app, only 14% of those who installed them say the app led to a purchase decision, according to the most recent Retrevo Pulse Study, an ongoing study of tech industry trends conducted for the consumer electronics shopping and review site.