Apple, Inc.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended Jan. 28 slid 5.2% to $981 million, from $1.04 billion in the prior year.

Revenue increased 3.3% to $20.94 billion, missing Wall Street’s expected $21.23 billion in revenue. Same-store sales rose 2.2%.

Heavy discounting during the holiday season cut into fourth-quarter profits, but Target still is forecasting a full-year profit outlook that beats analysts’ expectations.

Retailers should expect online purchases to become a bigger piece of retail sales, particularly in the key fourth-quarter period, where they could soon represent as much as 20% of holiday sales, according to Sucharita Mulpuru, VP and principal analyst, Forrester Research, and a leading expert on e-commerce and trends in the online shopping space.

“The pie for bricks-and-mortar retail is shrinking,” Mulpuru said during a presentation at the National Retail Federation’s 101st Annual Convention & EXPO in New York City.

Is it any wonder that online giants Google and Amazon are both reportedly planning to test the waters with physical stores? Certainly not when you look at some of the retail stats from Apple’s amazing first quarter (ended Dec. 31, 2011). The company had record revenues of $46.3 billion, and its stores continue to astound.

Consider:

Despite considerable efforts by Walmart in recent years to improve its reputation, a recent Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient poll shows the company has considerable room for improvement.

The study, now in its 13th year, surveyed 17,500 consumers about their perceptions of the 60 most visible companies in America. Not surprisingly, a fair number of those were major national retailers who have become household names. Walmart ranked 41st overall on the list of 60 companies and 10 other retailers were ranked ahead of Walmart.

New York City -- A retail real estate market report, issued by Savills US retail group, found that, even as recovery remains slow, a few formats are progressing at a faster clip than others.

According to Gerry Mason, head of Savills, the majority of recent and planned retail development is in the grocery-anchored and outlet center category. CBL & Associates and Tanger Outlets are among the most active developers scheduled to break ground in 2012.

Toy buyers, manufacturers, retailers and others, simply curious about the latest trends, gathered this week at the massive Javitz Center in New York City to see what would be the hottest products for 2012.

Technology continues to be a popular driver of new products, as evidenced by the number of toys designed specifically to work with the iPhone or iPad. However, there was also an apparent shift toward more simple toys, perhaps reflecting the current economy and the inability of many parents to shell out $100 on a toy that will only get played with a short while.

Target was ranked 27th on the 2012 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study behind five notable retailers and in roughly the same position with the same score as the prior year, the market research firm announced on Monday.

Sales in the consumer electronics space would have been abysmal in 2011 were it not for tablet and e-readers, according to data from market researcher The NPD Group, which shows Target has an opportunity to gain share.

Target’s recent moves to deepen its relationship with Apple could be beneficial in that regard, as it was Apple that drove CE activity in 2011 and is likely to do so again in 2012. Currently, Target is not among the top five CE retailers, which NPD lists as Best Buy, Walmart, Apple and a tie between Staples and Amazon.