The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that the US consumer electronics market is in a state of recovery and should exceed $166 Billion in 2010. This is quite the accomplishment for an industry and an economy that has largely contracted since 2007. In any event, one cannot deny the rate and scale at which technological innovation has taken place in this industry. In less than 40 years, we have gone from Pong to the personal computing tablet (i.e. the rumored Apple iTablet). Below is a timeline which highlights past innovation and change, offering a window back to yesteryear, and the iconic gadgets and technologies that we associate with our past:

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An article by Nat Ives was posted earlier this week on Adage.com about existing media companies and their experimental foray into e-commerce. This comes at a time when media companies in general are looking for new ways to monetize their websites. Some of the recent, notable examples include, well-known brands such as:  Martha Stewart, WSJ, Lucky and Salon.

Much of this has to do with the fact that media brand have existing, unique positions from to generate revenue from e-commerce. While regular e-commerce companies invest millions on marketing research to drive traffic to their sites and convert sales, “…media companies have an advantage in this regard, in that their content is already driving significant traffic to their site,” says Michael Kessler, managing director at Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private-equity firm that specializes in media.

E-commerce has been growing well over the past decade, slowing down only slightly during the recent recession. According to Citi Investment research, 2009 e-commerce sales fell only 5.5% in the first quarter and 4% in the second, then increased 1.8% in the third and are slated to improve by 12% in the fourth. For comparison, advertising revenue fell over 14% in both the first and second quarters.

The ability for media companies to partner with outside retailers and technology is key in their e-commerce success. Martha Stewart Living’s original strategy revolved around e-commerce, but they failed to provide the proper inventory among other things. When they recently re-launched their store they were aided by outside retailers who carried all of the inventory and handled various other tasks.

What the media giant is good at is telling a story. Gail Horwood, senior VP-digital programming and strategy at Martha Stewart said, “…we’re experts in telling the stories behind things, and that’s really kind of the romance behind product sales…. I call it contextual commerce because it’s about providing a platform to explain why things are differentiated.”

Condé Architectural Digest is another media brand to recently open up shop. But with their content being focused on high-end home décor, the scope of audience and products to sell are much more narrow. Their model is based charging designers a commission for featuring their products in the online store. Simply stated, marketers look for the chance to advertise in environments where consumers spend time shopping.

What happens in this next year with these new e-commerce projects is anyone’s guess. “What we think this will be from a revenue perspective, honestly we don’t know,” remarked Mr. Gingras, Salon’s CEO. “I have not made forecasts. This is an experiment.”

via Nat Ives @ Adage

The New York Times published an article this weekend about the rapidly growing interest in retail marketing data. Online retail is rapidly becoming a realm for testing how analytic software can be used to determine household spending trends as well as online behavior. Research in this arena has been ongoing for sometime; Walmart for instance, has long been targeting specific goods at different locations based demographic data. Recent innovations, however, are rooted more in emerging analytic software, and of course, are a byproduct of the sheer volume of data that is increasingly becoming available.

The new data available includes both internal and external sources. Internally, companies are increasingly able to track point-of-sale and shipping trends. Externally, retailers are accessing census and other syndicated data sets. Additionally, companies also able to track visitors to other competitors’ sites, traffic from social networking sites, and most recently, the behavior of smartphone shoppers. Because the tools are becoming cheaper and more efficient at identifying shopping patterns, retailers are able to digest more digital information, which is shaping their marketing efforts.

To Dr. Davenport at Babson College, this, “…huge and growing ecosystem of data is an asset that some retailers are really beginning to exploit for competitive advantage…it brings more science into the business. Relying on gut feel is yesterday’s strategy in retailing.” But even the shrewdest of computing professionals would agree that the new technology is geared more towards helping retailers make decisions on pricing, product assortment and shipping rather than judging what products to create or order from suppliers. Lori Schafer, a retail expert at SAS Institute says that “…in the world of retail merchandising, there will always be a mix of art and science…but the more you can get into customer’s heads, the better off you are.”

Wet Seal, for example, has greatly developed its web presence allowing it to retrieve relevant data from the vast number of it’s customers. Specifically, they have created a feature called ‘Outfitter’, which allows users to put together their own outfits online. Anyone can browse the outfits and leave their opinions and comments. The user-generated data from this feature as well as from the new Wet Seal iPhone application, ‘iRunway’, allows the company to get a solid read on where fashion trends are headed, as well as potential groupings of items that may sell well together.

Another example of a company pioneering the way is 1-800-Flowers, which has apps for the iPhone, Blackberry, as well as the Android platform. 1-800-Flowers President Christopher McCann believes that “social mobile” retailing is the future for online marketing and increasing sales. And, McCann estimates that by using more sophisticated analytics software, the company has been able to streamine operations by about $50 million in just this last year. While many suggest that computers cannot reveal every aspect of human behavior, it is difficult to deny the benefits to using emerging data. Especially in a climate of cost-cutting, data provides retailers the opportunity to make the most informed decisions ever about how to grow their businesses.

via Steve Lohr @ The New York Times

Internetretailer.com featured an article yesterday outlining the strong growth in the e-commerce industry.  This included findings from a recent recent study by IBISWorld, which shows revenue for e-commerce and online auction sites having increased at a cumulative rate of 468.9% since 2000, making it America’s third-fastest growing industry trailing only voice-over Internet protocol and search engines. Additionally, IBISWorld forecasts e-commerce to continue growing at a pace of abvout 125% over the next decade. To IBISWorld, the best performing industries will be those that focus on developing innovative products while improving efficiency and keeping prices competitive.

A full list of the best and worst performing industries can be found here.

via InternetRetailer.

A recent Reuters article noted a modest rise in holiday shopping this year, following a rather dismal 2008 season. In particular, writers Phil Wahba and Jessica Wohl highlighted the results of  recent study by SpendingPulse, which tracks activity in the MasterCard Inc payment networks.

Overall, the results showed an increase of 3.6 percent for retail sales over last year for the period November 1 to December 24. Last year, SpendingPulse recorded a decrease in spending at about 2.3 percent. But, while spending was up this year from 2008, Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research at Spending Pulse, says that levels are still far below those of 2007:

“Last year the economy and consumer spending were in free fall. This year we’re talking about an environment that has stabilized. That has seen a leveling off.”

Essentially, experts are saying that, while retailers aren’t overly optimistic, they seem less concerned than they previously were. Marshal Cohen, NPD Group chief retail analyst, described the overall sentiments of this shopping season in one word: “adequate.”

Additionally, according to Wedbush, which observed store traffic in four different markets this year, mall traffic increased considerably over last weekend as last minute shoppers scrambled to get their needed items. December 26 saw shoppers buying more items than they were returning, many purchases of which were at full-price. While this might be a positive sign, it remains difficult to say what the holiday season has actually meant for retailers’ bottom line.

One standout from the recent holiday shopping season, is online shopping, which grew by a reported 15% this year, according to SpendingPulse.  Presumably, consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with purchasing online. To showcase a few online sectors;: luxury sales rose 0.8 percent; jewelry sales spiked 5.6 percent; and, mens apparel sales improved by 3.9 percent.

Via  Phil Wahba and Jessica Wohl @ Reuters

Toys rank among the most popular gifts each holiday season, often with a shortage of the most sought-after toys inducing a frenzy among shoppers. Interestingly, shopping for toys this season appears to be greater, while overall spending has dipped. The following illustrates current shopping trends, including how consumers and retailers are responding to the economy, as well as  the hot toys and toy categories. The overall trends indicate that deals are driving sales.

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Apparel perennially ranks among the most popular categories for holiday shopping, and this year, nothing has changed. While apparel shopping has dipped since the onset of the recession, recent studies suggest a continued recovery. As usual, searches for women’s apparel and accessories are among the most popular. Perhaps surprisingly, the high-end market appears to be increasingly improving; across the board, however, consumers are looking for the best deals possible.

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Moneycontrol.com posted an article today revealing the results of survey conducted by American Express, showing that two-thirds of consumers in the US still have some holiday shopping to complete, with 41 percent planning on finishing at least one week prior to Christmas. Additionally, one-fourth of all US consumers will still be shopping in the week before Christmas, including on Christmas Eve.

Many people are waiting longer to do their shopping, as they believe “…that deals will get sweeter as the clock winds down,” said Mona Hamouly, a spokeswoman for the survey. In fact 62 percent of consumers are waiting until the last minute to finish their holiday shopping. But there must be a reason why shoppers will tolerate the added stress of last minute shopping. The report says that 31 percent are waiting n order to find the hottest deals before the season is over; 21 percent are still saving money or are busy, and a mere 10 percent are waiting for their last paycheck.

In terms of spending, in the next 30 days,  65 percent of shoppers plan to spend the same or more than they did over the past 30 days, while one-third plan to spend less according to the same survey. Apparently, the negative economic climate has been a substantial factor in consumer sentiment as many are pinching all their pennies this year. Of those that plan on spending more in the next 30 days, 56 percent say most of their spending will be directed to holiday gifts. Of those that plan to spend less, 40 percent say it’s because they are trying to save money, prices have increased, or they are sticking to a strict budget, while one-third say they are trying to reduce their debt.

Via Money Control

Consumer electronics are big this year, as indicated by our second installment of the Active Shopper Report. According to a number of sources, including Pricegrabber.com, consumer electronics dominate product searches on price comparison websites and are among the most popular gifts this holiday season. The following visual illustrates the popularity of consumer electronics, as well as the individual items shoppers are looking to buy (and receive) this year. The overall trend suggests that reduced prices is the common denominator. For shoppers looking to save, this is as good of a time as ever to buy.

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Today announced the launch of its “Active Shopper Report” (http://activeshopperreport.com) revealing key retail trends for the 2009 holiday shopping season. Today’s report is the first in a four-part series and features the top 20 products trending this holiday season from leading shopping comparison sites PriceGrabber.com^® and Like.com.

2009 Holiday Shopping Trends Vol. 1

Though most consumers plan to cut back on holiday spending in 2009, many are opting to do their shopping online this year. Search interest in Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions have spiked after Thanksgiving, as shoppers all across the country look online for a more convenient solution to avoid holiday crowds. The 20 most popular categories are heavily weighted towards consumer electronics, which look to be strong sellers this year.