Digital technologies have disrupted industry after industry, and consumer packaged goods are up next. Amazon, notably, continues to launch new services and sales platforms such as Prime Pantry and Subscribe & Save—along with its Prime Air plans for delivering products by drones to consumers, notwithstanding recent regulatory setbacks from the FAA. Traditional retailers are thinking more boldly as well, with Walmart focused on “winning at the intersection of digital and physical.”

The global smoking cessation market is going from strength to strength, globally, with ever increasing products coming to the market both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC). Most notable are the range of Vaping (e-cigarettes/smokeless cigarettes) products, a market which was estimated to be worth over $3 billion across both 2013 and 2014. So, where has this market come from?

At the end of 2014 Q4, LinkedIn had 347 million users, up from 296 million earlier in the year. It’s probably safe to say that LinkedIn is unarguably the best social site for B2B marketing, and networking for business professionals overall. With so many users, one may wonder how to stand out and get noticed on a saturated platform. In this article I will share some tips on how to best utilize LinkedIn as a Market Researcher and provide tips to get your profile strength to “all-star.”

There is a range of low-frequency network technologies that consumer devices can use to communicate with each other, and the market has no dominance or availability of single network technology that fits all. This is one of the highlights of this industry and a reason that we find different alliances, such as ZigBee, Z-wave, Insteon, MoCA and DLNA and many other small groups, emerging and stating their dominance over this industry. The common practice is manifesting in a growing number of alliances of hardware, software and end device providers/solutions under one umbrella and is working in coherence with each other to generate dominance on the market.

The K-12 and higher education publishing industry got its digital sea legs in motion in 2014, and that digital momentum is expected to continue to power growth in 2015. With the digital migration solidly under way, publishers are looking for continued growth in revenue from digital products and continued decline in the portion of their revenue generated by print. Simba Information projects the combined K-12 and higher education industry will reach $16.56 billion in 2015, up 4.7% from 2014.

Unity Marketing's look at the five most important trends for marketers targeting the U.S. affluent customer in 2015

2015 is shaping up to be a challenging year for luxury marketers, following last year, which wasn't particularly bright for luxury brands worldwide. Newly-affluent Chinese consumers cut back on luxury indulgences, and affluents in many Euro countries were impacted by a downturn in macroeconomic forces. Japan, the world's number two market for luxury, remains caught up in a long-standing recession, which only deepened at the end of 2014. And, while the U.S. economy looks stronger on paper, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the government agency that calculates the GDP, just reported that consumer spending declined by .3% in December, despite reported growth in personal income and disposable income. That means one thing: consumers are saving their gains, rather than spending them.

It is often echoed in the media how dangerous deflation is. But, when it comes to ‘why’, journalists, bankers and even economists have a hard time putting together a clear and concise argument. Banking Reports, Ltd. has created this list of ‘A Dozen Dangers of Deflation’.

Many organizations will reach a point in which they get stuck, or are unable to progress any further in accomplishing their business goals. So, it is important that organizations recognize the benefits that can come from purchasing or conducting market research. While sometimes difficult to draw a direct line between market research and ROI, its role in helping organizations reach their goals is a critical enough reason for ensuring your organization conducts adequate market research.

Rivaling consumer electronics, clothing has become one of the most purchased physical products online in recent years. Clothing was also the leading category in global cross-border B2C E-Commerce in 2014, accounting for over a third of all cross-border online purchases. In China and Japan, online mass merchants and marketplaces have become the most popular platforms for consumers to purchase clothing. In Europe, clothing has been the leading category by share of online shoppers in countries such as the UK, Germany, Russia, Italy and Turkey. Clothing merchants stand to benefit from adoption of current market trends, including but not limited to: M-Commerce, Omnichannel and Cross-Border B2C E-Commerce. Those merchants currently operating purely online or predominantly store-based could seek to adopt these strategies in an effort to gain a share in the booming online clothing market.

As smartphone penetration continues to increase, smartphone apps and well-implemented technology can help city authorities save money and become more efficient. However, there is much more than smartphones involved, including the networks that support cellular communications (LTE, LTE-Advanced, WiFi, etc.).