Conditions have never been more challenging for luxury brands, according to Fflur Roberts, Head of Luxury Goods at Euromonitor International.

“Headline growth remains disappointing, and the markets overall face mounting risks — it's clear nothing is written in stone,” Roberts explained in a recent video highlighting the latest market research on the global luxury goods industry.

The market for strollers and prams, car seats, cribs and cots, baby carriers, and nursery furniture is likely to experience continued growth in the next five years due to several key factors, including increasing income levels, growing e-commerce, and stable fertility rates, according to Azoth Analytics, a market research and analysis company.

Drawing on industry data and primary research with regional heads and retail managers, Azoth Analytics cites three notable developments and trends in the executive summary of its report on the market for juvenile products. 

Oprah Winfrey certainly hasn’t given up on dieting yet — she just revealed that she’s lost “over 40 pounds” on Weight Watchers as part of the company’s latest advertising campaign, sending shares soaring.

But for the U.S. weight loss industry as a whole, the numbers may not be quite so promising. The U.S. weight loss and diet control market totaled $65 billion in 2015, according to a report by Marketdata Enterprises Inc, a market research publisher that has tracked the diet market for 28 years. Flat to low growth is expected in the future.

Since joining MarketResearch.com, Freedonia’s analysts have produced a huge number of blog posts to give readers an inside look at the latest market research. The Freedonia Group’s large crew of in-house analysts write about 120 Industry Studies and 600 Freedonia Focus Reports per year.

The blogs not only give us a chance to show our creative side, but also share some interesting tidbits we learned while writing our studies and reports. Read on for a list of the most-viewed blog posts by our analysts in 2016.

The U.S. frozen food market is forecast to reach $72.98 billion by 2024, according to a recent study by Grand View Research.

Despite overall market growth, sales have remained tepid in recent years. Frozen food brands face ongoing challenges, as consumer preferences shift and competition increases.

Gift cards are a popular go-to option for shoppers of all ages. Not surprisingly, Christmas and birthdays are top occasions for purchasing gift cards. The most widely purchased gift cards are for coffee shops and restaurants, according to Packaged Facts, a leading consumer research firm.

Gift cards are a massive, multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S., but not all prepaid cards are purchased as gifts and stocking stuffers. A variety of prepaid cards are also used for government-administered benefits, employee rewards and incentives, and tax refunds. In addition, millions of consumers use prepaid cards as an alternative to traditional bank accounts.

Here's a look back at the top industry analysis pieces published on the MarketResearch.com blog in 2016.

Drawing on data from a variety of leading market research publishers, our most-read articles covered everything from telemedicine and genetic testing, to meal kits and food trends. 

The field of gene editing is expanding rapidly. A team of scientists in China recently injected CRISPR-edited cells into a human patient for the first time — potentially setting off a biomedical race between China and the United States, as reported in the international scientific journal Nature.

More significant developments are expected in the years to come. The global CRISPR market is forecast to grow at an astonishing compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35% from 2016 to 2022, according to Inkwood Research, a market intelligence firm. The number of scientific papers published on CRISPR continues to soar, from below 200 papers in 2012 to more than 1,200 papers in 2015.

The US airline industry features three types of carriers in terms of operating model: traditional carriers, low-cost carriers (LCCs), and ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCCs). ULCCs – largely represented by Spirit Airlines (Spirit), Frontier Airlines, and Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant) – experienced impressive revenue growth over the 2010-2015 period.

In concrete production, water and cement react to bind together fine aggregates (primarily sand) and coarse aggregates such as crushed stone or natural gravel. A relatively small amount of water is needed to initiate this chemical reaction (hydration) to transform the ingredients into concrete. 

However, additional water is often required to make the mix workable enough to be poured and finished, and the addition of too much extra water can decrease the strength of finished concrete. Reduced durability in concrete can lead to a premature need for repairs or replacement in the residential and nonresidential building sectors, as well as in such public projects as highways, streets, bridges, and dams.