Macy's just announced it will be closing 35-40 stores in 2016. This will likely mark the slow, steady progression toward death for the malls to which those stores are attached. But maybe the closure of these Macy's stores is a symptom of a deeper problem in the mall shopping experience, not the cause of the malls' failure.

Today, shopping malls are becoming twenty-first century ghost towns. Since 2010, more than two dozen enclosed shopping malls have closed, and an additional 60 are on the brink. By 2025, an estimated 15 percent or more malls will be closed or repurposed, according to projections by Green Street Advisors. 

Key players in the auto industry are facing new challenges and opportunities that could shake up the U.S. market in the months and years to come. Volkswagen’s sales showed tepid growth in the wake of the emissions-cheating scandal, while Subaru set new sales records in the month of September. Meanwhile, tech and auto companies alike are vying for position in the self-driving and electric car markets. Apple plans to release an electric car in 2019 and is tripling its 600-person team to accelerate its efforts. General Motors is competing with Google in the self-driving car arena and plans to test driverless Chevrolet Volts by late 2016. To learn more, read the auto industry recap below.

The current market for Global Communication Service Providers (CSP) has reached saturation with respect to customer penetration. Furthermore, core voice and messaging services are becoming increasingly marginalized. As fourth generation (4G) cellular via LTE is optimized globally via LTE Advanced (LTE-A), raw data services are next to realize ever shrinking margins. Recognizing this issue, certain leading CSPs offer telecom data Business-to-Business (B2B) services in a Data as a Service (DaaS) basis to various third party companies such as Over-the-Top (OTT) application providers.

Metals firm Alcoa Inc. will separate into two standalone, publicly traded companies.  

"In the last few years, we have successfully transformed Alcoa to create two strong value engines that are now ready to pursue their own distinctive strategic directions,” Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said in a news release.

Alcoa’s upstream company, which will keep the Alcoa name, will focus on bauxite, alumina and aluminum, casting and energy. The value-add company, which has not yet been named, will include global rolled products, engineered products, and transportation and construction solutions.

An essential component of clinical care, in-vitro diagnostics tests can detect a wide range of diseases, infections, and conditions, from sexually-transmitted diseases to different types of cancer.

In the next five to ten years, the in-vitro diagnostics markets (IVD) in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. are expected to experience only modest growth. In contrast, developing and emerging markets will drive increased demand for IVD as a growing middle class and aging population seek out healthcare services.

Within the credit card sector, innovative technologies are changing the way people make purchases.

Mobile and alternative payments are experiencing significant growth, with a range of payment providers in the mix including PayPal, MasterPass by MasterCard, Apple Pay, Amazon Payments, and Google Wallet.

In addition, co-branded credit cards continue to lure affluent households and millennial shoppers — which are prime demographics in the payments industry.

As the global population increases, we are seeing a rise in how many cars are out there, especially in emerging markets. The number of vehicles on the road worldwide is projected to triple by 2035, to as much as 3 billion vehicles. With these numbers, companies are going to have to continue to innovate and create the vehicles consumers want in order to keep their sales up.

In my other post, "LinkedIn Profile Tips for Market Researchers," I outlined how to best utilize LinkedIn as a Market Researcher and provided tips to strengthen your profile. In this post I’m going to take it a step further and outline ways to effectively network on LinkedIn as a professional within the market research industry.

The World Wide Web is an enormous place, and it can be a bit challenging to figure out how to fit in and where. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that finding a place to fit in on social media can be very beneficial. An incredible 92% of marketers indicated in a 2014 survey that social media is important for their business. LinkedIn can play an integral role in the market research world, and you may be wondering how. So, here’s my outline on how to use LinkedIn for networking.

The United States and Europe dominate the market research industry with global revenues exceeding $40 billion. These research firms make up almost 5,000 companies in the US and generate over $15 billion in revenue here in the states.

Within this multi-billion dollar industry, there have been credibility concerns over the years. For example, back in 2013, The Globe and Mail, a leading Canadian online news source, pointed to botched political polls from a British Columbian campaign in their article entitled, “When pollsters get it wrong: The high cost of lost credibility.”

Market research is the process of gathering valuable information about the needs and preferences of consumers. It helps in determining if there is a market for a product or service and is a key part in developing any business. It gives businesses an insight into the profiles and spending habits of consumers and provides companies with the data necessary for making good business decisions.