Marketing research and insights news and information. This issue's keywords: small business owners; multichannel sales; electric cars; chief digital officers; housing market
Fifty-six percent of small business owners say they feel like they can never be away from their business and just over half (51 percent) say they don't have time to focus on themselves, according to a study by Constant Contact Inc. A combined 59 percent cite having the freedom to try new things and make their own mistakes, or controlling their destiny, as the best part of running a small business. The overall message? The rewards far outweigh the challenges: 84 percent say if they had it to do all over again, they would still choose to run a small business.
When brick-and-mortar stores were added, consumers made more frequent purchases overall, according to a study reported by Phys.org. The new study analyzed data from a well-known catalog and online apparel and durables retailer over a period of almost six years, during which time the retailer added three physical stores. Even accounting for an increase in merchandise returns and exchanges due to the convenience of having a physical store nearby, the net revenue showed an increase of 20 percent. In addition, transaction sizes remained the same and there was a benefit from a customer-management perspective: Adding the new channel led to more frequent customer/firm contacts and thus better customer retention. The study, Building with Bricks and Mortars: The Revenue Impact of Opening Physical Stores in a Multichannel Environment, will be published in the June issue of the Journal of Retailing.
Consumers who own hybrid or electric vehicles have a high level of trust and interest in an electric vehicle that Apple plans to manufacture by 2020, according to a study by Morpace, a Farmington Hills, Mich., research firm. The consumers in the online panel consistently held the Apple brand in high esteem, with 79 percent expecting the design of the Apple electric vehicle to "be better" than other electric vehicles. The study also found that 34 percent of consumers would be "extremely" or "very likely" to purchase a new Apple electric vehicle. Sixty-four percent of consumers would be willing to pay between $30,000 and $50,000 for an Apple electric vehicle in 2020; another 22 percent would be willing to pay more than $50,001.
The number of chief digital officers (CDOs) doubled from 2013 to nearly 1,000 in 2014, continuing a trend of doubling each year, according to new data from the CDO Club. The CDO Club forecasts that the number of global CDOs will double again in 2015, to some 2,000 CDOs by the end of the year. The number of another CDO – chief data officers – also continues to grow, with over 50 new hires in 2014 for a total of 250. The CDO Club projects that this number will also double in 2015.
Average home price growth expectations continued a steady climb from late last year, with respondents now saying home prices will increase by 2.8 percent during the next 12 months. These results come from Fannie Mae's April 2015 National Housing Survey, which shows some improvement in housing sentiment but likely not enough to trigger any breakout improvements in housing market activity this year. Among those surveyed, the share saying they would prefer to buy a home if they were to move increased to 63 percent in April, following a drop of six percentage points in February and March. However, the share who believe this is a good time to buy a home decreased by four percentage points as consumer concerns regarding high home prices surged for a second consecutive month, matching renewed concerns regarding the state of the economy.
These reports were compiled from recent issues of the Daily News Queue, a free e-newsletter digest of marketing research and insights news and information delivered each business morning. Not already in the Queue? Sign up here!