A new survey, Shopping Trends Among 18-25 Year-Olds, conducted by a group of LIM College students and in conjunction with the NRF Student Association, revealed that 68% of young people aged 18-25 years “prefer to shop in stores than online for apparel and shoes.” In announcing the release, Alexis Michaelides, student leader of the LIM College’s campus NRF Student Association, said, “We have read and observed what industry leaders had been saying about our use of technology for shopping and it did not match our own habits and preferences.”

The study also contains a bit of good news for all of those brick and mortar stores who feel like they’re living under the Amazon sword. Another member of the LIM College NRFSA team, Nicole Flasch-Mihalko, added, “Retail observers have been significantly overestimating our use of online and digital technology for shopping. We like shopping in stores and are not as engaged in shopping on the Internet as many have touted. I guess the demise of the brick and mortar format of retailing– at least for 18-25 year-olds– is grossly exaggerated.”

Some key take-aways from the study:

What’s funny is that the second bullet point up there is exactly the opposite of that oh-so treacherous Amazon Price Check app that infuriated everybody during the recent Christmas holiday. And since it only mentions apparel and shoes as items that young people shop for in brick and mortar stores, does that mean they are either purchasing media (e.g., movies, music) online? (I bet they’re just stealin’ that swag via their ultra-fast dorm room Internet connection.)

While this is a intriguing study, it’d be more telling and reliable if the results could be duplicated among a larger sample size and, perhaps, inclusive of a broader geography of youngsters since, I’m assuming, that the survey only included data from Manhattanites since LIM is located there. Have you been to brick and mortar stores in NYC? It’s considerably different than the weekend trips to Target or the local mall.

Nevertheless. Carry on, my wayward brick and mortar sons!

According to last year’s data, 81% of consumers consulted internet sources before making purchases. This year that number increased to 85%. Also, 85% said they were more likely to make a purchase if they had the opportunity to research it on the internet first. That represents a significant jump from last year, when only 77% said the same.

The study also learned that information found on the internet has a significant impact on consumer decisions. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said that positive reviews of a product online had reinforced their decision to purchase it, up from 80% last year. The influence of negative reviews showed a much larger jump, however: last year just 68% of respondents said that a negative review had caused them not to purchase a product. This year the survey found that 80% said they had changed their mind on a purchase because of negative information.

Cone suggests that the explanation for the increases from last year are best explained by the increasing ease and convenience of consumer access to the internet. The takeaway for marketers, says Cone’s Mike Hollywood, is that traditional word-of-mouth channels are no longer sufficient, and that marketers need to focus on “targeting the right people” as a “first step toward influencing the conversation.”

Of those who responded, 35% did not own a smartphone, while 26% owned smartphones but did not have shopping apps on them. The remaining 39% have smartphones with shopping apps already installed. Of all those who have smartphones, 84% responded that they would use them to help with their holiday shopping.

Of those who own smartphones, 42% responded that they were planning to download new shopping apps specifically for holiday shopping. Of that group, 70% selected comparison shopping apps as the kind they were most likely to download. Meanwhile, 65% said they would download coupon apps, 62% said they would download barcode-scanning price check apps, and 46% responded that they planned to download apps specifically geared toward Black Friday sales.

When those who planned to acquire new apps were asked why, 56% responded that they believed the apps help find the best prices on items, while 50% cited the convenience of receiving discounts and price information on their phones, 44% cited a lack of time to go shopping in the traditional sense, 38% felt the apps enhance the experience of shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, and 28% appreciated the location-based features of the apps.

Of those who intend to get new apps for shopping, 79% said they intended to use the apps for shopping on the go, while 74% said they would use them from home, and just 32% planned to use their phones to shop from work. This shopping is not limited to any specific kind of gift, either. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they would buy either big-ticket or small-ticket items from their apps, while 20% said they meant to do all their holiday shopping via smartphone app, 8% said they would only buy items that cost less than $100, and 5% said they would only buy items over $100.

View more daily infographic round-ups here.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday hacks and scams:

by NowSourcing

Shopping cart abandonment:

Moustaches:

Sortable The Hairy Truth About The Moustache. Go to Movember.com and make a donation today.

Sure it may be called “Black Friday” but this year some sales are actually starting on Thanksgiving Day. For instance, the Black Friday sale at Walmart actually begins at 10PM on Thursday. This year 152 million shoppers plan to brave the crowds this Holiday weekend, and will spend an estimated $465.5 billion at various stores. That’s up almost 3% from 2010.

To help you on your quest to save money this season, we’ve put together a list of 5 essential apps for black friday, along with their official app description. One of the featured apps could prove quite handy if you were to lose your iPhone while out shopping. Check them out below and leave us a comment with your favorite Black Friday / shopping apps.

1. BFAds.net Black Friday (Free)

The BFAds.net Black Friday app lets you plan your Black Friday (Day after Thanksgiving) shopping trip weeks in advance! Brought to you by the largest Black Friday site, the BFAds.net app provides you with early access to the season’s best sale advertisements and deals from major retailers. Browse the ads by store or category, read the latest sale news and even create your own shopping list to take with you to the store on the big day!

2.) Black Friday (Free)

The Black Friday Deal Finder 2011 is the best on-the-go resource for reviewing and organizing Black Friday deals. Powered by FatWallet.com’s innovative Black Friday Deal Finder (online), this mobile version displays ALL major retailers’ Black Friday ads (pre-released) so you can quickly search, save customized lists and never miss a deal. User friendly features include: sort deals by store and category, filter stores by cateogry, search by product name, reference individual deals for quick comparisons… among other great features.

3.) Price Check by Amazon (Free)

Ever wondered if you were getting the best price on a product when you were out shopping? With Price Check by Amazon, you can use your iPhone to instantly compare prices with Amazon.com and its merchants while on-the-go. Price Check enables you to search Amazon products quickly using barcode, picture, voice, and text search. All prices are in US Dollars and search the Amazon US catalog. Compatible with iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4 devices with auto-focus cameras and iOS 4 or greater.

4.) RedLaser – Barcode and QR Code Scan (Free)

The ALL-NEW RedLaser is the fastest and easiest to use RedLaser yet! It has everything you loved in RL Classic and more of the functionality you have told us you are looking for! RedLaser is still free to download! Shop smarter. RedLaser searches thousands of ONLINE and LOCAL retailers for the best prices and features product results from Google, TheFind, eBay, Milo, and many more.

5.) Find My iPhone (Free)

If you misplace your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, the Find My iPhone app will let you use another iOS device to find it and protect your data. Simply install this free app on another iOS device, open it, and sign in with your Apple ID. Find My iPhone will help you locate your missing device on a map.You can then choose to display a message or play a sound, remotely lock your device, or erase your data on it.

Black Friday is one crazy day of shopping, but possibly armed with the right app you can make it a huge success for your budget.

[Lead image courtesy: pinoytutorial.com]

Beginning at 5am, LivingSocial will begin the Black Friday deals, and from there will continue into Saturday, Sunday and into Cyber Monday. There will apparently be a whole new round of deals announced on Monday.

This initiative allows for national companies to get in on the daily deals action, while the upside for LivingSocial is that it gets to participate (in a slightly roundabout way) in the biggest shopping weekend known to man. According to SVP of national Sales Mitch Spolan, “the service isn’t changing its local-business focus, but gets the opportunity to offer something special nationally from time to time.”

So far, businesses signed on for the deals include Verizon, Sketchers, EA games, BlueFly, Skype, and Wine.com. Like the daily local deals, most of these offerings will be of the 50%-off variety. For instance, one of the deals set to begin on Cyber Monday is $40 for $80 worth of merchandise on Wine.com.

You can check the LivingSocial Black Friday page on Friday for information on the specific deals.

How much shopping are you planning on doing this upcoming weekend? Do you plan to tap any of these LivingSocial deals? Let us know in the comments.

Why not a tablet? Recent studies suggest that everyone is tablet crazy these days, and 90% of Americans either want a tablet or already own one.

Some big name tablets will be doing battle for your hard-earned cash this year – the Barnes & Noble Nook, the Amazon Kindle Fire, and Apple’s iPad 2 to name a few.

Check out this awesome infographic that should provide you with the information necessary to choose the right tablet for you or your loved ones this season.

Embed this image on your site:

<a href="http://www.webpronews.com/choosing-a-tablet-for-the-holidays-2011-11"><img src="http://www.webpronews.com/infographic/choosingatabletfortheholidays.png" alt="Choosing A Tablet For The Holidays" title="Choosing A Tablet For The Holidays" width="600" border="0" /></a><br />Via: <a href="http://www.webpronews.com">WebProNews.com</a>

At least that’s where people will be looking closely for deals. Although it’s probably not the group of devices most likely to see huge holiday markdowns, tablets are on the top of people’s shopping lists according to a new report from Retrevo.

According to the numbers, tablets are the most sought after item this season. 32% of those surveyed said that they will be looking for a deal on an iPad, Kindle Fire, or other tablet. This is tops, followed by HDTVs with 25% and Laptops with 24%.

As far as specific tablets go, folks are hoping to recieve the iPad and the new Kindle fire more than any other device. The two are at a virtual dead heat atop the list, followed closely by smartphones:

Other interesting finds from the survey include the fact that online shopping is set to increase once again, with 34% saying that they plan to do Black Friday shopping both online and in-stores. Only 10% of this year’s sample group say that they plan to do all of their shopping in-store, down from 18% last year.

So shoppers are looking to buy the iPad, and people really want to get the iPad as a gift this holiday season. When you look at additional data from Nielsen, you see that it’s not just adults that want Apple’s industry-leading tablet.

According to their own survey, kids really want iPads too. 44% of children aged 6-12 say that they want the device this holiday season. Apple ends up dominating the wishlist, as 30% of the kids desire an iPod Touch and 27% desire an iPhone.

What deals are you looking for this Black Friday? Do your family members want tablets, specifically iPads? Let us know in the comments.

View more daily infographic round-ups here.

The Business of Halloween:

Via: Business Credit Cards Blog

LiveScience looks at American’s belief in the paranormal:

Source:LiveScience

BuySellAds looks at the “Daily Deal Divide”:

Job market of the apes:

Via: Online Schools

Payvment says its “Shopping Mall” on Facebook offers over one million searchable products and includes a directory of ecommerce stores, from celebrity brands to local merchants.

“The Shopping Mall on Facebook is where online shopping gets truly social,” said Christian Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of Payvment.

“We are confident that the Shopping Mall on Facebook will be the place people go to discover new brands, great deals, and the products they and their friends want.”

Features of the Shopping Mall include:

*The ability of users to “like” different products in addition to a retailer’s fan page.

*Retailer’s have their own searchable page within the Shopping Mall on Facebook, where shoppers can sort products by price, and most liked item.

*Personalized recommendations based on what a user already likes.

*A dashboard for sharing “likes” and seeing what others are “liking.”

*The ability to comment on any item in a retailer’s store and post it to the News Feed.