Merchants looking to influence consumer buying behavior should consider gift card incentives, according to a study by First Data Corp. The use of gift cards as consumer incentives is a growing trend to which consumers are responding positively.
Despite the down real estate market, in a national representative sampling, 83% of all homeowners said their home was worth more than what they paid for it. Nearly half stated their home was worth "a lot more." Seventy-four percent believed that making renovations or home improvements now will help them get the most money when they decide to sell.
In adopting its first-reading of the 2008 EU budget, MEPs want the overall amount of payment appropriations to be higher than in the Commission's preliminary draft budget (0.97%) and the Council's draft budget (0,95%), while not exceeding 0.99% of the EU's gross national income (GNI). They propose restoring the level of expenditure entered in the preliminary draft budget and making full use of the margins envisaged under the financial perspectives in several headings.
Rising fears of inflation affected consumer sentiment this fall. The findings not only recorded a downturn in both economic and income expectations, but also in the propensity to buy. Following the revised figure of 6.7 points in October, the consumer climate forecast for November is 4.9 points.
The worldwide mobile phone market grew at a healthy pace during the third quarter of 2007 with vendors shipping a total of 289.1 million units, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Worldwide shipments were up 9.0% from the previous quarter and 13.8% from the same quarter a year ago.
National headlines are dominated with stories about the housing market slowdown and credit crunch. Believing that market problems need government solutions, Congress is debating federal intervention into the mortgage market.
The European Parliament’s vote in first reading on three complementary legislative texts related to the authorisation and sustainable use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) is causing massive criticism from farmers, seed and crop protection companies alike.
The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index - a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America - increased one point in September. The Index now stands at 24. It was 29 one year ago.
McGraw-Hill Construction, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies released its 2008 Construction Outlook, which forecasts a drop in overall U.S. construction spending for next year, fueled by tighter lending conditions and weaker job growth. Against this backdrop, the level of construction starts is expected to decline 2%, to $614 billion, following an 8% decline predicted for 2007.
comScore, Inc. released U.S. e-commerce spending figures for the third quarter of 2007, showing that retail e-commerce increased 23 percent versus year ago to $28.4 billion.
