Electronics sales grew 16% year on year in December, 17.6% from 2019, MasterCard’s SpendingPulse reported Thursday. Total retail sales, excluding autos and gas, were up 6.9% and 8.1%, in the “robust shopping season,” it said. Online sales increased 13.4% vs. December 2020 and 60.4% over 2019. Innovation in 2022 will amp up as retailers look at different platforms and tactics to reach “hyper-connected consumers,” it said. Mastercard expects omnichannel retail trends to continue with retailers offering hybrid models to let consumers shop how they want. The demand for personalized experiences will require a heightened focus on consumer privacy, Mastercard said. It noted consumers are looking for retailers that share their values and create and deliver products in a sustainable and inclusive way. Globally, 85% of adults are willing to take personal action to combat environmental and sustainability challenges, it said, and 62% believe it’s more important now that companies behave in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.

Consumer technology sales will decline 5% this year, after a strong 2021 when sales rose 9% year on year to $127 billion, said NPD Thursday. The researcher expects continued declines of 4% in 2023 and 1% in 2024. Near term, NPD expects “slowing demand from the extraordinary rates we have been seeing over the last two years” due to COVID-19 pandemic lifestyle changes, said analyst Stephen Baker. A larger, younger installed base for many tech devices “will inevitably slow consumer needs in the immediate future for technology updates and upgrades.” Average selling prices will continue to rise for the fifth consecutive year, NPD said, topping $72, up $16 from 2018, it said. Component shortages and shipping costs in 2021 led to ASP increases, largely felt in the second half. Baker expects prices to remain stable at the higher level due to strong demand for premium products and “softening consumer needs for lower value device categories." Smart home will be an area of growth for the industry, NPD forecast, with 6% unit growth this year and a 2% revenue gain to $4.1 billion. Security cameras are seen growing 2%, smart doorbells 13%, smart locks 8% and smart power 4%, it said. Stand-alone VR headsets and 65-inch and larger TVs will benefit from consumers’ focus on entertainment through 2024, said analyst Ben Arnold.

Wide-ranging technology including Dolby Atmos sound, short-throw projectors, ambient light rejecting screens, motorized window treatments, and large-screen TVs are bumping up the prospects of the home theater market, reported Global Industry Analysts Tuesday. The research firm projects a $49.9 billion global home audio market by 2026, driven by surround sound and more affordable, sophisticated audio gear for movies, sports and music. Smart AV rooms are providing users with a universal remote for controlling connected appliances, and easy access to engaging content is driving demand for multi-speaker systems, including stand-alone and multi-driver sound bars, it said. It pegged the U.S. home audio market at $11.8 billion in 2021, for 36.2% of the global market. The combined sound bar regional market -- U.S., Canada, Japan, China and Europe -- reaching $5.7 billion in sales in 2020, is expected to pass $10 billion by 2026, it said.

Podcast usage is rising for "diverse" audiences, Nielsen emailed Thursday. Mainstream media often centers on one perspective or experience, “with representation often addressed as a complement to a main story or primary character,” but podcasts increasingly resonate with diverse audiences, it said. The average number of times each identity group listens to a podcast varies from nine to 12 per month, Nielsen said, counting Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ consumers. People with disabilities listen to podcasts most at home (67%); Asian Americans listen the least at home at 43%. Black listeners stream audio more than other audiences, “while listening more closely when brands reach out,” averaging 73% brand recall for podcasts ads, it said. Podcast listening among Hispanics 25-39 has doubled in the past three years, it said, and Asian Americans have upped their podcast listening five times over the past decade, with news among the leading topics, it said. The Interactive Advertising Bureau predicts podcast ad revenue will hit $2 billion by 2023 vs. $842 million in 2020, Nielsen noted. Host-read ads drive a brand recall rate of 71%, creating “high levels of consumer interest, purchase intent and recommendation intent,” it said. Diverse audiences want to hear from “trusted voices with similar backgrounds or that have similar interests,” Nielsen said; topics need to be inclusive and relevant from credible sources with original voices.

Privacy and security will continue to plague the connected home industry as an increase in threats create more consumer concern for their data, blogged Parks Associates President Elizabeth Parks in a 2022 trends forecast. Consumers will continue to embrace over-the-top video services, and the “great unbundle of Pay TV will move into the next phase,” including the “rebundling” of streaming services, she said. Interoperability efforts will push ahead, with industry players working together through integration and partnerships, she said, while choice will remain “paramount” for consumers in video viewing, home security and automation. Large investments in energy management tech will drive demand response capabilities in a transforming power grid, while distributed energy resources manage the grid’s load, she said. Home healthcare will “explode” in coming years through devices, virtual care and remote patient monitoring, and work and home will continue to “blur,” leading to ongoing investments in technology.

COVID-19 pandemic-fueled growth will continue next year for the wearables and wireless headsets sectors, but 5G millimeter-wave smartphone shipments won’t reach “critical mass,” reported ABI Research Tuesday on top tech trends for watch in 2022. “With more time being spent at home, the pandemic has seen an uptick in the use of wireless headsets, driven by the need for personalized audio experiences that minimize external distractions and achieve high-quality sound,” said ABI. It forecasts that wireless headset shipments will reach more than 1 billion units globally in 2026 and will lead the smart accessories market, it said. “Ecosystem momentum” for 5G mmWave “is gathering pace as a number of regions are targeting deployments,” said ABI. But even with “tangible indicators” that mmWave is beginning to appear in more smartphone models, it will be less than 5% of global sales in 2022, it said.

Despite early shopping and supply chain disruptions, holiday season retail sales -- excluding automotive -- grew 8.5% year on year Nov. 1-Dec. 24, said Mastercard Sunday. Online sales were up 11% for the period, comprising 20.9% of total retail sales, up from 20.6% in 2020 and 14.6% in 2019. For the expanded 75-day shopping period -- Oct. 11-Dec. 24 -- overall retail sales rose 8.6%, spurred by early and late-season promotions, it said. Electronics sales Nov. 1-Dec. 24 grew 16.2% vs. 2020, 19.8% vs. 2019. The report measured retail sales across all payment types, including cash and check.

The impressive theatrical performance of Spider-Man: No Way Home continued over the Christmas weekend, earning $81.5 million in the U.S. and sending its global box office since release to $1.05 billion, without any input yet from China, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. The Matrix Resurrections opened to just $12 million, “likely due to its day & date release on HBO Max,” said the analyst.

Despite “good” job growth for six straight months, Paychex estimates the U.S. is “still short around four million jobs” from pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, said CEO Martin Mucci on an earnings call Wednesday for fiscal Q2 ended Nov. 30. “The ones that are still struggling the most are the restaurants,” despite wages having “gone up dramatically,” fueled by the labor shortage, he said. The average part-time pay among Paychex clients was $19.62 an hour in November, said the CEO: “It's an amazing thing when you think two years ago, everybody was arguing about getting to $15.”

The home theater market will advance at a 4.8% compound annual growth rate through 2025, driven by rising disposable income mainly in developing economies, reported Technavio Thursday, Growing popularity of smart homes will pave the way for increased adoption of home theater products, it said, but high cost and easy availability of counterfeit products will hinder growth during the period, said the research firm. Home theater market growth is forecast at 3.9% for 2021.