Showrooming can boost shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, DXC Technology reported Tuesday, saying 36 percent of consumers buy products in a store after exploring them online. Other findings of its survey: 57 percent of shoppers said online promotions are important, but same-day or next-day delivery or in-store-pickup options aren't key differentiators unless enterprises are trying to reach specific groups; same-day or next-day delivery was about 9 percent of total shopping, higher among Generation X (33 percent) and millennials (28 percent). Consumers surveyed are more likely to feel satisfied with purchases when shopping in-store than with pure-play e-commerce retailers; 60 percent were confident with their in-store purchases and "strongly appreciate" the ability to return products “hassle-free” to retail locations. More than half of respondents rated their overall in-store shopping experiences as emotionally satisfying, and 48 percent said they obtain good deals in stores, while e-tailers ranked high on convenience with more than 50 percent saying their overall online shopping experiences were convenient, quick and simple. Omnichannel retailers should focus on in-store services that “deepen and strengthen your engagement with customers,” said analyst Vijay Iyer: E-commerce retailers need to “lead with the convenience factor and use artificial intelligence to predict consumer behavior.”

Retail/wholesale and manufacturing are two of five commercial sectors, along with healthcare, government and financial, that are expected to spend a total of $37.5 billion globally on industry cloud solutions in 2018, said IDC Friday. It forecast spending to grow 21 percent in 2019 to $45.4 billion. Manufacturing will have the biggest rate of growth in industry-cloud spending this year, rising 26.3 percent to $3.6 billion, followed by retail/wholesale, rising 24.6 percent to $6.1 billion, it said. Healthcare this year will remain the sector with the highest spending, rising 20.6 percent to $12.1 billion, said IDC.

November retail sales at electronics and appliance stores jumped 5 percent year over year and 1.4 percent sequentially from October, reported the National Retail Federation Friday. Online retail sales were up 12.1 percent year over year and 2.3 percent from October, said NRF. Overall November retail sales were up 5 percent year over year and 0.7 percent from October, it said. “Consumers have the capacity and confidence to spend this holiday season,” it said. “This is a good start to the holiday season and consistent with our outlook. Consumer spending remains solid and clearly provides evidence that the economy is healthy as we head into 2019.” NRF is forecasting 4.3-4.8 percent holiday retail sales growth for a total $717.45 billion-$720.89 billion.

Global headphone revenue surged 26 percent in Q2 to $5.5 billion, reported Futuresource Wednesday. It credited higher consumer demand in feature-rich upgrade models for “new emerging use cases.” Within the in-ear category, “wireless and true wireless headphones are drawing the crowds,” it said. Wireless also is fueling demand in the over-the-ear segment, it said. Unit shipments of true wireless headphones doubled in volume year on year, while revenue in the category grew to within “striking distance” of $1 billion, it said. “AirPods remain the true wireless giant and continue to dominate,” and one in every 10 true wireless headphones sold in the quarter was marketed for sports, it said.

Next year expect big management changes at Facebook, pay-TV subscriber losses to continue at similar pace to 2017 and 18, and "another ugly year" for DBS outside of rural areas, Pivotal Research wrote investors Wednesday. It said there will be increased bidding for sports rights, and fixed 5G won't penetrate mass markets or be a competitive threat to cable data. Pivotal predicted better wireless MVNO deals for cable as part of T-Mobile buying Sprint, regardless of whether the deal is approved, and "healthy" subscriber growth for Netflix despite Disney, HBO and Amazon competition. The analyst firm said potential deals for 2019 could include CBS/Viacom; Charter Communications buying Liberty Broadband, GCI Liberty or Altice USA; SiriusXM buying Live Nation Entertainment; or an outside player buying Dish Network spectrum.

Despite the Black Friday promotional frenzy in TVs and other consumer tech products, electronics and appliance stores lost 10,900 jobs in November compared with October, said the National Retail Federation Friday. Overall retail industry employment in November increased by 18,600 jobs from October, generating 12 percent of the 155,000-job increase reported by the Labor Department for the economy overall, said NRF. “In retail, the tight labor market has created sizable challenges in hiring,” it said. “There are actually more retail jobs available than there are people to fill them. Retailers would hire more workers if they could find them.” The Labor Department's retail-job numbers “do not provide an accurate picture of the industry because they count only employees who work in stores while excluding retail workers in other parts of the business such as corporate headquarters, distribution centers, call centers and innovation labs,” said NRF.

Cable subscriptions can't sustain going up $2 a year to cover increasingly expensive sports programming costs, given the growth of cord cutting in response, CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson blogged Wednesday. He said Amazon -- reportedly bidding for regional sports network being sold in Disney buying some Fox assets -- or another party is likely to change the paradigm by selling content by the game. Amazon didn't comment.

Spending for digital video, audio, news and games will increase 6 percent, down from 6.3 percent last year, to $1.8 trillion worldwide in 2018, PQ Media reported Wednesday. Growth slippage is due to declining trends in mobile media, digital device penetration nearing saturation, decelerating economic growth and a slowdown in the number of middle-class consumers who can afford first-time digital gadgets and subscriptions. The only gadget category with improved growth was digital audio components, spurred by popularity of smart speakers. Consumers worldwide will spend an average of $325.25 this year on digital and traditional media, access and technology, up 5 percent, on strong growth in services like Netflix in video and Spotify in audio, both of which doubled subscriber counts vs. 2016, said PQ. Such growth faces headwinds including censorship firewalls and quotas for native-language content, the researcher said. Upcoming content renewals in 2019 and 2020, particularly in audio, may “substantially” boost licensing fees and be passed on to consumers, it said. For the first time, mobile media won't post a double-digit gain in 2018, as digital access spending is dropping “on younger demographics cutting the cord,” said analyst Patrick Quinn. Due to saturation, global cellphone shipments declined for the first time in Q3, while tablet sales fell below a double-digit growth rate in most major markets. The U.S. is projected to remain the top market for media, access and technology, at $442.7 billion in 2018.

Consumer intentions to buy new TV sets declined sharply in November from October, according to preliminary Conference Board data released Tuesday. Nielsen canvassed 5,000 homes for the board through Nov. 13 and found 11.2 percent plan to buy a new TV in the next six months, down from 12.8 percent in October, 14.2 percent in September and 12.6 percent in November 2017, said the board. Overall consumer confidence declined slightly in November but “remains at historically strong levels,” it said. Consumer “expectations” toward the short-term economy “weakened somewhat in November, primarily due to a less optimistic view of future business conditions and personal income prospects,” it said: “Consumers are still quite confident that economic growth will continue at a solid pace into early 2019. However, if expectations soften further in the coming months, the pace of growth is likely to begin moderating.”

October retail sales at electronics and appliance stores increased 2.4 percent year over year and were up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent sequentially from September, reported the National Retail Federation Thursday. Overall October retail sales were up 5.6 percent year over year and seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent from September, said NRF. The October increases show “a healthy pace of spending and a sign of ongoing consumer strength,” it said. “The figures bolster expectations for the major shopping period of the year.”