Competitive Gardening: As part of its "Spring Black Friday" push, The Home Depot surveyed US consumers about their home improvement projects and found that 53% had tried to one-up a neighbor with an outdoor project, with the figure rising to 70% for millennials. Millennials were also more likely to revamp their decor than baby boomers (54% vs. 30%). The top outdoor spring project cited was gardening (69%), while painting (54%) was the leading indoor project. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), home improvement items are one of the product categories that is still bought mostly in-store (65%), though 28% use both offline and online channels to purchase.
Favorable Impressions: CivicScience delved into whether women still love Victoria's Secret in light of the growing number alternatives, whether online online-only options like ThirdLove, which emphasizes comfort and fit, or multichannel ones like Aerie, which features more body types and doesn't retouch photos. In Q1 2018, 41% of US women had a favorable impression of Victoria's Secret, while 37% were neutral. Just over a third of Victoria's Secret shoppers were also favorable to Aerie, so it's not all or nothing when it comes to lingerie shopping. Interestingly, the more favorable her impression of Victoria's Secret, the more likely a consumer was to conduct the majority of shopping in-store.
The Future of Payments: According to a Koski Research survey, US consumers are most likely to prefer debit cards for in-store payments (39%). But when asked about five years from now, they thought apps would be most popular, tied with cash at 25%—a big jump from the current 8% who favor apps for paying at physical stores. When asked about preferences for online payments, PayPal took the top spot today (35%) and in the future (32%). Some 36% of respondents used peer-to-peer payment services, and the most common uses were paying for a product or service (71%) and paying someone back (52%).
