Chinese internet users spend more time online than with any other medium

"With out-of-home (OOH) ads and TV achieving the highest reach in Chinese consumers at 77% and 76% respectively, it is little wonder marketers are investing heavily in advertising on these two media platforms.  However, the Yangtze Study reveals that the digital space ranks a close third behind OOH ads and TV in reach and is where most consumers are choosing to spend their time, with an average consumer spending 3.25 hours online, compared to 2.21 hours and 0.51 hours with TV and OOH ads, respectively.  More surprisingly, the Yangtze Study also shows that consumers in tier-3 cities lead in the race when it comes to online contact hours per day, clocking in an average of 3.57 hours per day, as compared to their tier-1 and tier-2 counterparts at 3.08 hours and 3.07 hours, respectively.
The Yangtze Study also highlighted the prevalence of online entertainment, especially video, as a favorite way for Chinese consumers to digest content. Across screens, respondents spent an average of 1.76 hours daily watching video clips on computers, with tier-2 consumers heading the pack at 1.98 hours.  With China home to the world‘s largest Internet population, it is highly possible that online has the potential to become the vehicle most used to access video content for cities in tiers 1-4.
"What we are witnessing now is the biggest digital evolution on earth taking place right here in China. There is a growing population of netizens in lower tiers who do not even have a TV set at home and instead are choosing to watch most of their TV content online", said Jeffrey Tan, SMG China‘s National Research & Insights Director. "While internet usage in lower tiers right now is skewed towards instant messaging and online entertainment (such as gaming, music and video), they are quickly catching on to the social networking craze that is sweeping across the country.""

Source:  Research from Starcom Mediavest Group's Yangtze study, reported in a press release, 14th October 2011

2/3 of smartphone owners in the US used their phones for shopping-related activities in September 2011

"The results showed that 38 percent of smartphone owners have used their phone to make a purchase at least once in the course of their device ownership. The most popular products purchased on smartphones during the month of September included digital goods, clothing/accessories, tickets and daily deals.
[...]
“Fueled by smartphone adoption, mobile is becoming a central part in the shopping funnel for many consumers,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president for mobile. “In September we saw two-thirds of all smartphone owners perform shopping activities on their phones, including comparing products and prices, searching for coupons, taking product pictures or locating a retail store. Considering there are currently 90 million smartphone owners in the U.S., retailers without a well-developed mobile strategy are not only missing a tremendous opportunity with these customers but also risk becoming obsolete in the minds of these digital omnivores.”"

Source:  Data from comScore reported in a press release, 5th December 2011

How digital media & technology is changing retail behaviour

"Across most categories of goods, the majority of respondents reported a preference to purchase items online rather than at a physical outlet. In the UK 74% percent of consumers said they were more likely to buy flights and vacations online (globally 70%), 77% prefer to buy CDs, DVDs, books and video games online (65% globally).
However, the majority of respondents said they prefer to purchase luxury goods in store and four in ten consumers still seem to shun online grocery shopping. These trends are particularly evident in the Americas where more than three quarters of respondents said they would book a flight online, but only 21 percent said they were more likely to buy groceries online.
The survey reveals the extent to which smartphones and tablets are changing shopping behaviour. When shopping at retail outlets, 45% of UK respondents said they now use their mobile devices to locate the nearest store, 32% to research products and services, 30% for online coupons and one in 5 (19%) scan in barcodes to for product information. Globally 41% research products & services and almost a quarter pay with their mobile devices.
When buying products or services the majority of customers in the UK and globally consult feedback and ratings pages on the internet or get information on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Monitoring and managing third party information sources will therefore be a key element of any digital sales strategy."

Source:  From KPMG's Consumers & Convergence Report, reported in a press release, 5th December 2011

Methodology:  "Consumers and Convergence V: The Converged Lifestyle [hyperlink], KPMG’s survey of consumer trends in digital technology, communications and e-commerce surveyed 9,600 consumers in 31 countries ranging in age from 16 to over 65."

The Top 10 Trending Topics on Twitter in 2011

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Source:  Data from HootSuite, published by AdAge, 6th December 2011
Note - the dates for the analysis are 30th November 2010 - 1st December 2011
Plus - Twitter's official 'Hot Topics' although they're not saying how they compiled the list, so I suspect some editing may have gone on.

The Top 10 places for Foursquare Checkins in the US in Thanksgiving Week

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Source:  Data from Trendrr, published in AdAge, 2nd December 2011

Instagram has 13m users and 7 employees

"The popular photo app that’s responsible for flooding the internet with fuzzy, low-contrast, retro images of cats, hipsters and urban street scenes shows no sign of slowing down.
Of course we’re talking about Instagram and its iPhone-only app for sharing stylized photos. The startup attracted 12 million users in just over a year on the App Store. By early November, the small company — and we mean small; Instagram has just seven employees — grabbed another million and now boasts well over 13 million application users, co-founder Kevin Systrom shared with VentureBeat."

Source:  VentureBeat, 18th November 2011

Earlier - 10m users announced in September

Paypal's global mobile payments were 516% higher Y-o-Y on Black Friday 2011

"By using their mobile devices, shoppers have access to a “mall” in the palm of their hand, complete with millions of products and simple, secure payments, to find and buy the hottest holiday deals. An increasing number of shoppers turned to their mobile devices on Black Friday to shop wherever, whenever.
- eBay Mobile announced that shoppers in the U.S. purchased nearly two and a half times as many items via eBay Mobile this Black Friday when compared to 2010
- PayPal Mobile announced a six-fold (516%) increase in global mobile payment volume compared to 2010
- GSI Commerce announced a three-fold (254%) increase in U.S. mobile sales this Black Friday compared to 2010.
“Shoppers are increasingly choosing the convenience of mobile to find the best deals from wherever they are while avoiding big crowds and long lines,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president, Mobile, for eBay Inc. “The ability to simply pick up your phone or tablet and purchase what you want, when you want it, has become an attractive alternative to shoppers in record numbers this holiday season.”"
Source:  Press release from eBay, 26th November 2011