Attitudes: Retailers

New York - Despite having more data and insights into consumer desires and preferences, companies in the U.S. have failed to meaningfully improve customer satisfaction or reverse rising switching rates among their customers. As a result, there is a potential $1.3 trillion of revenue at play in the U.S. market represented by the ‘switching economy’, according to new research released by Accenture.

Los Angeles – Almost seven-in-10 (66%) shoppers feel retailers will offer better prices and discounts this year due to the current state of the economy. The new Winter Holiday Shopping Survey from PriceGrabber also shows that 21% of holiday shoppers said they started saving money before June, while the majority of survey respondents plan to start shopping for the holidays in October and November.

Dallas – Four-in-10 (43%) of U.S. smartphone users purchased a good via their device in the last month. The new Parks Associates study “Mobile Commerce: Keys to Mass Adoption” also shows that 54% of Target shoppers have used their smartphone to make an in-store purchase in the last month, compared to 38% of Wal-Mart customers.

Washington, D.C. – Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation released a statement on the decision to reopen the federal government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. Shay said that while the agreement provides some satisfaction, it essentially continues debate and postpones difficult economic decisions that must be made.

Chicago – More retailers are hiring extra holiday staff this year. According to a new annual holiday hiring survey from CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive, 39% of retail hiring managers reported that they plan to hire seasonal workers this year, up from 36% last year and 29% in 2011.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Black Friday shopping may be on the decline, according to a new study by CFI Group, a customer satisfaction technology and analytics firm. The company’s 2013 Holiday Retail Spending Report found fewer than 25% of consumers plan to spend more than half of their total holiday shopping budgets during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period. But 45% said they will begin before November, with 61% indicating they'll finish their shopping completely by early December

Denver - Consumers who shop at higher-end department stores and boutiques expect impeccable presentation whether purchases are made in-store or delivered to them, free shipping and returns, and locator services. According to a new study of 1,000 women who earn more than $75,000 annually by luxury retail packing and shipping solution provider Wrap & Send, 65% spend more than $100 at a physical retail store per month and 57% often purchase items in a physical store and have the store ship it to them.

The survey also found that:

Cincinnati -- Americans are increasing their use of social media for discussions about favorite brands, while slowing down on face-to-face and phone conversations about product likes and dislikes, according to a report by Colloquy, the research arm of LoyaltyOne, a global provider of loyalty and marketing programs.

Social media brand recommendations have grown 4% since Colloquy conducted survey research in 2011 on the word-of-mouth habits of U.S. consumers, while face-to-face recommendations have declined 4% in that time period.

San Francisco - Walk-by conversion and in-store engagements among U.S., consumers slipped in September compared to August as consumers became more cautious and less compelled to shop after back-to-school spending. In-store analytics technology vendor Euclid’s U.S. Retail Benchmarks for September 2013, based on 20 million domestic shopping sessions, suggest September same-store and total store sales may be sluggish for many retailers.

Specific findings include:

Chicago -- Dollar stores are not just for lower- and middle-income shoppers. In fact, half (50%) of respondents from the highest-income households ($150k+) say that they are shopping at dollar stores the same amount this year compared to last year, with 10%  say they are doing so more than last year, according to new research from Mintel. Only 32% of respondents from the highest-income households claim not to shop at dollar stores.