Attitudes: Retailers

New York -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index which had declined in July, increased slightly in August. The Index now stands at 81.5, up from 81.0 in July.

In advance of the Walmart-led U.S. Manufacturing Summit held in Orlando, Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon wrote an op-ed piece for the Huffington Post titled, "Reviving U.S. Manufacturing Key to Rebuilding the Middle Class." In it, Simon alludes to the vanishing middle class — which found themselves jobless as products once produced in the U.S.

NEW YORK — Canadian shoppers aren’t wowed by Target Corp., according to a customer-satisfaction rating survey by Forum Research. As reported in The Globe and Mail, the survey ranked Target at the bottom of a list of major retailers operating in Canada. (Satisfaction as measured by the survey relates to service, prices and/or merchandise offering.)

Over all, Target scored a mean 2.7 out of 4, compared with Costco’s 3.5, Wal-Mart’s 3.1 and a 3.2 average.

New York -- As turmoil continues to surround J.C. Penney, one investor is upping his support of the embattled retailer even as two other large investors leave. Regulatory filings on Wednesday revealed that billionaire investor George Soros has added two million shares to his current 19.98 million in Penney holdings.

The latest investment makes Soros Fund Management Penney’s second-largest investor, behind disgruntled hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.

San Francisco - Customer satisfaction is on the rise globally after more than a year in decline, with the average global customer satisfaction rating reaching 81% in the second quarter of this year. According to the new quarterly Zendesk Benchmark report, this about a 4% increase from an average rating of 78% in the previous quarter and the highest average rating since the first quarter of last year.

New York -- Households with school-age children (pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) plan a big cut-back in back-to-school spending. Results of the 2013 Brand Keys Back to School Report Card show that there will be a year-over-year decrease of 10% in back-to-school spending, or an average spend this year of just more than $600 per household.

However, not every retailer will experience a decline in back-to-school profits. This year, the eight retailers showing the greatest increase in consumer intent-to-shop were:

1. Amazon

Emeryville, Calif. – Consumers in the U.S. and U.K. feel overwhelmed by targeted apparel marketing messages, but are responsive to messaging that includes genuinely personalized information. A new study of 409 U.S. and U.K. consumers from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) indicates that 66% of consumers say that many personalized apparel messages are annoying because attempts at personalization are superficial.

No one would dispute that Lakeland, Fla.-based supermarket is a wonderful operator, but a piece in the August 12 issue of Forbes takes things a little too far and characterizes the regional operator of 1,073 stores as, “the Wal-Mart Slayer.”