Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut some stock awards and reduced outgoing CEO Mike Duke’s compensation package 73% to $5.6 million in 2013, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Last year, Duke didn't get stock awards that are given in anticipation of future performance, and his performance-based bonus was reduced, resulting in a compensation package worth about $5.6 million including a base salary of $1.4 million and a performance-based bonus of $2.8 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31.

Sidney, Neb. -- With last year’s strong first quarter fueled by a firearms and ammunition sales surge, outdoor retailer Cabela’s Inc. saw this year’s quarter end on a less stellar note.

Revenue in the first quarter fell 9.6% to $725.8 million; retail store revenue decreased 9.4% to $440.9 million. Same-store sales plunged 21.7%, compared to the same period last year.

Net income was $25.7 million, compared to $49.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. consumers spent more than $21 billion on video game content, hardware and accessories in 2013. According to a new report from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade association representing the U.S. video game industry, called “2014 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry,” 181.3 million Americans play video games.

Other findings from the report include:

• 51% of U.S. households own a game console, and those that do own an average of two;

Waban, Mass. - The percentage of large organizations that have reached the two highest levels of customer experience maturity has grown from 6% in 2013 to 10% this year. During the same period, the percentage of companies in the lowest level of maturity has dropped from 40% to 31%, according to a new report from Temkin Group, “The State of Customer Experience Management 2014.”

Other findings include:

New York - The eight-day run up to Easter 2014 fell shy of the previous year’s comparable period by 9.3% in traffic and 8.9% in sales. According to data from retail analytics provider RetailNext, there was a 1.2- percentage-point improvement in conversion, which helped generate a sales decline that was less than the traffic decline.

Minneapolis – SuperValu Inc. swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 from a net loss in the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year. Net earnings were a better-than-expected $26 million, compared to a net loss of $1.41 billion a year earlier.

In addition, net sales rose 1.4% to $3.95 billion from $3.9 billion and same-store sales increased 3.5%. The substantial improvement in profits partially resulted from a significant decrease in charges and costs.

Procter & Gamble’s third-quarter results met expectations, and the company says that it remains on track to deliver top- and bottom-line growth objectives for the fiscal year.

Net sales for the quarter remained flat at $20.6 billion, including a negative three-percentage point impact from foreign exchange. P&G delivered organic sales growth of 3% for the quarter.

Plano, Texas – Rent-A-Center Inc. reported declining net earnings for first quarter 2014, even as revenues slightly grew. The company said it plans to optimize its U.S. store footprint by consolidating about 150 stores into existing stores by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2014.

Net earnings fell 37% to $28.9 million from $46.1 million, while total revenues increased 1.8% to $833.7 million from $819.3 million. Same-store sales dropped 0.8%.