Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

New York -- Nearly three-quarters (74%) of U.S. households plan to spend money on Halloween-related items, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Halloween Consumer Spending Survey. The total for Halloween-related spending is expected to be approximately $11.3 billion in 2014.

Tel Aviv, Israel - Default image formats, used by up to 95% of all websites, do not deliver the highest level of user satisfaction. According to a new study of moment-by-moment emotional responses in universal facial expressions of more than 250 participants conducted by NeuroStrata on behalf of application delivery/security provider Radware, 65% of participants have felt frustrated by images taking too long to load.

Philadelphia -- Nearly one-quarter (24%) of retailers expect a significant increase (5% or more) in year-over-year sales during the 2014 holiday season, while another 70% are predicting sales will be on par with the 2013 season, according to a survey by global management consultancy Hay Group.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart on Thursday said it plans to hire 60,000 temporary workers for the holiday season, an increase of nearly 10% from last year.

The discounter also said that current workers who want more hours during the holidays will receive priority.

New York -- Seasonal hiring in the retail sector is expected to outpace 2013, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Retailers are projected to hire more than 800,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, the highest number since 1999. In 2013, the retail industry hired 786,200 seasonal workers.

Research Triangle Park, N.C. -- Forty-one percent of online retailers plan to offer free shipping and returns as a strategy to increase holiday sales this year, according to a new survey by Channel Advisors, and free shipping also ranked as the most successful service feature for generating a higher level of customer satisfaction. The Multichannel E-Commerce Study also reveals that 86% of surveyed retailers expect to increase their year-over-year online holiday sales in 2014.

Canada’s leading food and drug retailer Loblaw Companies is highly regarded for its private label prowess and now its President’s Choice brand is the focus of the most ambitious marketing initiative ever.

Louisville, Colo. -- QuikTrip is North America’s favorite convenience store chain, according to a study by Market Force Information, a leader in customer intelligence solutions. More than 5,000 consumers were polled for the study, designed to uncover which convenience stores consumers prefer and why.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Site and market challenges, underwriting challenges, and operational challenges are the key factors that hamper retail development in some lower-income communities, according to a report from the Urban Land Institute.

The report, Retail in Underserved Communities, defines underserved communities as those that fall into one or more of four categories: urban locations lacking businesses, underserviced markets, locations without cultural offerings, and isolated rural or small towns.

Westlake Village, Calif. -- Hhgregg ranks highest among appliance retailer websites, with a score of 865, up by a significant 41 points from 2013, according to the J.D. Power 2014 Appliance Shopper Website Evaluation Study. The improvement is attributed to an increase in the speed of the website, up 63 points to 875, and a redesign of the website review section to include the highest and lowest customer appliance ratings at the top of the site.  Following Hhgregg in the rankings are The Home Depot (842) and Best Buy and Lowe's in a tie (839).