Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

Washington, D.C. -- Up to 140 million people plan to or will shop over this Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a slight decrease from the 147 million who planned to do so last year. According to a new survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Black Friday will be the biggest day of the weekend: 69.1% plan to shop on Black Friday, or approximately 97 million shoppers.

Walmart is stupid to take on Amazon.com head-to-head in too many areas, according to Wharton marketing professor Stephen Hoch who, along with other members of academia and one retail futurist, weigh in on the competitive situation that promises to impact the entire retail industry.

New research from the National Retail Federation sheds light on how 140 million Americans plan to shop during the Thanksgiving weekend.

According to a new survey from the National Retail Federation, Black Friday will be the biggest day of the weekend: 69.1% plan to shop on Black Friday, or approximately 97 million shoppers.

North Plainfield, N.J. -- Forty-three percent of respondents to Levin Management’s annual pre-holiday retail sentiment survey believe that their holiday sales will peak prior to and during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend sales period. In other notable results, 43.6% of respondents’ companies plan to open new stores in 2014 – a significant jump from 23% in last year’s pre-holiday poll and 35.9% the previous year.

San Francisco – Several key retail customer metrics during October 2013 indicate holiday spending will rise this year compared to last year, even as holiday store traffic levels decline. According to data on nearly 20 million domestic shopping sessions during October analyzed by in-store retail analytics technology provider Euclid, window conversion in October, defined as the number of shoppers that enter a store as a percentage of the total foot traffic, rose to 8.3% from 6.5% last year, but decreased from 8.7% in September 2013.

Chicago – Online retailers are divided about the impact of the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) legislation, largely based on company size. According to a new McGladley LLP survey of decision-makers at small and mid-sized online retailers, 38% of small and mid-sized online retailers with revenues between $10 million and $1 billion project that the MFA would have a negative impact on their profitability.

Walnut Creek, Calif. -- Retailers appear to be putting in the foundational elements to create a coordinated focus on the customer experience. The percentage of respondents to a new survey from RSR Research reporting that Marketing is the primary owner of customer data internally nearly doubled from 2012 to 2013, from 33% to 61%, and those reporting no explicit owner fell from 33% to 17%.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Hispanic shoppers in the United States make more grocery trips and spend more across grocery trip types than total U.S. shoppers, according to AMG Strategic Advisors, the growth strategy consultancy of Acosta Sales & Marketing, a full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry. On average, U.S. Hispanic shoppers make 4.1 routine grocery trips per month and spend $110 on each trip, compared to total U.S. shoppers who make 3.8 routine grocery trips per month and spend $95 on each trip.

Washington, D.C. – Eight-in-10 (80.6%) shoppers will purchase gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, up 4.0% over the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $29.8 billion.

Nearly 60% of global respondents said that loyalty programs were available where they shopped, and of those, 84% said they were more likely to visit those retailers, according to a new study by Nielsen.