Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

New York -- Holiday shopping is going to start early this year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ latest consumer tracking survey. About 35% of consumers have or will have started their holiday shopping by the end of October. Roughly three out of five shoppers will begin shopping by Thanksgiving this year, and by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend 86% will have started making purchases.   

Los Angeles -- More than half (63%) of U.S. online shoppers are not familiar with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com, according to a survey by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity (formerly Shopzilla).

 

Interestingly, respondents not familiar with the Alibaba brand or website skewed toward younger generations and women (who traditionally are the decision makers behind the lion’s share of retail).

 

Cincinnati –- Millennial consumers age 18-29 seek sessions with experts to assist the purchase process. According to U.S. consumer survey research conducted by LoyaltyOne in September 2014, 84% of Millennials said that being able to redeem rewards/loyalty program points for a session or consultation with a chef or nutritionist would motivate them to shop more with that grocer.  

A delayed start to the shopping season is causing consumers to postpone their holiday purchases until Thanksgiving weekend, according to the 2014 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey from global information company The NPD Group.

Charlotte, N.C. –- Bank of America has reportedly released a report saying that Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is the leader in global e-commerce, followed by Amazon.com.    According to Benzinga.com, Alibaba currently holds 31% of global e-commerce market share and should grow to capture 33% of global e-commerce market share in 2015.    

St. Louis -- Nike, Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Walmart are the top five “most beloved” brands of millenials in a report by digital advertising agency Moosylvania. The 2015 Top 50 Millennial Brand Ranking Report is based on panel studies of 1,500 millennials (defined as aged 14 to 35).   

Tea drinkers longing for a stronger wake-up brew and coffee drinkers wanting to add variety to their repertoire of caffeinated beverages now have options.