Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

Washington, D.C. — Walmart, along with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International, on Wednesday joined forces to establish a unique logo for retail packaging of products from women-owned businesses. The new logo will bring consumer recognition of products provided by women-owned businesses on store shelves both in the U.S. and international markets. 

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea is planning to raise the hourly minimum wage for employees in its U.S. stores by an average 17%, beginning January 1, 2015. In a move unprecedented among U.S. retailers, Ikea’s wage hike will vary in that it will be based on the cost of living in each store’s location. According to Ikea, the change will take the average minimum hourly wage in its existing U.S. stores (as of June 2014) to $10.76, a $1.59 or 17% increase, and $3.51 above the current federal minimum wage.

Toronto – New research from loyalty currency management provider Points shows that offering points and miles for everyday purchases is the most effective means of driving consumer loyalty. Points surveyed more than 1,500 loyalty program members from across North America and found that 83% earn points and miles on everyday purchases.

Boulder, Colo. — Kroger is the highest ranked gasoline retailer for customer satisfaction among American consumers. According to a new study of 5,300 consumers from Market Force Information, Costco and Quik Trip tied for second, Sam’s Club ranked third, and Murphy USA, which operates standalone stations and on-site stations at Walmart Supercenters, was fourth.

The bad weather that hurt Bed Bath & Beyond during the fourth quarter may have abated, but the company’s sales still grew at a slower than expected pace during the first quarter and caused profits to come in toward the low end of expectations.

Waban, Mass. - After a drop in daily Facebook usage on computers in 2013, U.S. consumers increased their daily use of Facebook, from 42.5% of the population in 2013 to 46.5% in 2014, according to new research by the Temkin Group. The "Social Media Benchmark Study, 2014" examines 10,000 U.S. consumers' use of several different social media sites, on computers and mobile devices, and compares the results to previous studies from 2012 and 2013.

North Plainfield, N.J. — Levin Management has released its annual June survey of store mangers within its 95-property, 13 million-sq.-ft. shopping center portfolio.

Boston – Six-in-10 (59%) Millennial women make product recommendations to share highly positive or negative consumer experiences. However, according to a new survey of 1,100 American women without children born between 1979 and 1993 by Mom Central Consulting, 50% say that reading a bad review online about a business wouldn’t stop them from shopping/visiting.