Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

San Jose, Calif. – Brick-and-mortar retail sales fell 8.8% from January to April 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier. RetailNext analysis of almost 59 million specialty and larger format retail stores within the continental U.S. also shows that store traffic fell 8.2%.

Other findings include that brick-and-mortar transactions fell 9.2%, and, sales per store slipped 0.8%. However, two positive developments were an average transaction value increase of 0.5% and a 0.81% decrease in returns.

Kansas City, Mo. - Healthy options are becoming increasingly important to customers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs). These latest trends are detailed in a new white paper, "QSRs and America's Changing Tastes," by Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS) FoodThink.

Key takeaways from this white paper by SHS FoodThink that hint at a desire for more from QSRs:

• Forty-eight percent of consumers want more opportunities to customize orders.

• Fifty-one percent want QSRs to give them more options for sides.

Minneapolis – The vast majority of Target customers intend to continue spending the same amount of money or more there in the next year as they did before the December 2013 data breach. According to a new Bloomberg National Poll of 1,020 Target customers, 85% of respondents will spend the same amount of money, 7% will spend more and 7% will spend less, with 1% having no opinion.

New York -- Nearly one-third (32%) of United States and Canadian consumers can’t identify which tier they belong to in their favorite loyalty rewards programs, according to a study recently released by Colloquy.

Colloquy's research reveals that the familiar gold, silver and bronze tiering system no longer works. The study shows the three-tiered structure is outdated as a way for brands to keep their customers engaged — sometimes creating confusion rather than inspiring loyalty.

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $6 million in grants to 700 schools, nonprofits and literacy organizations across the 40 states Dollar General serves to support adult, family and summer literacy programs.

Reston, Va. -- Desktop e-commerce spending in the first quarter of 2014 rose 12% year-over-year to $56.1 billion, marking the eighteenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and fourteenth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to comScore. M-commerce spending on smartphones and tablets added $7.3 billion for the quarter, up 23% vs. year ago, for a digital commerce spending total of $63.4 billion in the first quarter.

Other highlights from the first quarter included:

Nearly one-third (32%) of United States and Canadian consumers can’t identify which tier they belong to in their favorite loyalty rewards programs, according to a study recently released by Colloquy.

Colloquy's research reveals that the familiar gold, silver and bronze tiering system no longer works. The study shows the three-tiered structure is outdated as a way for brands to keep their customers engaged — sometimes creating confusion rather than inspiring loyalty.

New York – Many Americans are unsure of the level of privacy afforded by social media communications. According to a new survey of 1,141 U.S. adults from research and consulting company YouGov shows that 57% of respondents did not think social media was a good method to send private messages.

In addition, older users are less likely to venture into the realms of private messaging than younger users. Two-thirds (67%) of 18-34-year-olds have used Facebook's private messages compared to only 41% of those 55 and older.