Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

With the path to purchase routinely involving multiple screens, comScore and Google have struck an agreement designed to simplify the ability of marketers to measure shopper behavior in real time.

Chicago -- Retail CFOs are feeling more confident about the state of the consumer, forecast a 5.1% increase in total sales and a 4.8% increase in same-store sales this year, according to a new BDO USA survey. The finding marks a significant increase from the number expressing similar sentiments last year.

In the study,  a majority (63%) of CFOs indicate that they include online sales in their comparable sales projections, suggesting that some of this expected growth and optimism may be linked to the exploding popularity of e-commerce.

It’s no secret that today’s teens and twenty-somethings have grown up on social media and see it as an extension of their everyday lives. But retailers who think they can just display a bunch of wares on a social media page and attract Millennial shoppers are sadly mistaken. A panel of five exceptionally bright and well-spoken Millennial consumers ages 16-21 (all offspring of prominent retail IT figures) at the recent Retail ROI “Super Saturday” event in New York gave some frank insight into how Millennials view social media.

New York -- Snowstorms and bitterly cold weather took a bite out of sales for some retailers in January. One of the retailers feeling the chill was Fred’s, which posted a 1.8% decline in January same-store sales.

"The weather was a significant challenge for us in January," said CEO Bruce Efird, who added that it disrupted shopping patterns, but also resulted in “more than 120 store closings during the final week of the month."

Washington, D.C. -- Retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 4.1% in 2014, up from the preliminary 3.7% growth seen in 2013, according to the National Retail Federation. The association’s 2014 economic forecast, released Thursday, calls for online sales to grow between 9% and 12%.

A number of factors contributed to NRF’s 2014 economic forecast, including:

San Francisco – U.S. consumers remained active in January 2014 despite the effects of bad winter weather across much of the country. In-store retail analytics provider Euclid measured data on nearly 25 million domestic shopping sessions during January, revealing that shopper traffic and window conversion showed improvement from the prior year for another month in a row as shoppers looked to capitalize on a very promotional January.

Retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 4.1% in 2014, up from the preliminary 3.7% growth seen in 2013, according to the National Retail Federation. The association’s 2014 economic forecast calls for online sales to grow between 9% and 12%.

A number of factors contributed to NRF’s 2014 economic forecast, including: