Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

PriceGrabber, a leading distributed e-commerce platform and shopping site, conducted its Winter Holiday Shopping Survey and found that 69% of consumers plan to shop at the same retailers at which they shopped last year.

New York -- Consumers who use mobile devices to research purchases visit retailer sites more frequently than those who use PCs alone. According to research from Millward Brown Digital, mobile visitors engage with top retailers twice as often as PC visitors (on average, 6.2 times per month compared to 2.9 times per month).

New York -- Nearly 90% of Americans repeatedly buy products retailers have on promotion, according to a new survey by Syngera, a global technology startup that uses big data to bring personalized digital experiences to the physical retail store.  In the survey, 85% of respondents said they would return to brick-and-mortar stores when alerted to upcoming sales of previously purchased items.

By James McCandless and Kenneth Katz,  X Team International

The recent government shutdown has analysts scrambling to determine how much damage was done to the national economy. From a retail perspective, understanding the scale and scope of the shutdown requires a more thorough understanding of the issues at play; including a closer look at how retailers responded and a breakdown of how the lingering effects of the partial government closure may impact the holiday sales season.

The ripple effect on retail

Retail sales fell in September for the first time in six months, but the decline was credited to a drop-off in auto purchases. Most U.S. retail sectors actually experienced broad sales gains during the month, according to the National Retail Federation, which reported that, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, retail sales grew a seasonally 0.6% compared to the previous month and 3.8% unadjusted compared to the prior year.

Results of specific sectors include:

Waldorf, Germany -- By 2015, retailing will be marked by redefined customer interaction, a new level of real-time customer data, and a global, verticalized supply chain. According to an SAP-sponsored webinar hosted by Chain Store Age on Oct. 29, “Improving Retail Decisions with Big Data and Predictive Analysis,” the plethora of Big Data retailers can now process will make this evolution possible.

Chicago -- Four of the 10 busiest holiday shopping days will occur between Dec. 20 and Dec. 24, and retailers should prepare accordingly, according to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics. Additionally, with a shortened shopping season and only four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas – down from five last year – retailers must be ready to capture holiday spending during a narrower window of time.

New York -- Consumer confidence fell sharply in October, according to The Conference Board, whose monthly consumer confidence measure dropped to 71.2 in October, down from 80.2 in September. Economists had expected a reading of 75.0 in October.

The Present Situation Index decreased to 70.7 from 73.5.The Expectations Index fell to 71.5 from 84.7 last month.