Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

North Plainfield, N.J. -- A Thursday report by Levin Management Corp. found that leasing activity in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania improved in 2012.

Atlanta -- Consumer spending reached a three-year low during the month of December, according to a report released Thursday by First Data Corp.

First Data’s SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Total retail sales (excluding automotive) for December 2012 grew by 2.4% year-over-year, according to a SpendingPulse report released Wednesday by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard. (SpendingPulse reports on national retail sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check.)

Total U.S. Shopper Traffic in Retail Stores and Malls for December 2012

Holiday shopping reached its seasonal peak in December, driving a 36.6 percent retail foot traffic increase over November. Further, December 2012 continued a trend of year-over-year improvements in the number of shoppers visiting stores with a 1.2 percent increase in foot traffic when compared to the same month last year.

Boston -- The number one reason people choose to shop either in-person or online is convenience and not price, according to the results of a new survey released by Continuum, a global design and innovation consultancy. Continuum's 2012 Service Design Report looked at data from more than 1,000 consumers across the country and uncovered the top reasons they choose whether to shop in-stores or online.

The top reasons respondents say they shop in stores are:
• For convenience (40%);
• They don't trust the quality online (22%);

Chicago -- National retail sales increased 2.5% and foot traffic also increased 2.5% when compared with the same two months last year, according to ShopperTrak, the world’s largest counter of retail foot traffic.

ShopperTrak’s initial data indicates that shoppers spent $248.8 billion during this period, which marked the third consecutive year with positive total retail sales. It also was the second holiday season of the past three with positive foot traffic changes.

With all of the pre-holiday buzz and widely optimistic sales projections, anything other than a blockbuster 2012 holiday shopping season was bound to be a letdown. Few expected the numbers that came out just before Christmas: Both MasterCard and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that sales for the holiday season at that point were up just 0.7%. This was far below the robust predictions that many analysts and observers made before the shopping season was underway (most often between 3%-6%).

If it weren’t for all the noise coming out of Washington, D.C. for the past month about the fiscal cliff and now the debt ceiling, an important development regarding the life and death issue of food safety might have received more attention.