Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

Purchase, N.Y. -- A SpendingPulse report released Wednesday by MasterCard Advisors in partnership with Wells Fargo found that spending at small retailers in November picked up a percentage point since October, showing a 5.2% year over year improvement.

This was enough to put its growth rate from October to November at 0.7%, more than the growth rate of total U.S. retail sales.

Promotional activity among the nation’s leading retailers declined during November aside from several notable exceptions. There was a flurry of intense promotional activity around Thanksgiving weekend, as always, but for the months as a whole the number of inserts distributed by retailers declined 7% and the number of pages declined by 5%.

AVON, Ohio — Duck Tape is teaming up with the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards to get students to stick with the arts. To that end, it will sponsor the Mixed Media category and offer a $500 prize to five works within the category, chosen by Duck brand from a pool of National Gold Medal Scholastic Award winners.

Atlanta -- Dollar volume growth remained solid at 5.8% in November, down from 6.7% in October, according to the First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of November 2012 compared with November 2011. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

Armonk, N.Y. -- The consumer of the future will be more mobile, social and self-sufficient, willing to share details on themselves and their preferences in exchange for highly personalized relationships with their favorite stores, according to a new IBM consumer survey. The study also found that consumers’ willingness to advocate for a particular retailer is becoming multi-faceted, with consumers looking for a flawless experience, whether it’s when they’re researching, purchasing, or receiving delivery.

We’ve all seen the footage that’s become an annual ritual for media outlets reporting on Black Friday: long lines, stampeding crowds and frantic shoppers. But the real drama is how stores fare once the dust settles, and this year was no exception. The length of the lines isn’t the ultimate Black Friday metric; it’s the bottom lines for retailers around the country that tell the tale.

Reston, Va. -- For the holiday season-to-date, $26.6 billion has been spent online, up 13% versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore. The firm predicts that Green Monday (Monday, December 10, 2012) is likely to be one of the heaviest online spending days of the season and a headliner for what is expected to the busiest online spending week on record.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — As part of its 12 Days of Giving Facebook campaign, Walmart will distribute more than $1.5 million to 140 grant recipients in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., throughout the next 12 days.

The winning nonprofits were selected from more than 21,677 nominations submitted in November by Facebook users who felt compelled to enter and describe the community impact made by their favorite nonprofit organizations.