Research Topic

Washington, D.C. – President Obama reportedly wants to raise the maximum salary threshold for overtime eligibility for salaried employees. According to Reuters, Obama has directed the Labor Department to raise the current maximum salary level of $455 per week, which covers about 12% of all hourly employees.

Waban, Mass. -- Sam's Club and Amazon.com deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry, according to the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a study of 10,000 U.S. consumers. Sam's Club and Amazon.com continue their reign as the highest-rated retailers for the third straight year, each earning an "excellent" rating.

A study of 10,000 U.S. consumers’ attitudes about retail customer service saw Sam’s Club best Amazon.com and dozens of other retailers among a field of 268 companies.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart is piloting a new small format convenience concept called “Walmart To Go.” The first Walmart To Go store has opened in Bentonville, Ark., location of the retailer’s corporate headquarters.

San Mateo, Calif. – Six-in-10 (60%) of those who knew about any data breaches at notable retailers, such as Target and Neiman Marcus, hold the merchant responsible for preventing future incidents of a data breach. The “2014 Consumer Reaction to Financial Data Breaches Study” of more than 2,000 adult U.S. consumers from Feedzai and Harris Interactive also found that 43% think nothing is more aggravating than getting credit/debit card data stolen.

New York -- More than half (55%) of consumers want mobile wallets, according to a new survey from payment technology provider VeriFone. This percentage rises to 70% among Millennial consumers.

In addition, VeriFone data shows that 65% of U.S, consumers will continue to use credit and debit as primary payment methods in 2014. Consumers are most likely to use smartphones to small purchases (45%) via smartphone, as opposed to medium (44%) and large (29%) purchases.

Other findings include:

Walmart this week opened its first small format convenience store branded as Walmart To Go in its hometown of Bentonville.

New York -- Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania and Gabon occupied the top five places of the first-ever A.T. Kearney African Retail Development Index (ARDI), a new study designed to help large, organized retailers determine where and how to best enter Sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly growing retail market. The ARDI not only identifies the markets in Africa most attractive for retail expansion today, but those that offer the most potential in the future.

New York -- Organizational, operational and technology challenges are hampering retailers' efforts to meet customers' demand for a seamless shopping experience across all channels and touchpoints. According to a new research study from Accenture and Hybris Software, retailers view omni-channel maturity as a key brand differentiator for their companies, and improving their ability to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience across all channels as a top priority.

Hong Kong – Chinese e-commerce platform provider Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is reportedly planning a U.S. initial public offering (IPO). According to Bloomberg, Alibaba has received approval from Hong Kong regulators for its proposed governance structure.