Research Topic

Walldorf, Germany -- Nearly one-third of consumers say "shared values" as a reason they are loyal to a brand. According to an SAP survey of 3,000 American consumers age 18 and older, while email was cited as the most popular way to communicate with companies, almost half of customers (48%) said they had problems with delayed or no responses to email More than half of those surveyed (54%) would like, or may like, an offer of help before they have to ask for it.

San Francisco -- Eight in ten Americans are likely to shop at local businesses during the upcoming holiday season, according to a 2014 nationwide Nielsen survey commissioned by Yelp. Nearly half (47%) plan to spend more than $100 at local businesses.  

Deerfield, Ill. -– Same-store sales at Walgreen Co. grew 5.6% in October. Total sales were $6.8 billion, an increase of 6.9% from $6.36 billion for the same month in fiscal 2014.   Total front-end sales increased 2.7% in October compared with the same month in fiscal 2014, while same-store front-end sales increased 2%.   

New York –- Six in 10 (59%) gift cards are now offered electronically, up 18 percentage points from 2010. According to a new Bankrate.com study, part of the reason may be that Millennials are more than twice as likely to lose traditional plastic gift cards than older adults.  

New York -- Consumer confidence in the North America region improved four points to 107 on the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index for the third quarter of 2014. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively, with the latest results reflecting an outlook of cautious optimism.  

New York -- U.S. households plan to spend an average of $538 on gifts this holiday season, up slightly from $528 last year, The Conference Board reports today. About 8% of consumers say they plan to spend more this year on holiday gifts, while approximately 32% plan to spend less. The remaining 60% plan to spend about the same as last year.  

The younger generation appears to be more brick-and-mortar than anyone expected.  They may live and breathe online, but come the holidays, they are going to the mall, says the new “2014 Holiday Shopping Behavior Survey” from Simon, a global retail real estate leader. 

89% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 33 who plan to buy one or more gifts said that they intended to shop at the mall this holiday season.

Wearable technology is ripe for growth — especially among millennials, according to PwC’s “Consumer Intelligence Series – The Wearable Future” report. Twenty percent of American adults already own a wearable device, and the adoption rate — on par with tablets in 2012 — is quickly expected to rise.