Research Topic

New York - The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index moved down again in September, showing the second month of small declines. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

Atlanta - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized The Home Depot with a 2013 WaterSense Retail Partner of the Year award. The Home Depot was honored during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference for its commitment to water efficiency and outstanding efforts to support the WaterSense program during 2012.

Boston – College students most frequently eat snack foods in the afternoon and are frequently replacing meals with snacks. A new study from marketing agency Fluent shows that 75% of college students replace meals with snacks and afternoon snacking is three times more popular than morning or late night snacking.

Other notable findings of the survey college students age 18-25 include:

Philadelphia -- More than three-fourths (79%) of retailers expect an increase in sales this holiday season – the highest percentage seen since the financial downturn. That’s according to global management consultancy Hay Group’s seventh annual retail holiday survey, whose results were more optimistic that several other holiday forecasts.

Milk-Bone has teamed up with lifestyle technology company Brit + Co. to help launch a new pets destination website at brit.co. To celebrate the partnership, Milk Bone is holding a Halloween "Trick or Treat Best Pet Costume Contest." 

The Hub Magazine has awarded Kmart’s pun-drenched campaign, “Ship My Pants,” best of show honors in its third annual Hub Prize competition. Draftfcb Chicago was the agency for the campaign.

“Ship My Pants prevailed because it solved a problem for shoppers — out-of-stocks — with a truly meaningful promise: If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our stores, you can order the item online, on-the-spot, and have it shipped, free-of-charge, to your home,” said Hub Magazine founder Tim Manners.

Safeway plans to exit the Chicago market where it operates 72 supermarkets under the Dominick’s banner by early 2014 after posting third quarter profits that were roughly half those of the comparable period the prior year.
The decision to exit Chicago follows similar move earlier this year when Safeway announced the sale of its Canadian operations.

New York -- Amazon remains the world's most trusted retailer despite widespread criticism of its tax affairs and labor disputes.

The Internet giant topped a poll of 30,000 consumers in nine countries although the research by OC&C, unveiled on the closing day of the World Retail Congress, revealed that “its crown has very much slipped.”

Consumers were asked to rank nearly 600 retailers on a range of factors such as trust, value for money, service, product, and multichannel capability.

Dallas – The e-commerce model is still actively evolving in response to changes in the consumer marketplace and technology. David Llamas, former CIO of British department store Harrod’s and an independent executive advisor, described how e-commerce has changed and is still changing during a session at the SAP Retail Forum on Oct. 8.

“In 2007, new e-commerce models like private sales, deals, and mobile commerce emerged,” said Llamas. “They have five times faster growth than traditional e-commerce models.”

Washington, D.C. -- Some two-thirds of Americans say they support the Federal e-Fairness legislation calling for collection of online sales tax at the time of purchase.

A national poll conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that a majority of Americans feel it would be far easier to pay sales or use tax on online purchases at the time-of-purchase. The poll also showed an increase in support among voters for federal legislation that would restore basic free market principles for brick-and-mortar retailers.