Research Topic

Washington, D.C. -- A report on Friday by the Labor Department showed that retail employment declined by 24,000 in March, the biggest slide since February 2012. The largest hiring slump occurred among clothing and accessories stores, which dropped 15,000, followed by a 10,000 decrease among building-material and garden suppliers.
 
Retailers have been slow to hire largely because of the concern over the 2% increase in payroll taxes and how the bump is impacting consumer spending.

Total U.S. Shopper Traffic in Retail Stores and Malls for March 2013

Shopper activity increased last month with the Easter holiday and students on spring break. March retail foot traffic increased 25.8% compared with February 2013, continuing positive month-over-month retail traffic trends. Foot traffic for March 2013 increased 1.5% compared with the same month in 2012. 

Walmart’s chief merchant and chief marketing officers are headliners at an upcoming conference organized by the Center for Retailing Excellence within the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of business.

WASHINGTON — U.S. families are increasingly embracing organic products when they shop, according to a study conducted in mid-January by the Organic Trade Association.

"More and more parents choose organic foods primarily because of their desire to provide healthful options for their children," said Christine Bushway, OTA's CEO and executive director.

A March 2013 study by Kantar Retail indicates that Walmart Canada and Target Canada are very competitively positioned from a basket price perspective.

New York -- Jewelry sales are expected to grow more than 11% in the second quarter and 9% overall this year, according to a new IBM Big Data-based forecast.

According to the analysis, improved consumer confidence, lower unemployment and enhanced stock dividends from fourth quarter 2012 have combined to leave people ready to start spending on luxury items again, like jewelry.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in March 2012 vs. March 2013 and noticed some common overall trends across top retail chains. Surprisingly the total number of pages per circular increased across the majority of retailers included in the study which shows that retailers are still focused heavily on their print circulars.

Boston -- Walmart Canada and Target Canada are very competitively positioned from a basket price perspective, according to a recent report by Kantar Retail.  

Based on the study’s results, Kantar Retail believes that Target’s “Pay Less” consumables prices will stack up well against its Canadian competition and that the retailer will prove to be a formidable challenge to Walmart Canada’s price position in the market.