Research Topic

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday reported that retail sales continue on a positive trend, edging up 0.3% for the month of January.

The increase to $381.6 billion marked the seventh consecutive month of gains for retail sales. Total sales for the month were above the year-ago period by 7.8%.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- The American Customer Satisfaction Index's annual E-Commerce Report, produced in partnership with ForeSee Results and released on Tuesday, showed that customer satisfaction with e-commerce websites is down 2.6% to 79.3 on the ACSI's 100-point scale.

The results are the lowest since 2004.

According to the report, falling satisfaction with online retail pulled down aggregate satisfaction with the e-commerce sector overall, which also includes online brokerage and online travel.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Department said sales at U.S. retailers edged up 0.3% in January, less than the expected 0.5% to 0.6% increase, but still the seventh straight month of gains. A series of snow storms that hit much of the country throughout the month was cited as one of the factors for the weaker showing.

NEW YORK -- BrandSpark International, along with Better Homes and Gardens, released the top shopper trends from the third annual Best New Product Award (BNPA) American Shopper Study, which surveyed more than 63,000 Americans.

Wells Fargo retail analyst Matt Nemer put several leading retailers to the test this week with an innovative approach to research. According to Barron’s, he went on a $5,000 shopping spree on the websites of some of the largest Internet-only and traditional retailers. He said Amazon.com offered the best shopping experience, and he rated the retailer at outperform. Walmart.com was said to have higher prices than Amazon’s, but had strong customer service and didn’t showed up as well in searches.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has named Cindy Davis EVP of its global consumer insights business unit created two weeks ago as part of a larger corporate restructuring.

Davis, who joined Walmart in 2007 and previously served as EVP membership and marketing for Sam’s Club will continue to report to Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell, although she will be responsible for understanding broad consumer trends world wide and to create advanced analytical tools to support the business.

New York City -- Total retail sales (excluding autos) grew by 5.5% year-over-year, on par with December’s growth rate, and slightly higher than November’s, according to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse. SpendingPulse reports on national retail and services sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for all other payment forms

San Francisco -- More than one-third of customers who returned gifts they received this past holiday season were not satisfied with their return experiences, according to a new study released by MarketTools, which provides software and services for market research and enterprise feedback management.

The study found that of those not satisfied with the return process, 32% cited the retailer’s return policy as the main source of angst, 23% were unhappy with the form of refund the retailer provided, and 22% were dissatisfied with long lines.

New York City -- One-third (29% ) of consumers across eight major economies have been victims of credit-card fraud in the past five years, according to the 2010 Global Card Fraud Survey by ACI Worldwide, an international provider of payment systems.

Being supplied by 100% renewable energy sounded like a lofty goal when it was identified as one of Walmart’s top three sustainability priorities in late 2005, but as other retailers have demonstrated, it is an attainable goal.