Research Topic

NEW YORK — Retailers rank supreme for their customer service, according to a new report by the Temkin Group.

 The consulting and research firm analyzed responses from 6,000 consumers, found that Amazon.com ranked No. 1 for providing an "excellent" customer experience, coming in with a ranking of 81.3%. A business qualifies for an "excellent" rating when their score is 80% or higher, Temkin said.

NEW YORK -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

MIAMI BEACH — While less consumers are seeking out private-label options this year, preplanning activities continue to be a priority, according to a new survey conducted by SymphonyIRI Group.

In SymphonyIRI's inaugural MarketPulse survey, the group found that 2-out-of-3 shoppers today are making shopping lists prior to visiting the store, while 56% are reading store fliers either before or at the store — statistics that are in line with trends noted in 2010.

New York City -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

When Walmart executives speak about prices, inflation or the nation’s economic condition their comments create quite a stir, and that’s what we saw again this week when Bill Simon spoke to USA Today.

No one disputes the philosophy that every day low prices enabled Walmart to achieve dramatic growth, but pricing studies continue to reveal a marketplace where price separation relative to competitors has become difficult to achieve.

With 329 stores in China producing $7.5 billion in sales annually, Walmart has experienced dramatic growth since it entered the market in 1996 with two stores. Last year, the company pursued its most aggressive expansion to date with the opening of 49 stores, and at a meeting for financial analysts earlier this week in Shenzhen, China, senior executives detailed plans to get a lot bigger.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Feb. 26 rose 10% to $123.2 million, compared with $112.2 million a year earlier. Results were helped in part by improved traffic and higher transaction value.

Revenue increased 8% to $2.26 billion, from $2.09 billion. Same-store sales rose 5.1%.

Earlier in March, Family Dollar turned down an approximately $7 billion buyout offer from minority shareholder Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund.