Research Topic

By Jon Weber, [email protected]

As a consumer, you’re aware that basic demographic information doesn’t reflect your personality or pinpoint why you make your purchasing decisions. Retailers that probe beneath the surface of shallow customer profiles can gain the true market intelligence required to uncover new opportunities and focus on areas with the highest growth potential.

Chicago -- Retailers and consumer product manufacturers who create and maintain a diverse workforce are more likely to increase innovation and meet consumer needs than those who don’t, according to a new report by the Network of Executive Women.

NEW YORK — Next to gas, the rising cost of food almost always tops consumers' list of spending concerns, and those concerns will surely rise as food prices reached peak levels last month, according to the Labor Department's Producer Price Index. The particularly high increase in the cost of both fresh and dry vegetables not only hurts consumer wallets, but could also curtail efforts, such as this partnership between First Lady Obama and Walmart, to encourage Americans to eat healthier.

A first of its kind conference focused on shopper behavior is scheduled for May 12 in Fayetteville, Ark., home of the Center for Retailing Excellence within the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. The conference is called SHOP and features a number of thought leaders in the field of consumer research and shopper insights and was designed to complement the Center’s Emerging Trends in Retailing Conference that is held each fall.

New York City -- Schneider Electric and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are collaborating to enhance the current demand response credit for the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

NEW YORK — A report released by payment system provider ACI Worldwide found that many retail loyalty programs leave consumers feeling underappreciated and many consumers are enrolled in a program they don’t completely understand.

New York City -- The Labor Department’s Producer Price Index rose last month, primarily due to higher energy costs and the biggest rise in food prices in 36 years, USA Today reported.

Food prices rose 3.9% last month, the highest increase since November 1974.

The steep rise was due, in large part, to higher vegetable costs, which were up nearly 50%.

WASHINGTON -- Consumers can expect to find less packaging with their food and beverages in the coming years as manufacturers look to eliminate waste. The Grocery Manufacturers Association found that by 2020 2.5 billion pounds of waste is expected to be avoided by 2020.  This is on top of the 1.5 billion pounds of packaging avoided since 2005.