Sales & Marketing

New York - The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index reached its highest point since November 2013, rising to 4.5 from 4 the prior month. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.    The Index comprises four components – tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices. Highlights include:   Tax Burden: The tax rate has been effectively unchanged from the previous month at 11.8%.  

Amazon.com is getting deeper into the cash rewards game by partnering with a rebate shopping app.

For the first time ever, Ibotta will make it possible for anyone shopping on Amazon.com to earn cash rebates.

Washington, D.C. – Apparently, a lot of fraud artists will get their names on the “naughty list” this year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2014 Return Fraud Survey completed by loss prevention executives at 60 retail companies representing grocery, department, discount, specialty and small retailers, the industry will lose an estimated $10.9 billion to return fraud this year.   

Wilmington, Del. - The urge to impulse shop during the holidays runs strong among Americans, but even stronger among Millennials. According to the Chase Blueprint Holiday Impulse Purchases Survey, 83% of Millennials admit to having made an impulse purchase in the past.   

Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois - Mid-America Real Estate Corporation recently announced the promotions of two employees to Principals and two employees to Senior VPs.   Joe Girardi is a member of Mid-America’s Shopping Center Investment Sales team, and has been promoted to a Principal of Mid-America Real Estate Corporation. He has been with Mid-America since 2003, and has been directly involved in the completion of over $2 billion of retail investment sale transactions.   

  IRVINE, Calif. - Asics American has opened a 4,000 sq.-ft. store in the heart of New York City’s Times Square. Located on 42nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenue, the Times Square location is the second Asics storefront in New York City as well as the largest in the United States.   

The person behind the retro marketing campaign at RadioShack is out.

Jennifer Warren, chief marketing officer at RadioShack, is the latest top executive to leave the troubled electronics retailer as it tries to stave off bankruptcy. The company recently replaced its CFO for the third time this year as it reshuffled restructuring advisers.

Warren joined RadioShack in April 2013 and was one of CEO Joe Magnacca’s first hires when he was putting together his turnaround team.

With 2014 almost over, another holiday shopping season is drawing to a close. The looming question on everyone’s mind, of course, is whether holiday sales managed to live up to the (mostly) positive holiday forecasts from analysts and retail organizations.