Consumer Analytics

The holiday season is rapidly approaching. For years, gift cards have remained the most requested gifts in America but with the billions of dollars worth of gift cards that will be sold this holiday season, not all will be used. That’s because gifters aren’t always spot on with their purchases and if the card isn’t a match for the consumer it may go unused, a lose-lose for all parties involved.

A new website –- part social network, part online marketplace -- is partnering with dozens of well-known retailers to reward shoppers who promote their products on social media.

Yuno, a new social shopping e-commerce site that allows users to discover and shop for over 70 million products, launched this week. Free to use, Yuno curates fashion, lifestyle, sports and technology products from major retailers, including Macy's, Best Buy, Nieman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Foot Locker, and rewards users with cashback on every purchase made.

When online shopping club Jet.com launched in July, the retailer’s CEO said he aspired to have 15 million customers spending $20 billion by 2020.

From the looks of the website, the prices and the shopping experience, Jet.com has a lot of work to do in order to get anywhere close to achieving that goal.

Some surprising differences are revealed in new research from Nielsen about which brands men and women trust the most.

Nielsen released a list of America’s Most Trusted Brands  that shows distinct trust difference between men and woman. The ist stemmed from a consumer packaged goods focused wave of the 27th annual Harris Poll EquiTrend study showcasing the top 10 most-trusted brands.

Dallas – Consumers show a clear preference for one particular perk from retailer reward programs, and it isn’t cash back.

According to “The Road to Rewards,” a consumer behavior report from Excentus, more than 54% of U.S. consumers polled in July 2015 belong to loyalty programs that enable them to save on the cost of fuel.

Chicago - Starwood Retail Partners is rewarding mall shoppers, regardless of which stores in the mall they choose to shop.

Starwood is rolling out Oh, So Simple Rewards, a program that lets consumers earn credit for their purchases at stores across the entire mall.

Much has been said lately about the proliferation of mobile and online shopping. But brick-and-mortar retail continues to thrive – a fact that tends to get glossed over.

Bolingbrook, Ill. -- Fast-growing Ulta Beauty shows no signs of losing its momentum as the specialty retailer reported better than-expected results for the second quarter and raised its guidance.

On its quarterly earnings call, Ulta said it will launch a national television advertising campaign.

Ulta’s net profits increased 8.5% to $74.2 million, from $60.8 million in the year-ago period, helped by an improved online assortment and less overall discounting.

Ulta Beauty is continuing to deliver blockbuster financial results by attracting blockbuster numbers of shoppers to its stores. 

The beauty retailer reported a 7% increase in customer traffic for the second quarter ended Aug. 1 and average spending rose by 3%. The company also raised its outlook for the second time this year: Comps are now targeted at rising 9%, rather than the 8% the Ulta team forecast in May. 

Would-be experts are portraying a federal appeals court ruling in the Neiman Marcus data breach case as a tipping point toward victims of cyber fraud, one that may lead to a wave of successful class-action lawsuits filed against retail chains.

This interpretation is premature.

It is an overreach rooted in a lack of appreciation for the overall procedural context in which the court reviewed the case, without accounting for the most important part of any class action lawsuit – class certification.