Consumer Analytics

Physical expansion remains the primary growth driver of many a U.S. retailer, but the likes of Alibaba and rival JD.com are allowing U.S. retailers and brands to tap the Chinese market without the aggravation and financial uncertainty associated with establishing a physical presence.

Grand Rapids, Mich. - Meijer is the latest retailer to test out curbside pickup of online orders. The regional mass merchandise chain is piloting a new shopping service called Meijer Curbside that lets customers pick up grocery orders curbside without leaving the car.

Houston – Mattress Firm is partnering with cloud-based customer experience optimization platform InMoment to operate its customer satisfaction program. Mattress Firm will utilize the InMoment Experience Hub to capture customers’ first-hand experiences with the brand.

Portland, Ore. – Opt-in rates among consumers for push notifications from retail apps are on the decline. A new study from Urban Airship shows that average opt-in rates for retail apps fell to 37% in 2014, compared to 46% in 2013.

In 2014, retail apps doubled their notification send volume on the key shopping days of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and consumer response rates also doubled, despite the majority of those notifications being general sales promotions sent to all users.

Boise, Idaho -- Merchants are not keeping pace with the growth of mobile when it comes to fraud and mobile payment adoption, according to a study by Kount, CardNotPresent.com and The Fraud Practice.

The third annual Mobilr Payments & Fraud Survey revealed that retailer awareness is not keeping pace with mobile fraud growth, and the support for the mobile channel is not meeting predictions and expectations as reported by respondents in previous years’ surveys.

Washington, D.C. - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is publicly supporting the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015.

In advance of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup of the bill, RILA released a statement saying retail and grocery industries have long been in support of a federal data breach notification and data security law that sets a single national standard.

New York -- Teens directly command a whopping $75 billion of discretionary spending, but their wallets continue to shift from fashion and other “possession-based” categories to “shareworthy” experiences such as events and dining out. Those are among the findings of a study conducted by investment bank and asset management firm Piper Jaffrey.

Orlando, Fla. - Olive Garden has entered into an agreement with Ziosk to begin the introduction of tabletop tablets in all of its restaurants nationwide. Olive Garden has been testing Ziosk in a select number of its restaurants since 2014, and the feedback from guests and servers has been positive.