Consumer Analytics

Minneapolis – Target Corp. cut the compensation of former CEO Gregg Steinhafel to $13 million in fiscal 2013 from $20.6 million in fiscal 2012. According to a regulatory filing, Target decided to reduce Steinhafel’s total compensation after holding meetings and calls with shareholders owning 40% of total company shares and two proxy advisory firms.

Kansas City, Mo. - Healthy options are becoming increasingly important to customers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs). These latest trends are detailed in a new white paper, "QSRs and America's Changing Tastes," by Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS) FoodThink.

Key takeaways from this white paper by SHS FoodThink that hint at a desire for more from QSRs:

• Forty-eight percent of consumers want more opportunities to customize orders.

• Fifty-one percent want QSRs to give them more options for sides.

By Jason Fredrickson, Guidance Software

Irving, Texas - Texas-based lighting retailer IMW Internet Ventures LLC is opening its new online store at CedarParkLighting.com. CedarParkLighting.com offers a variety of lighting solutions and plans to continually update its inventory as new items are introduced.

Minneapolis – The vast majority of Target customers intend to continue spending the same amount of money or more there in the next year as they did before the December 2013 data breach. According to a new Bloomberg National Poll of 1,020 Target customers, 85% of respondents will spend the same amount of money, 7% will spend more and 7% will spend less, with 1% having no opinion.

L’Oréal Paris is bringing the personalized service of a department store to the mass market with its latest in beauty digital innovation — “Makeup Genius.”

Based on the insight that beauty is one of the most “Googled” topics in the world — with about 4 billion searches a year — the group’s innovation incubator decided to respond to the needs expressed by consumers by offering greater customization and interaction with their brand.

New York -- Nearly one-third (32%) of United States and Canadian consumers can’t identify which tier they belong to in their favorite loyalty rewards programs, according to a study recently released by Colloquy.

Colloquy's research reveals that the familiar gold, silver and bronze tiering system no longer works. The study shows the three-tiered structure is outdated as a way for brands to keep their customers engaged — sometimes creating confusion rather than inspiring loyalty.

Reston, Va. -- Desktop e-commerce spending in the first quarter of 2014 rose 12% year-over-year to $56.1 billion, marking the eighteenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and fourteenth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to comScore. M-commerce spending on smartphones and tablets added $7.3 billion for the quarter, up 23% vs. year ago, for a digital commerce spending total of $63.4 billion in the first quarter.

Other highlights from the first quarter included:

Chantilly, Va. -- Social media advertising revenues in the United States will grow from $5.1 billion in 2013 to $15 billion in 2018, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%, according to BIA/Kelsey’s latest U.S. Social Local Media Forecast. This year represents the greatest year-over-year jump in social media ad revenues, growing to $8.4 billion in 2014, largely due to increases in mobile and native advertising.

New York – Many Americans are unsure of the level of privacy afforded by social media communications. According to a new survey of 1,141 U.S. adults from research and consulting company YouGov shows that 57% of respondents did not think social media was a good method to send private messages.

In addition, older users are less likely to venture into the realms of private messaging than younger users. Two-thirds (67%) of 18-34-year-olds have used Facebook's private messages compared to only 41% of those 55 and older.