Consumer Analytics

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Post Foods has launched PostGoodness.com, a social website dedicated to positivity and simply helping others have a great day. PostGoodness.com will serve as a community, connecting users through good news and inspiration. People are invited to log on daily to share their good intentions or thoughts of motivation to help to set them on the right track for the day.  Each time someone shares his or her good intention, it will be added to a dynamic grid, inviting "likes", comments, support and shares from other users.

SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion customers can support their favorite schools when they participate in the MVP Classroom Rewards program.

When customers shop with their MVP Cards, a portion of their grocery bills spent only on qualified store brand products is automatically credited to the shoppers' local school of choice. Donations up to $2,500 will be distributed three times per year to schools in January, May and September.

Oakland, Calif. -- Lucid, a provider of real-time feedback technology for buildings, is spearheading a study of resource consumption and behavior change with Starbucks Coffee Co. The pilot project, developed in conjunction with the Snohomish County Public Utility District and Portland Energy Conservation Inc., will be hosted by 10 Starbucks stores in Snohomish County, Ore., and will serve to test and document measurable energy savings in the stores.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- The Kronos Retail Labor Index edged down one-tenth to 4.2% in July, reflecting declines in both hires and applications. (The index is defined as the ratio of hires to applications within a given month, expressed as a percentage. A level of 3.0 means that for every 100 applications received, three hires occurred.)

PLEASANTON, Calif. and FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Retailers of discounted apparel should feel pretty good heading into back-to-school season, as shown by the strong monthly performance of Ross Stores and TJX Cos. With both delivering another month of comps growth, it’s clear value-oriented stores remain popular with consumers.

Sales at Ross increased 12% to $709 million for the month, up from $635 million for same period last year. Comparable-store sales for the month grew 7% on top of a 7% increase last year.

NEW YORK — Many retailers reported better-than-expected results in July as warm weather and clearance sales drew shoppers into stores. Thomson Reuters reported that three-quarters of retailers reported results beat expectations. Costco Wholesale Corp., Target Corp., Limited Brands and Gap Inc. all reported gains above expectations.

RESTON, Va. — Beauty brand L'Oréal USA is leveraging Clarabridge, a provider of sentiment and text analytics for customer experience management, to monitor what is being said in real time about its 27 brands across social media outlets, including website reviews, product reviews, blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

The move will enable L'Oréal USA to automatically route consumer insight to the right people and more effectively engage with its consumers.

Bloomberg reports this week that Walmart is becoming more sophisticated in its dealings with the government, and the company is employing an interesting tactic to gain political insights.

Earlier this week, 10 Walmart moms from the Denver area were assembled for the company's latest focus group, according to the Bloomberg report, and they were asked about their top issues and impressions of presidential candidates.

Denver -- The majority of consumers are being budget-smart about back-to-school shopping. Not only are they seeking out the best prices, but they’re also shopping early – 48% of shoppers polled said they were beginning their shopping a month before the first bell rings, according to a back-to-school shopping report by ShopAtHome.com, the coupon search engine. The report, which tracks consumer search habits on the site, also shows that 42% of consumers will shop more generic brands than last year.

New York -- Many retailers reported better-than-expected results in July as warm weather and clearance sales drew shoppers into stores. Thomson Reuters reported that three-quarters of retailers reported results beat expectations. Costco Wholesale Corp., Target Corp., Limited Brands and Gap Inc. all reported gains above expectations.