Consumer Analytics

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Retail hiring is on the rise, according to the May report of the Kronos Retail Labor Index, a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector.

Chicago -- In its most recent consumer sentiment and behavior survey, Technomic, the Chicago-based food industry research firm, found that 84% of consumers believe that grocery prices have risen in the past three months and 62% believe restaurant prices have risen.

Bob Goldin, executive VP of Technomic, believes that the rapid rise in gas prices, now at record highs, has raised consumer sensitivity to price increases in grocery stores and restaurants.

North Vancouver, B.C. -- Capilano Mall is using quick response (QR) codes as an option for customers to participate in the mall's "Be Our Energy Star" contest. Entrants are being asked to write down, in 100 words or less, what they are doing to be more environmentally or socially conscious for a chance to win an Energy Star-certified LCD TV and laptop valued at over $3,500.

NEW YORK — Good customer service sells, according to a new study conducted by American Express.

PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle is celebrating its locally and regionally grown produce with a new multimedia video.

The retailer said that it is taking several steps to educate consumers on which fruits and vegetables at their peak season throughout the year and is further relaying this message through its multimedia video, which can be viewed on Giant Eagle's website.

On average, across the retailer set, number of inserts decreased slightly while the number of pages increased on a year-over-year basis for the month of April. When reviewing front page category share of voice, candy experienced a strong increase in April 2011 compared with the same month in the prior year. This is no surprise as Easter fell later in the month in 2011, giving retailers the opportunity to advertise this category for more weeks throughout the month than in 2010. Other categories with notable increases in 2011 versus 2010 include household cleaning, digital TVs and toys.

New York City -- For the second month in a row, Best Buy had to tell customers that their email addresses were compromised.

The chain said that a former business partner’s files containing email addresses of some Best Buy customers were accessed without authorization. Best Buy said it would take legal action but it did not name the vendor involved.

NEW YORK — Customers shopped at Costco and BJ’s more often in April as they looked to save money on food and gas, according to results the company’s reported Thursday. Both companies generated same-store sales growth that exceeded analysts’ estimates due in part to an ability to pass through food price inflation to customers.

For years, many retailers have at least informally been on the lookout for customers who abuse the return transaction process, and in some cases, declined to engage in further business with customers perceived to be engaging in abusive or even fraudulent return transactions. With the recession, and advanced technology, many retailers are either tightening their return transaction policies and/or their processes for identifying abusive return transaction patterns.

El Segundo, Calif. -- Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp.’s first-quarter net income fell 54% and missed analysts' expectations because of increased expenses as customer traffic declined.

The company also gave a second-quarter earnings outlook much lower than Wall Street's view.

Big 5 reported late Tuesday that it earned $2.8 million for the period ended April 3, down from $5 million a year ago.