Consumer Analytics

New York City -- Americans are placing an even greater premium on quality customer service this year, with 70% willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service, according to the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer. This is up from 2010, when 58% said they would spend an average of 9% more for great service.

Kansas City, Mo. -- Einstein Noah Restaurant Group announces partnership with Service Management Group, a leading customer analytics agency focused on loyalty and service improvement, to increase customer loyalty and drive same-store sales.

Through this partnership Service Management will identify new business opportunities through customer analyses that integrate guest experience metrics with transaction data and Einstein restaurant attributes.

New York City -- Clarity and ease of use are sticky points for retailers when it comes to implementing business intelligence, according to a recent survey on BI in retail by Chain Store Age. 

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Supervalu customers that cash in their coins at in-store Coinstar kiosks can do so for free when they select the Supervalu gift card option, Coinstar announced.

The no-fee option will be available in about 1,000 stores that operate under the Supervalu banner, including such chains as Acme, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco and more, by next month.

Supervalu and Coinstar began their collaboration on the gift card project last January in approximately 78 Albertsons stores located in Washington and Oregon.

LOS ANGELES -- Ralphs announced that it is continuing its partnership begun last year with Shell to offer participating customers more rewards at the pump. According to the company, Southern Calif.-area customers will now earn double points on qualifying purchases at Ralphs when they buy fuel at participating Shell locations.    

New York City -- Foot Locker has unveiled upgraded mobile commerce sites for each of its athletic footwear retail banners -- Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Footaction, Champs Sports and CCS -- with added functionality and enhancements to provide customers with a seamless and optimal cross channel experience.

In addition, the company is introducing mobile sites for its Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, and Footaction retail divisions.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Publix Super Markets announced that it has established a program to offer its customers and associates a way to directly assist those areas in the South affected by recent tornadoes and severe weather. Customers may donate any amount by adding it to their grocery totals when checking out at Publix registers. Collected money will be channeled through the American Red Cross and designated specifically for the Southern Storms disaster relief efforts. The program will continue for a few weeks, based on customer response.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Winn-Dixie Stores announced that beginning April 30, guests in any of its 484 store locations throughout its operating area can help their neighbors affected by the tornadoes and severe storms that swept across the South this week by simply donating through the “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” program.

Asheville, N.C. — Net sales and net income for Ingles Markets realized a 4% and 38% increase, respectively, during the second quarter ended March 26, the retailer announced Friday.

Ingles reported that second-quarter net sales rose $33.4 million to $870.4 million, while second-quarter net income increased from $5.6 million to $7.7 million.

New York City -- Newegg and QVC took top honors in the retail category in Compuware Gomez’s Best of the Web 2010 Awards, which honor the strongest web performers across various industries. The retail winners were determined based on the annual cumulative response time, availability and consistency of their web and mobile sites, as well as multi-step business process transactions