Consumer Analytics

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said that customers can begin online enrollment into its new customer loyalty program, Balance Rewards. Customers who join online before the official program launch on Sept. 16 will have a chance to enter the chain’s 10 Million Point Giveaway sweepstakes. 

PURCHASE, N.Y. — MasterCard  has acquired Truaxis, Inc., a Silicon Valley, California-based provider of relevant credit and debit card-linked offers to consumers through merchants and financial institutions.

Back-to-school shopping, the second-largest shopping season in the United States, helped make this August a strong month for retailers. Shoppers took advantage of back-to-school promotions to outfit students for the new school year. ShopperTrak, the world’s largest counter and analyzer of retail foot traffic, found that August’s retail foot traffic increased 6.3% compared with the previous month and increased 12.3% compared with the same month last year. 
   

Chelmsford, Mass. -- A report released Thursday by workforce management solution-provider Kronos Inc. found that retail experienced gains in job applications and hiring during the month of August.

By Kent Smith, [email protected]

Virtually all grocery stores, especially large chain grocery operators, are dealing with the same dilemma when it comes to clustering customers by linking point-of-sale data with loyalty card program information.

And, based on the two very different types of data generated by POS and loyalty cards, it’s obvious to see why grocers are in a quandary on how to approach the issue.

Angela Myers was named SVP of retail consulting at Spire, a quantitative shopper intelligence firm.

Peterborough, N.H. -- Eastern Mountain Sports said Tuesday it has launched its first customer rewards program; effective Sept. 1, the outdoor retailer debuted the EMS Rewards which allows customers to earn points on purchases.

New York -- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index climbed to a better-than-expected 74.3, compared to 72.3 in July and representing a three-month high.

Aggressive retail discounting and record-low interest rates boosted the results, but unemployment remains a big concern. 

“Confidence is lackluster,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics Ltd., told Bloomberg. “It typifies the economy right now. It’s not strong, but not collapsing either.”