Data & Analytics

NEW YORK — While consumers remain concerned about the economy, it is not enough to damper their holiday shopping spirit. According to a recent Deloitte survey, while two-thirds (67%) of consumers expect the economy to stay the same or weaken next year, nearly 3-out-of-5 people (59%) will put aside economic worries and spend the same or more this holiday season. This is a slight decline from 2010 but an eight percentage point increase from 2009. 

NEW YORK — With fewer retailers following in Walmart's footsteps in not disclosing monthly sales, it has become harder to gauge the overall health of the industry. Still, enough of them reported this monht to show that consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- HP on Thursday announced the company’s first mobile point-of-sale solution for retailers, intended to help them to deliver a more personalized shopping experience to their customers. The HP Retail Mobile Point-of-Sale Case attaches to the newly announced HP Slate 2 Tablet PC adding an integrated magnetic stripe reader (MSR) and a barcode scanner.

Purchase, N.Y. -- October’s unusual weather patterns — an unseasonably warm first half of the month and a snow storm on the last Saturday of the month — may have pushed some spending into November, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and service sales across all payment forms including cash and check.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us has named the leadership team for its retail business operations in Southeast Asia and Greater China, following the recent announcement of its new joint venture agreement with Li & Fung Retailing. With this agreement, the existing Toys “R” Us business operations in the region, which had previously been licensed, are now majority owned and controlled by Toys “R” Us.

By Jay Samit, [email protected]

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears and Kmart stores are debuting “mobile shopping walls” in high-traffic areas to reach customers who are traveling or on-the-go during the holiday season. The walls, which feature top toys from Sears and Kmart, provide Quick Response codes for each item so that customers can make purchases directly from their smartphones, giving customers an innovative and efficient way to accomplish their holiday shopping.

Belmont, Calif. -- SunEdison, a leading worldwide solar energy services provider and Staples announced a production milestone of more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of energy produced through solar installations on Staples' properties.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- The Kronos Retail Labor Index edged down to 3.8% in October 2011, following an upwardly revised 4.2% for September, which was the first reading above 4% since October 2008. Even with the small decline in October, the Retail labor Index remains well above the series low of 2.8% in January 2011.

New York City -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a 9% increase in same-store sales in October, helped by strong performances in the United States and abroad, just short of the 9.2% increase predicted by analysts.

Costco’s same-store U.S. sales rose 9% and were up 8% overseas. Taking out inflation in gas prices and a slightly negative impact from foreign currencies, the metric increased 6% in the United State and 9% internationally.