Data & Analytics

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- A survey released Monday by Spherion Staffing Services said that when consumers have a positive customer service experience, they are more likely than ever before to share their opinions than in previous years, especially via social media, online review sites, and with the company itself.

NEW YORK — Affinity Solutions, a provider of transaction-based marketing programs for financial institutions and retailers in the United States, announced that John Brennan has joined as VP business development.

Reston, Va. -- Following recent e-commerce trends released by comScore, online spending continues to grow at a consistent 15% rate. As reported earlier, holiday e-commerce spending rose 15% year-over-year to $26.8 billion for the first 42 days of the shopping season, through Dec. 12.

And on Sunday, comScore released its latest findings, that online sales surpassed $1 billion on four days during the work week of December 12-16, a 15% increase over the same period last year.

Montreal -- A survey released Friday by e-commerce visitor feedback analytics firm iPerceptions found that, despite online retail sales being up, online retailers are missing out on revenue opportunities.

Third quarter 2011 Retail Ecommerce industry report showed that, while U.S. retail sales estimates show online retail spending rose 13% year-over-year to $36.3 billion for the quarter, task completion fell significantly for visitors at nearly every stage of the retail purchase cycle.

There’s nothing wrong with most of the consumer electronics items that get returned to stores, according to new research by Accenture. A study by the firm found that defects only account for about 5% of the returns and the rest of the time buyers’ remorse (27%) or a perceived flaw (68%) results in the item being returned.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart said Friday that, on the fifth day of its "12 Days of Giving" Facebook campaign, it is awarding $130,000 to 13 nonprofits that are helping restore communities after natural disasters. Communities in Alabama, Connecticut, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming will receive contributions from Walmart Foundation, the retailer’s philanthropic arm.

Over 12 consecutive days, Walmart will award a total of $1.5 million to 145 organizations.

WASHINGTON — AAA forecasts 91.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the 2011-2012 year-end holiday travel season, a 1.4% increase over the 90.7 million people who traveled one year ago, the travel organization announced earlier this week. This year’s expected year-end holiday travel volume is the second-highest in the past decade and represents 30% of the total U.S. population.

By Jeff Kim, [email protected]