Data & Analytics

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Friday by the Commerce Dept. showed that consumer spending in the U.S. slowed in August, impacted by falling incomes and sporadic hiring.

Commerce Dept. figures showed that purchases edged up 0.2% after a 0.7% increase in July. However, a 0.2% increase in prices wiped out the slight spending gain. Incomes dipped 0.1%, the first decline since October 2009.

Columbus, Ohio -- Information sharing,  expense benchmarking, innovative technologies, energy management systems, disaster preparedness and international facility management were ranked as the most important agenda topics by attendees at FacilitySource’s 5th annual Leadership Symposium, on Sept. 19-22.

Reduced fees for debit card transactions go into effect on Monday and the architect of the authorizing legislation, Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois, was feeling a lot of love from a retail industry that's convinced ample justification remains for even deeper fee reductions.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy announced that it has doubled its gluten-free product range, the supermarket chain announced Wednesday.

Worcester, England -- A survey released Thursday by Postcode Anywhere revealed that online security concerns, long forms and enforced sign-up are the three things most likely to make consumers abandon online purchases.

One thousand U.K. consumers were asked to name the top three reasons they might abandon their shopping online. Security concerns topped the poll, with 50% of consumers rating the factor among their top turn-offs.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid reported a 1.3% increase in same-store sales in September.

Total drugstore sales for the 30 weeks ended September 24, 2011 increased 0.9% to $14.535 billion, from $14.407 billion in last year’s like period. Prescription sales accounted for 68.4% of total drugstore sales, and third-party prescription sales was 96.4% of pharmacy sales.
 

Atlanta -- According to a report released Thursday by First Data Corp., the prepaid gift-card market has remained healthy during the first half of 2011, despite a sluggish economy.

The 2011 Midyear Gift Card update showed that the gift card market experienced a higher rate of growth than U.S. consumer spending.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy said that it is continuing to promote its "MoneyTrashers" campaign by adding new digital resources to CVS.com and the CVS/pharmacy Facebook page.