OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Los Altos, Calif. -- Survey results released Thursday by catalog shopping app Catalog Spree showed that 89.8% of American shoppers would prefer to receive their catalogs digitally and would opt out of the paper versions if they could receive a digital copy instead.

The survey also revealed that more than half (55.1%) of respondents would prefer all of their catalogs in digital form. Today, some 19 billion catalogs are mailed in the United States each year.

Chicago -- Supermarket retailer Giant Eagle said Thursday it has completed a rollout of Galleria's Promotional Display Optimization solution that allows the grocer to generate thousands of store-specific display plans on a daily basis.

"We were already developing end-cap planograms, but Galleria enabled us to complete the process more efficiently," said Dan Schnorr, senior director of retail space planning, Giant Eagle.  

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe's Cos. Inc. said Thursday it has promoted two of its executives to newly created positions.

Effective May 5, current executive VP business development Gregory Bridgeford been named chief customer officer. Rick Damron, executive VP store operations, has been named COO.
 

New York -- A report released Thursday by Bloomberg showed that household confidence improved last week to match the highest level in four years. 

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 31.4 in the period ended April 15, compared with minus 32.8 over the previous seven days. The reading equaled that from two weeks earlier as the best since March 2008.

Despite the strong showing, the monthly expectations measure fell from a one-year high, showing ongoing concerns that too many Americans are still unemployed.

Boston -- Aberdeen Group’s 3rd annual Retail and Consumer Markets Summit, Retail on Broadway: Game-Changing Technologies -- Creating a Winning Game Plan, will be held May 1-2, at the Millennium Broadway Hotel, New York City.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday it will hire 100 additional developers in India as part of its @WalmartLabs unit, which is focused on growing the retailer’s social media and mobile presence globally.

In November, WalmartLabs, under the retailer’s global e-commerce group, will build an operation in India to use social media and digital technology to attract shoppers.
 

Denver -- Research results released Tuesday by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research found that, despite a shopping list being a tool to stay on budget and eliminate unnecessary purchases, nine out of 10 shoppers still buy items not on their list.

The shopper behavior study, called The Checkout, showed that 66% of those who purchase off-list items were motivated by a sale or promotion. Thirty percent said they found a coupon, and 23% wanted to pamper themselves.