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April 21, 2010
An impressive 59% vs. 36% in 2009 are planning to invest somewhat more in e-commerce than they did in 2009 given its essential role for today’s retailers
With a recovering economy and shifting channel priorities, 92% anticipate 2010 Internet revenues to increase over ’09 with significant growth in the 6-15% range; just 8% report a flat or downward trend in their e-commerce business vs. 34% last year.
April 20, 2010
RICHFIELD, Minn. (TheStreet) -- Best Buy (BBY) plans to open hundreds more of its new small mobile stores as it looks to gain a significant market share of the increasing demand for smartphones and other handheld devices, the Financial Times reports.
The retailer expects to have a "number somewhere between here and 1,000" of Best Buy Mobile stores in shopping malls across the U.S., in addition to the 77 it has already opened, CEO Brian Dunn told the newspaper.
April 20, 2010
Washington, April 20, 2010 – Having spent slightly more on Valentine’s Day, Easter and even St. Patrick’s Day this year, consumers are continuing the trend and will spend a little bit more on mommy dearest as well. Behind the winter holidays (Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza), Mother’s Day is the second largest U.S. consumer spending holiday. NRF’s 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found the average person will shell out $126.90 on Mother’s Day gifts, compared to $123.89 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $14.6 billion.*
As one of the biggest holidays of the year, billions will be spent at restaurants or on clothing, jewelry and flowers. Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of celebrants will buy flowers, totaling $1.9 billion. An additional 51.8 percent will treat mom to a brunch or dinner, spending $2.9 billion on mom’s favorite food. Jewelers will also see some traffic this year with 26.2 percent of people planning on buying a special bracelet or earring set, totaling $2.5 billion. Others will buy clothing or clothing accessories ($1.3 billion), gift certificates ($1.5 billion), personal service such as a day at the spa ($933 million), consumer electronics ($906 million) and greeting cards ($671 million).
“Even with slight improvements in the economy, consumers are still looking for unique, sentimental and inexpensive ways to show mom that she is important,” said Tracy Mullin, President and CEO, NRF. “Retailers and restaurants will have an array of gift options for people to choose from, ranging from small flower bouquets to brunch and dinner promotions for the entire family to enjoy.”
Marking a noticeable shift in where people will buy Mother’s Day gifts this year, one-third (30.6%) will head to department stores, compared to 27.2 percent last year. Specialty stores such as florists or jewelers will see the most traffic, however (33.6%). Others will shop at a discount store (30.4%), online (19.7%), specialty clothing store (6.2%) or catalog (2.5%).
Of the 83.3 percent of Americans celebrating the holiday this year, most will focus on buying a gift for their mom or stepmom (62.6%) or wife (20.6%). Others will treat their daughter (9.4%), grandmother (7.9%), sister (7.6%), friend (6.8%) or godmother (1.7%) to something nice.
“For some, mom is the glue that holds the family together,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. “After a few years of cutting back on their discretionary spending, consumers will open up their wallets a little bit more to celebrate the woman with the most important job in the world.”
Men will spend much more than women on Mother’s Day, shelling out an average of $154.74, compared to women who will spend an average of $100.46. Adults 25-34 years old will spend the most with the average person expected to spend $156.84; young adults will spend only slightly less at $155.52 average per person.
About the Survey
The NRF 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the Mother’s Day holiday. The survey was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch. The poll of 8,197 consumers was conducted from April 6 – 13, 2010. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.
BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.
As the world's largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, the National Retail Federation's global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the U.S. and more than 45 countries abroad. In the U.S., NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2009 sales of $2.3 trillion. www.nrf.com.
April 20, 2010
Tasked with generating higher revenues on smaller budgets in more crowded marketplaces, today's marketers must take advantage of every tool at their disposal. One such resource is the power of word-of-mouth, an approach that uses the innate behavior of a unique group of consumers, known as influencers, to extend the reach of your efforts via “talkability.” A recent whitepaper from ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting, examines how to best tap into this rich resource.
Based on the latest findings from ICOM, previous profiles of influencers have to be adjusted. Consider the following:
- consumers are influencers strictly within product categories, not across them all;
- few commonalities exist within influencer demographics, as they cross gender, age, income levels and channels; and
- influencers do their talking in person — at the kitchen table, on the phone, etc. — but opportunities exist to take their messages to new realms, such as social media.
Influencers also have a higher propensity for connecting with friends and family than random consumers, the whitepaper finds. Therefore, their comments carry more credibility, regardless of the size of their networks, because they tend to be more active within social communities. Because they've established themselves as authorities, influencers are more likely to be sought after for their opinions, the whitepaper says. That's why it's so valuable for an influencer to tout your specific brand or product.
Once you've identified influencers, track their behaviors. Influencers' audiences include not just the assumed demographic, but also unexpected sets of consumers, according to the research. People who are influencers recommend in three categories or fewer, the whitepaper finds. And these recommendations are typically made in personal settings. Regardless of how influencers receive product information — via email, first-hand experience or in-store promotion — about 90 percent of word-of-mouth communication occurs face-to-face or via phone, reports ICOM.
April 19, 2010
In the wake of a recession that caused consumers to question the value of $198 jeans, Levi Strauss & Co. is reintroducing consumers to its $198 jeans. The 157-year-old company is trying to reinvent itself as not just a purveyor of basics but as an edgier brand suitable for the fashion cognoscenti. By opening lavish boutiques, like one in London, renaming its high-end labels, and hiring executives from competing designer brands like Ralph Lauren and 7 for All Mankind, the company is seeking to improve its fashion street cred, a move that it hopes will reignite sales, which have stabilized at around $4 billion annually after peaking at $7.1 billion 1996. The company doesn't disclose dollar sales of its expensive jeans, which are a small part of its business. They are important, however, because they cast a halo over the brand name.
April 19, 2010
Sporting goods maker Puma will launch eco-friendly packaging for its sneakers next year to reduce its carbon footprint, beating governments to the punch as it kisses old-fashion shoe boxes good-bye. Puma said it would roll out the new packaging in the second half of next year and that by putting its shoes in cardboard frames wrapped in reusable shoe bags, it would save 8,500 tonnes of paper. It also said the change would mean a reduction of 60 percent in water and energy used during the production process and the amount needed for transportation due to lighter packaging.
April 16, 2010
Website redesigns are in the cards for about two-thirds of multichannel retailers, according to a recent survey. Online retailers are looking to refresh their look and improve search engine optimization, navigation and conversion rates. Mobile, though, is barely on the horizon for most survey respondents. Four in five U.S. multichannel retailers polled said they weren't using any mobile commerce functionality in February 2010.
April 16, 2010
Several retailers have been attempting to turn their Facebook "fan" pages into sales engines since the strategy first began surfacing last year. For instance, there's 1-800-Flowers.com, which says converting its fans on the social site into customers takes a lot of the same tweaking and prodding seen elsewhere in the advertising world.
April 16, 2010
Surging past expectations, retail sales continued to show signs of improvement as consumers hit the stores for seasonal home goods, furniture and apparel. According to the National Retail Federation, March retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 0.9 percent seasonally adjusted over February and 5.7 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
April 15, 2010
Companies from Tiffany & Co. to Home Depot Inc. are restocking shelves in a move that will boost economic growth and may keep the recovery on track through 2010. Tiffany, based in New York, is planning for a “high single-digit percentage increase” in inventories this year as the world’s second-largest luxury jeweler retailer opens new stores, Chief Financial Officer James Fernandez told analysts March 22. Home Depot, the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, “will be building inventory” this year in support of stronger sales, Carol Tome, chief financial officer of the Atlanta-based company, said on a Feb. 23 analysts call.
