According to the BIGresearch American Pulse Survey of 4,069 respondents in the US, 52.1% of consumers say they would rather receive a gift card or cash for Christmas. 5 Dec 2007
Electronics Web site Etronics.com has launched a feature that pops up a "live chat" window after a consumer hesitates for more than a minute during checkout, says Mayer Balser, a founder and vice president of marketing. 4 Dec 2007
Having achieved record festive season sales in 2005 and 2006, retailers are bracing themselves for a more challenging holiday period in 2007. Results from the latest Bureau for Economic Research (BER)/Ernst & Young Festive Season Retail Trends survey reveal that retailer confidence is down significantly amid expectations for slower sales growth over the festive season. 3 Dec 2007
According to a recent survey conducted by The Nielsen Company, Good Value for Money is the most important factor in determining where consumers spend their grocery cash. 30 Nov 2007
If you are one of those people who always sticks to their shopping list and does one big buy a month, you're the Joe Soap of the retail shopping world. 28 Nov 2007
With the new year fast approaching, new product developments promise better health and happier taste buds in 2008, Datamonitor's Productscan Online takes a look at trends in consumer packaged goods for the coming year. 28 Nov 2007
According to a recent Piper Jaffray study in the United States, nearly 90% of people with digital video recorders (DVRs) skip TV ads. Forrester Research predicts DVRs will be in over 50% of homes by 2010. 27 Nov 2007
Have you 'strategically positioned' your store in a particular shopping centre? Are people who have access to your retail outlet your true target market? Are sales at an all time low? Quite simply, have you done your homework? The Newspaper Advertising Bureau's (NAB) Roots 007 survey reveals these straightforward answers that can either make or break your business. 22 Nov 2007
For marketers, the advent of "e-everything" has been a blessing and a curse. 22 Nov 2007
Do you remember the buzzwords 'customer relationship management'… CRM? well, the new buzzwords are 'customer retention'. 19 Nov 2007
Industrial research, particularly in the SME sector, remains a vastly underrated service. 15 Nov 2007
According to at least one South African e-tailer, there's a boom in women shoppers changing the face of online retail. And apparently they're better at shopping online than men! 13 Nov 2007
Women exercise over 80% of decision-making when it comes to privately owned cars in South Africa today, according to the latest research by www.cars4women.co.za, a site managed by women, for women – drivers, that is. 13 Nov 2007
Cognac is the most successful style of brandy, with a golden period in the late 1980s and early 90s (mainly in Japan) and another strong spell in the mid-1990s throughout China, according to research undertaken by global drinks industry website just-drinks.com. 12 Nov 2007
Innovation is alive and well among coalition loyalty programs around the world. Despite their advancing age, coalitions are continuing to innovate to keep their programmess fresh and relevant to their target members. 9 Nov 2007
A new forecast published this week by retail analysts Verdict Research, a Datamonitor company, predicts that UK shoppers will spend more than ever in the run-up to Christmas. However, with incomes squeezed by high mortgage costs and wages only rising slightly, consumers will rely on credit to fund their festive spending. 7 Nov 2007
Just as South Africa's credit levels are seen by the authorities to be way too high, so growth in spending on credit cards in the United Kingdom has reached record levels. And as in SA, that's good news for the financial institutions, but bad news for credit levels. 6 Nov 2007
Online retail sales in the United States jumped 23%, to US$28.4 billion, during the third quarter of this year compared with the same July-September period in 2006. 2 Nov 2007
Forty four percent of traffic to consumer packaged goods (CPG) sites comes from search, according to new joint research1 from comScore, Procter & Gamble, Yahoo and SEMPO. And these buyers spent 20% more in the month following their search activity, reveals the study. 31 Oct 2007
Profitable and efficiently run businesses valued from R30 million and upwards, as well as growing businesses requiring equity for growth are in demand among investors, says Adam Cowell, CEO of Pam Golding Commercial's Business Sales & Acquisitions division. 25 Oct 2007
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