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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
TV Series to Get Kids to Try New Foods
There’s no guarantee it could lead to children eating Brussels sprouts, but a new show scheduled to debut this fall on Canadian television is looking to entertain young kids and…
Consumers Find Greater Satisfaction Online
When it comes to satisfying customers, it appears as though online retailers have the edge, hands down, on brick-and-mortar operations. The University of Michigan’s (UM) American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)…
U.K. Probe: Consumers Need More Supermarket Competition
A new report from the UK’s Competition Commission explores whether competition has been “prevented, distorted or restricted” by supermarkets in that country. The UK’s supermarket sector is dominated by four…
Nielsen Tracking African-Americans’ Media Usage
The Nielsen Company has come out with its first 12-month analysis of advertising spending on media outlets that reach African American consumers. One advertising exec called the survey “the first…
CPGMatters: P&G Changes Rules for Product Development
P&G’s new product process now relies on Internet-based, interactive, collaborative communication internally and with its own suppliers and retail customers. Deploying these concepts has resulted in a doubling of the…
Toy Prices Going Up. Will Sales Drop Down?
We’re a long ways off from the 2008 Christmas holiday selling season but manufacturers and retailers are already letting consumers know that overall toy prices will be going up and…
Borders Seeks Technological Difference and Advantage
Borders has developed a bookstore for the 21st century and it goes well beyond simply selling books. The company’s new concept store blends the standard Borders experience of books, music…
Linking TV Ad Viewing to Purchases
A new media research company, TRA, merges data from people’s cable set-top boxes with consumer-purchase databases from shopper loyalty cards. The service promises to finally connect the shows people watch…
New York State Tracking Rx Prices for Consumers
Consumers may not always give it much thought, but there can wide spreads on the cost of the same prescription from one pharmacy to another. In New York, the state…
Family Dollar Seeks Grocery Advantage
While low-income consumers, the core customer for Family Dollar and other dollar stores, have been the hardest hit by rising energy prices and other economic disruptions in recent years, they…
Whopper Freakout and Other Symptoms of Deprivation
In its new Whopper Freakout online and TV ad campaign, Burger King is successfully driving customer loyalty by depriving customers of its flagship burger, the Whopper. Coinciding with the Whopper’s…
J&J Looks to Bond with Parents Online
Johnson & Johnson is not following the usual script of running print ads and television commercials with its new ad campaign for the company’s Baby Lotion. Instead, the company has…
Meat-free for the Masses
For an increasing number of people and for a variety of reasons, everyday diets are including less meat. But negative connotations of vegetarian lifestyles often make them reluctant to…
Lord & Taylor Buys Fortunoff
Famed New York City jeweler and home furnishings retailer, Fortunoff, last week agreed to be bought by the owners of Lord & Taylor. The sale to NRDC Equity Partners LLC…
Rental Startup Not Playing Around, Baby
Lori Pope shared an experience with millions of other American parents. She made sure she did her research and got her twin infant boys the best toys possible…they were quickly…
Penney and Polo Ralph Lauren Launch Exclusive Line
J.C. Penney is getting ready to kick off the biggest exclusive brand launch in its history on Feb. 24 with the American Living line from Polo Ralph Lauren. The line,…
Independents Rule!
The National Grocers Association held their annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas last week and attracted five percent more attendees than last year. That, in and of itself,…
Robots Pump Gas But Don’t Do Windows
Throughout the U.S. (excepting New Jersey and Oregon) and many other parts of the world, if motorists want their car tanks filled with gas, they need to get out of…
Changing Their Minds Costs Retailers £12m Every Week
TOTAL, the world’s fourth largest energy group and Europe’s leading fuels refiner, asked British pollsters YouGov to question just under 2,000 adults about their shopping habits. The findings of what…
RSR Report: Private Label Quality Suffers
As retailers step up collaboration with suppliers on private label product design, two opposing consequences emerge: they can bring new products to market faster, but at a cost — control…
Paper Supplier Not Green Enough for Staples
Staples has been very public about its commitment to go green and the retailer has now made a very emphatic statement to that effect with the cancellation of its contract…
