Canadians are much more confident about their finances and the economy than Americans, but that doesn’t mean they are spending with abandon. More than half of Canadians believe that the country is still in a recession and they continue to carefully watch how they spend. Retailers and consumer-packaged goods manufacturers who know how to connect with consumers will emerge ahead of the rest.

Just when some positive economic reports and improving consumer confidence news are picking up, rising gas prices in North America could take a toll on consumer spending power, shifting consumers back to staying at home and shopping for value until prices subside.

The stats still show that women do the majority of shopping in the U.S., but with men facing a higher unemployment rate than women, more men are at home than in the past and in many cases, they are taking a more active role in household duties.

Inflation is becoming a critical issue in many parts of the world, but, especially in emerging markets such as Indonesia. But while prices rose 7.9 percent in 2010, household spending increased at an even faster rate – up 19.3 percent in major cities and 18.5 percent in rural Java.

Given the recent economic slowdown in developed markets, the ‘value-conscious’ shopper is more visible across store aisles than every before.

While food contributed more than half (52%) of the total fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales in India last year, key products within the non-foods segment around impulse, health and wellness, lifestyle and convenience themes registered more than 20 percent growth and are set to define the shape and direction of the future.

Hong Kong’s Individual Travel Scheme launched in 2003 has resulted in an influx of millions of mainland tourists to Hong Kong, where visitors from Mainland China have now become one of the biggest consumer segments. The growth of mainland tourists in 2010 has grown 26.3 percent compared to 2009 and has contributed to Hong Kong’s economic boom in recent years. In 2010, the number of mainland tourists arriving into Hong Kong reached 22.7 million, accounting for 60 percent of all tourists – triple Hong Kong’s population. Mainland tourists are spending …

The USDA is forecasting overall food prices to go up between two to three percent in 2011, due largely to the rising cost of commodities and lower supplies of basic ingredients – higher than the past few years, but certainly not the levels being encountered around the world.

For much of the developing world, mobile technology’s power to connect even the most remote areas is creating new opportunities to reach consumers.

Recent economic conditions have encouraged American consumers to spend carefully across entertainment categories, and gaming has been no exception.