Update: Watch James Russo discuss back to school sales on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” [ video - requires Windows Media Player]
The middle of summer marks the beginning of the Back to School (BTS) season, as parents and kids across the country start to prepare to return to class rooms in late August and early September.  The excitement of school starting isn’t just felt by the kids – retailers also look forward to the season, as it’s an incredibly important time for the $2.5 billion office/school supplies category.  Additionally, with the economy mired in a …

Mark Laceky, Vice President, Price & Promotion Practice, North America, The Nielsen Company
The economic downturn continues to put stress on consumers, resulting in accelerating changes in basic purchasing patterns. An important part of the overall equation for consumers is the relationship between price and value. As consumers develop new value systems, how should manufacturers and retailers view and manage the other side of the equation-price?
If your business models and pricing strategies pre-date recent changes in the economy and consumer behavior, you could be headed for trouble. Perhaps now more than …

Warmer weather seems to have thawed the wallets of British consumers, as sales at grocery chains increased 6.6 percent in the four weeks ending July 11th, the best underlying growth in more than 24 months, according to new research from The Nielsen Company.  The strong results were driven by sales in fresh foods, soft drinks and general merchandise, the latter showing growth in the high single digits.  Unit growth also rose by 2 percent across the sector. 
“Shoppers continue to respond to offers, with another all-time high for promotional spend at …

Todd Hale, Senior Vice President – Consumer & Shopper Insights
A fellow Nielsen associate recently sent me an article she had received from a client about how private label was receiving high acceptance among even affluent American households.  While I am a huge fan of the attitudinal insights from consumer survey data, I am also a huge fan of the behavioral insights from consumer panel data.  The best of both worlds is when we get to integrate both data types in our analytical work in the consumer packaged goods industry.  But …

Consumers in 10 of the world’s top economies continued to be wary of spending their money in May, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Economic Current, which provides a snapshot of global consumer and retail trends across 10 countries which represent nearly 65 percent of global GDP.  Tracking key performance indicators, Brazil and the U.K. led the pack with solid improvements in their scores, while the U.S. and Canada showed declines.  The rest of the countries tracked (China, France, Germany, India, Italy and Spain) showed no movement from …

As consumers continue to tighten their wallets, product manufacturers are feeling the pinch. Add higher costs for health care, energy and raw materials to the equation and many manufacturers are forced to cut costs to maintain sales and profitability.  But if there is one overarching message for manufacturers, it’s this: do not pull back on innovation or marketing support.  Nielsen research reveals that brands that continued to invest in these areas during a downturn performed significantly better than their peers once recovery takes hold.
Nielsen looked at more than 100 client engagements …

Spurred by warmer weather and slowing food inflation, grocery sales in the UK grew 5 percent in the 12 weeks ending June 13th, and annual gains to date stood at 3.6 percent, according to Nielsen.  All of the top British grocery retailers posted gains, with one exception, and Waitrose in particular turned in an impressive performance with 8.4 percent growth.  The chain has attracted almost a quarter million new shoppers in the last month, and consumer spend grew more than 5 percent.
“Waitrose has gained strong momentum going into the summer, …

Back in 1983, when the movie “Mr. Mom” was released, the idea of a stay-at-home dad was unusual. The film made light of the fact that many men were completely unprepared for the responsibilities of the traditional “mom” role.  Almost three decades later, American men have taken on a greater percentage of the household shopping.  While females still dominate shopping trips in most channels, almost one-third of men are now the principal shoppers in the home. 
Overall, men are substantially increasing their average dollar basket size across all channels – especially …

For the first time in eight months, Russian consumers’ confidence has stabilized after posting significant declines, according to Nielsen’s ongoing “Russians through Crisis” study.  In the second half of 2008, consumer confidence stood at 104, dropping to 88 in November 2008 and hitting a low of 75 in March 2009.  In May, confidence recorded an uptick to 82.
As with consumers around the world, job security and personal finances are the key concerns for Russians today.  Almost three-quarters of those surveyed characterized the security of their jobs as “not so good” …

David Wiesenfeld, Vice President, Insights & Innovation, Nielsen Online
What’s driving all the excitement and energy around “listening?” After all, the basic notion of “listening” – observing and interpreting naturally occurring consumer behavior – is not new. In fact, when the first professional market researchers sat in consumers’ living rooms and talked with them about their lives and their needs, they were engaging in “listening” as much as they were asking questions. These pioneers were literally the eyes and ears of their organizations. They brought consumers to life in ways that …