Canada continues to show a steady increase in consumer confidence, with its index rising to 94, up four points since July and 10 points since April.

With the nation seemingly emerging from recession, American consumers remain skittish about spending their money during this upcoming holiday season.

Consumers around the world are becoming more optimistic that economic recovery is starting to take root according to the recently released Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey, and Chinese consumers in particular are feeling good about their prospects.  Consumer confidence there increased 6 points from the March survey, and China jumped from tenth to sixth place in the global rankings behind Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Brazil and Australia.

Chinese consumer confidence is higher in the East and North regions of the country versus the South and the West, and consumers in smaller …

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 …

While the World is struggling with the economic hard times of late, the future poses a new set of challenges that do not stem from arcane financial investments, but from simple demographics. An aging population, a declining birth rate, and growing ethnic diversity will change the face and the spending behavior of consumers in the U.S. Gaining share among population groups that most marketers do not reach today—older and ethnic consumers—will require shifts in focus, tactics, and products.

Global declines in consumer activity appear to be moderating or hitting bottom, according to the new edition of the Nielsen Economic Current, which is based on the company’s key consumer trend data as well economic data to create a concise indicator of consumer behavior.  Out of the 11 major GDP countries, only Germany showed an increase in consumer behavior in February.
“Consumers worldwide appear to be in a holding pattern and we see evidence that consumer spending might be positioned to turn around,” said James Russo, Vice President Global Consumer Insights …

Are consumers shopping more often? Spending less? Buying more store brands? Shifting channels? How are retailers responding? The Nielsen Economic Current tracks trends in 11 linchpin countries, indexes financial health and predicts growth trends on critical measures including GDP, consumer spending, inflation, market value and volume indices.

Consumers are still investing in home entertainment despite cutting back in other areas, according to Nielsen’s SportsQuestTM Survey.  The telephone survey, conducted among 1,865 respondents in November and December 2008, asked about a number of questions with respect to changes in their spending habits and how those changes may have affected how they viewed TV-related spending such as cable, direct satellite, video on demand/pay-per-view and DVD purchases and rentals.
The difficult economic conditions have forced most Americans to think about how they spend their money, so it is little surprise that …

This year, U.S. consumers are expected to spend more than $98 billion during the November-December holiday retail season, Nielsen reported Thursday.
Nielsen’s holiday retail forecast predicts a 4.7% gain in dollar sales over 2007.  Unit sales, however, are expected to be virtually flat (-0.8%) versus a year ago.
The forecast includes projected sales at food stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers, and convenience stores, across 125 product categories tracked by Nielsen.
With the economy in turmoil, the 2008 holiday season will be closely watched for indications of declining consumer spending.  Declines in consumer spending were …

Although this year’s holiday season comes on the heels of exceptional economic turmoil, U.S. consumers are expected to spend $98 billion during November and December — a 4.7% gain in dollar sales over the 2007 holiday retail season, according to Nielsen.
NielsenWire recently spoke with the co-author of Nielsen’s holiday retail forecast, James Russo, Vice President of Food Sector Marketing, Nielsen.
NielsenWire: What is the forecast for 2008 holiday shopping season*?
James Russo:
All consumer, economic, and trade indications point to a flat-to-declining holiday selling season across the core consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories …