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.

The days of super sizing are over. The big players in grocery are opting for smaller, niche footprints in urban locations featuring a focus on packaged fresh food offerings. The idea is to make shopping more rewarding, and to reward consumers with coffee boutiques, new ideas, special discounts, free groceries and gas cards.

Learn about how women’s brains are fundamentally different than men’s—and why understanding the critical differences are crucial to marketing success today.

Ken Cassar
I’ve been preparing for our upcoming Webinar on Retail Coping Strategies, where we will provide constructive advice to retailers on how they can best cope with the challenging retail environment that we’re in. This has led me to think about companies that are holding up well through the recession.
There are three companies that I’m particularly interested in: Walmart, Amazon, and Hyundai. Walmart’s US sales grew by 6.7 percent, profits by 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Amazon just announced that Q4 2008 sales were …

By: Jess D. Aguirre, Jr., Senior Vice President, Research, Hallmark Channels, and Howard M. Shimmel, Senior Vice President, Consumer Insights, The Nielsen Company
SUMMARY: What do beer, gum, candy, snacks, and fragrances have in common? All are categories that under-spend on media against a Boomer demographic that accounts for the bulk of consumer packaged goods sales.
It’s a question for the ages. Why aren’t TV advertisers targeting Baby Boomers, a demographic with proven clout at the cash register and demand to spare? Even as Boomers expect to live and work longer, extending …

Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in several years, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, the definitive gauge of consumer sentiment around economic and social concerns across 51 countries.

Nielsen’s Global Report on Consumer Confidence, Concerns, Spending and Attitudes to Recession