Despite recent optimism about a turnaround in the global economy, consumer activity in the United States and China showed significant declines during the month of March. The change was led by a continued decrease in shopping trips and consumer transactions, according to the Nielsen Economic Current scorecard. The U.S. decline may be partially attributed to the Easter holiday occurring in March last year, while it took place in April this year. Similarly, the drop in China may have been affected by the Chinese New Year (a high sales peak), which …

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.

Nielsen today unveiled the Economic Current, a monthly study that will track key consumer and retailing trends on a global, regional and country-wide basis. Using the vast amount of consumer data collected by Nielsen, the Economic Current will serve as a centralized source of information on key consumer topics such as:
• Market Index volume, in terms of unit and country currency change
• Retail channel shifting
• Shopping frequency and spending trends
• Overall consumer confidence
“Nielsen collects and analyzes data on tens of thousands of products around the world. As we were thinking of new …