Like shoppers around the world, consumers across Asia Pacific have become focused on saving and reducing debt this year, and as a result, have become less inclined to spend on bigger ticket items and out-of-home-entertainment.

The number of drug stores in the U.S. has declined by more than 2,000 in the last 7 years (to 37,700 outlets), as independent pharmacies close.  And in the last decade, the percent of U.S. households shopping in drug stores has dropped from 89 percent to 81 percent.  But the drug store channel generates more than $43 billion in sales, excluding prescriptions, and the nation’s leading chains are continuing to innovate to grow their share of the consumer’s spend. 
So what are the top selling categories in the drug channel? Six …

If, when walking or driving around town, you’ve thought to yourself that it seems like there are a lot of new convenience stores that have sprouted up over the last few years, you’d be right.  Since December 2001, more than 20,000 new locations have opened, bringing the total to almost 145,000 such stores in the U.S.  But facing high gas prices last year as well as competition from groceries and mass merchandisers and the effects of the economy, C-Stores have actually been pulling back.  Since the end of 2007, more …

Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Shopper and Consumer Insight
The beginning of the year brought some surprising good news for retailers: retail sales (excluding automotive) rebounded in January and February.  While the figures were not earth-shattering – sales grew 1 percent and January and 0.7 percent in February – they were significant improvements on the last four months of 2008, where declines ranged from 1.2 percent to 3.1 percent.

Using data collected by the Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel, we saw improved trip performance in the first two months of the year in …

American shoppers have a huge range of options when choosing where to shop, from convenience and dollar stores to traditional grocery and drug stores to warehouse clubs and supercenters.  Who shops where? And what are they buying?  These are just a couple of the questions answered by Nielsen’s “U.S. Consumer Dynamics Across Channels & Categories” study released earlier this month.
On a dollar volume basis, grocery stores continue to capture the highest percentage of consumer dollars, with 33.1 percent.  In Grand Rapids, Michigan, groceries …

As economic uncertainty continues to loom over most of the country, Americans are watching their money and shopping less. But while that fact might spell doom for the nation’s retailers, there are a number of opportunities available to those companies who are able to look at how consumers are changing their behavior and innovate in how they do business to leverage these changes.
“Big Players Think Small in Format Fights,” an article in Consumer Insight by Todd Hale, senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights with Nielsen, outlines how the economy …

Unlike past recessions, few countries have been spared from the economic downturn.  Nielsen’s top industry thought leaders recently discussed how shopping patterns around the world have been affected by economic conditions, how consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are adapting to the new marketplace realities and what lies ahead.
The participants were Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen U.S.; Jonathan Banks, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe; James Russo, Vice President of Marketing, Nielsen U.S., and; Jean-Jacques Vandenheede, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe.  Key themes were:
Consumers: It does …

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 …

According to Nielsen, discretionary shopping trips continued to decline dramatically in November, as consumers shifted purchases online and to value-oriented retailers.
Overall in November, trips to retailers declined by 2.9% from the previous year.
Retail Channel Trends
Toy stores, electronics stores, and department stores saw the most dramatic declines in the number of shopping trips last month vs. a year ago.  Trips to toy stores dropped by 23%, trips to electronics stores were down by 21%, and trips to department stores fell by 17%, Nielsen reported.
Retail channels offering low prices and strong value …

According to Nielsen, trips to U.S. retail outlets decreased by 1.4% in the third quarter of 2008, compared with Q3 2007. 
Declines were especially steep during the last four weeks of the quarter, which saw the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the near-collapse of Merrill Lynch, and the government bailout of AIG.
Traditional mass retailers (excluding supercenters), department stores, and office supply stores saw the most dramatic declines in the number of shopping trips last quarter vs. a year ago.  Trips to mass retailers dropped by 9.1%, trips to department stores were down …