Price cuts are providing consumers with exceptional value, but they are showing up in the form of weakening or declining department, category and same-store store sales trends for many U.S. retailers.

The peanut butter salmonella contamination earlier this year – which caused several fatalities – not surprisingly caused a dip in the sales of the product.  But now that the situation has subsided, sales of jarred peanut butter have returned to normal patterns.  For the four-week period ended April 18th, sales rose 2.7 percent over the previous four-week period, and were up 10.7 percent over the same period a year ago.
“The fact is that the contamination was limited to one supplier, and none of the big name brands were affected.  Consumers …

Like most people in countries around the world, Taiwanese are experiencing record low consumer confidence.  And just as consumers in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere have become more value-driven, so too have the Taiwanese, according to the latest Nielsen ShopperTrends report.
62 percent of Taiwan’s grocery shoppers claim to have become more price-sensitive, while among females over 35 and low income households, that number rises to 75 percent.  One store, Post Exchange, has capitalized on this trend with its low price strategy. As a result, 17 percent of all Taiwanese shoppers …

Between 2001 and 2008, more than 35,500 new stores – from warehouse clubs, supercenters and home improvement to convenience and grocery – opened around the U.S.  And while almost all categories of stores showed significant growth (except for drug stores, toy stores and electronics stores, which actually contracted) during the eight years studied, some formats showed greater promise than others.  According to new findings from Nielsen, the economic turmoil of the last year or so has already had a profound effect on the …

Sales in the British grocery sector picked up over the holidays, but were largely negated by weak sales at the beginning of December, Nielsen reported last week.
Growth (by value) of British food sales for the four-week period ending December 27 was up by 2.6% year-over-year overall and by 4.5% year-over-year for grocery multiples.
“The consumer was much more cautious this year, and it was a back to basics Christmas,” Mike Watkins, senior manager, retailer services, Nielsen, noted.  “Sales of packaged grocery (+11%), frozen (+10%), and confectionery (+8%) were buoyant, while sales of …

The column below, by Tom Pirovano, Nielsen, was recently published in Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.
1. Take higher margins in less price-sensitive categories
Ranking categories based on purchase frequency is a fast and inexpensive way of identifying categories that are least sensitive to higher pricing.  Shoppers are less likely to remember pricing on products purchased only once or twice per year. For higher-priced products, however, shoppers are more likely to shop around for the best deal.
2. Lower the thermostat in stores this winter
Your customers will be wearing coats anyway.  This will …

As the economy worsened in 2008, U.S. consumers cut discretionary spending — and shifted basic purchases to value-oriented brands and retailers.  Dollar stores and private label brands saw gains — but many other retailers and manufacturers suffered through dramatic declines.
Is the outlook any brighter for the new year?  Food marketing expert Phil Lempert, of SupermarketGuru.com, offers his take on what consumers and retailers can expect in 2009.
Nielsen Wire: How did consumer habits change in 2008 — and how should retailers adjust?
Phil Lempert:
In 2008 shoppers used more coupons, bought more store …

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 …

Among the top computer and consumer electronics websites for November, computer giants Microsoft and Apple easily drew the largest unique audiences, according to Nielsen Online. 
Visitors to Apple’s site logged the longest average stay-times.

Rank
(by UA, Nov. 2008)
Top 10
Computer & Consumer Electronics
Web Brands:
Nov. 2008
Unique Audience:
Nov. 2008
(in 000s)
Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss)

1
Microsoft
95,543
0:45:44

2
Apple
52,909
1:12:27

3
Adobe
29,472
0:05:19

4
Hewlett Packard
23,435
0:09:58

5
Best Buy
22,138
0:11:28

6
Flickr
19,304
0:09:06

7
CNET
17,935
0:06:23

8
Dell
17,058
0:18:38

9
Circuit City
16,609
0:08:18

10
Mozilla
14,400
0:02:23

Source: Nielsen Online (November 2008 ).

Note: Web properties reported at either the brand or channel market level and can include multiple URL’s.

In recent years, white spirits have dominated Bev-Al sales in the U.S., but now brown spirits — led by whiskey — appear to be making a comeback.
According to Nielsen, U.S. sales growth for whiskey and brown spirits is outperforming the growth rate of the overall spirits category in 2008.
Whiskey growth rates have been rising steadily this year, with whiskey dollar sales increasing nearly $85 million or 4.4% in 2008 — up from 2.3% a year ago.  At the same time, whiskey volume, while declining a year ago, is now showing growth.
In …