The stats still show that women do the majority of shopping in the U.S., but with men facing a higher unemployment rate than women, more men are at home than in the past and in many cases, they are taking a more active role in household duties.

Inflation is becoming a critical issue in many parts of the world, but, especially in emerging markets such as Indonesia. But while prices rose 7.9 percent in 2010, household spending increased at an even faster rate – up 19.3 percent in major cities and 18.5 percent in rural Java.

E-commerce in the U.K. is booming. More than eight out of 10 of the active online population – 31.6 million people – visited at least one of the U.K.’s top 200 e-commerce sites in August 2010, according to Nielsen’s latest E-commerce Landscape Report.

Lower prices for food and other household items are great for consumers, but for retailers, they don’t always achieve the desired rise in sales as the competition is quick to follow.

Consumers in the U.S. might be trimming the fat from their budgets and diets, but contrary to predictions, they continue to demonstrate a healthy appetite for foods featuring health and wellness claims.

New retail formats, unique service offerings and differentiated products will drive growth at retail in 2010. And as consumers continue to bunker in-home, a greater focus on eating right will lead to healthy results.

How low will prices go? 2009 might become known as the year of the price cuts, rollbacks, coupon redemptions and strong store brand sales. This is good for shoppers, but will the value strategy backfire on retailers?

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

Consumers are sticking with basic purchases in categories like fresh meat, pasta, packaged dinners along with baking mixes and supplies as meal preparation consumption comes back to the home.
Increases in wine and alcoholic beverages indicate that consumers are opting to consume their favorite beverage at home too. At the same time they are continuing to avoid discretionary items, according to the latest monthly update of U.S. Retailing & Consumer Trends from The Nielsen Company.
The non-edible departments were the greatest contributors to an overall 1.2 percent unit sales decline at food, …

Over the past 20 years, the American household has changed and traditional roles have shifted with men now taking on a greater percentage of the household shopping than in the past. Today, almost one-third of men are now the principal shoppers in the home. With more men in the aisles, marketers need to better understand how they impact brand sales and how to reach this growing segment of principal shoppers.