Yesterday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008 that beat analyst expectations, an all-too-rare occurrence in the retail world today.  Revenue increased 1.7 percent to $109.1 billion on U.S. store sales that grew 6 percent.  In its comprehensive year-end review of Wal-Mart, Nielsen looks at how the company innovates and differentiates itself from competitors as well as trends across categories.
Sales across all of the company’s key divisions – Walmart Stores, Sam’s Club and International – grew on a year-to-year basis by more than 6 percent.  Comparable …

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 …