While more consumers are expected to head into the holiday season with intent to buy compared to last year, expect the shopping to be subdued and value-focused.

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.

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 …

With curtailed consumer spending widely forecast this holiday season, retailers might be expected to concentrate their TV ads on hard-hitting sale messaging aimed at price-conscious viewers.
But according to an analysis of the most effective holiday retail TV ads, released Tuesday by Nielsen IAG, retailers did not appear to increase the proportion of promotional ads in the mix this year. 
About half of all TV ads so far this holiday season (Nov. 17 – Dec. 14) have been brand-focused, while the other half have been devoted to sales/price-focused messages — as was the case during the 2007 …

According to data from Nielsen IAG, a Macy’s ad, in which celebrities confirm the existence of Santa Claus for a little girl, was the most liked new “traditional” ad during the four weeks between October 20 and November 16, 2008.
Likeability refers to the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” after viewing it, among those who are able to recall an ad’s brand.

Web traffic from home and work to sites included in Nielsen Online’s Holiday eShopping Index increased 10% year over year on Cyber Monday, Nielsen Online reported Tuesday.
Unique visitors to the sites included in the Index reached 35.9 million, a 13% increase over this year’s Black Friday Web traffic.
Many of the top online retail destinations on Cyber Monday were the same as those on Black Friday. eBay drew the largest unique audience (10.6 million), while Amazon and Wal-Mart claimed second and third places, with 9 million and 5.2 million unique visitors, …

Nielsen Online reports that traffic from home and work to the Holiday eShopping Index increased 10 percent year over year on Black Friday, growing from 28.8 million unique visitors in 2007 to 31.7 million unique visitors in 2008 across more than 120 representative online retailers.
“Even with the weakening economy, an unstable stock market and a rising unemployment rate, Black Friday traffic to online retail sites grew at a double digit rate this year,” said Ken Cassar, vice president, industry insights, Nielsen Online.
Black Friday Online Conversations and Consumer Perceptions
To gauge …

American consumers will continue to shift their gift buying online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving, and price according to Nielsen Online. Amid the current economic downturn, 53% of consumers cite price as a reason to buy online, compared with 46% last year. However, convenience continues to trump price as 76% of consumers cite the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74% cite time saving as key factors for choosing online shopping.
The results are based on a Nielsen Online survey, conducted November 6-11, intended to gauge online …

Ad Age reported Monday on the next-generation, in-store digital TV and signage network that Wal-Mart is preparing to unveil.
The story noted that the in-store-media industry is facing new pressure to show its effectiveness, and cited Nielsen’s new Prism system, which measures in-store audiences and sales impact from in-store promotions and media. 
As a charter backer of Prism, Wal-Mart allows Nielsen access to some of its scanner data, AdAge reported.  The goal is to track in-store marketing and media the way traditional media are measured — making it easier to tap media budgets, …