»
Retail sales data for January from the U.S. Commerce Department (which include non-general merchandise such as autos, gasoline stations and restaurants) show an increase of 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted from December and 4.6 percent unadjusted year over year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reports (via MarketingCharts).
NRF data (which excludes autos, gas stations, and restaurants) showed an increase of 0.1 percent seasonally adjusted from December and 2.0 percent unadjusted from last year.
Winter weather and clearance sales boosted clothing and clothing accessories figures, but consumers last month were generally focused on buying necessities rather than discretionary items (view table of January retail sales growth/decline among various categories.)
“The January numbers are indicative of the issues consumers are facing, including the housing slump, a sluggish employment sector and high energy prices,” said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. “We expect to see marginal improvements in the second half of the year once consumers begin to receive their rebate checks.”
In hopes of increasing consumer spending, Congress passed and President Bush signed a $152 billion measure that will provide tax rebate checks amounting to $105.7 billion.
A survey conducted by BIGresearch for the NRF found that consumers plan to spend 40.6% of their rebate checks when they are distributed, providing an immediate $42.9 billion boost to the economy.
MarketingCharts has more findings from the survey, including how rebate checks will be spent.
The Spanish Radio Association says Arbitron still has not addressed its concerns and research questions regarding the PPM and how “Hispanics are recruited and represented, and how the PPM panel is maintained.”
The SRA has been working with Arbitron in…
The Chicago Tribune’s new design will launch on Sept. 29, Tribune Co. chief operating officer Randy Michaels says. No details on the redesign have been released; the paper has already been decreasing its editorial pages to create a more even split…
Teens are not the best demo to target with cell phone advertising, according to a new study from comScore. Though they are cell phone-savvy, most of them - 70 percent - have their phones paid for by parents, which means…
CNN won its second night of coverage of the Democratic National Convention Tuesday. The network averaged 3.41 million viewers in the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. time slot, despite the fact that Fox drew nearly even for the night.
Fox…
Generation Y is the most self-indulgent, Generation X is the most innovative, and Boomers are the most productive, while the “Silent Generation” and the “Greatest Generation” are the most admired, according to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, writes MarketingCharts.
Conducted for…
To encourage shoppers to buy more back-to-school items, retailers often implement “loss leader” strategies: that is, selling items at a loss or even giving them away in hopes that the reductions will attract shoppers who will then buy other, more…
