Attitudes: Retailers

After weeks of tense negotiations, unionized employees at Philadelphia-based Acme Markets reached a new labor accord with the company that runs through February 2012. In a 985-19 vote, members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1776, which represents 4,000 Delaware Valley Acme workers, agreed to a contract that continues the health care plan and secures pensions.

Be still my heart! Is that a private label brand in your customer’s shopping cart?

As the “great recession” continues and consumers hear conflicting messaging about when the U.S. economy will improve, shoppers from all income levels are increasingly seeking out and taking advantage of deals at the grocery store.

Sustainable packaging is not as high a concern to Americans as it is to many others around the world, according to new Datamonitor report.

Parents and families are shifting to a new value system where keeping up with the Joneses is out and teaching the kids about responsible spending is in. Also in, according to a recent report from Starcom and Nickelodeon: putting brands’ feet to the fire and demanding they prove their worth to consumers who increasingly buy generic products in a hunt for deals.

The NPD Group is now tracking consumer shopping habits, purchases and perceptions of the supermarket deli department through its new research service, DeliTrack. Primarily geared to manufacturers and retailers, DeliTrack aims to deliver consumer insights on key purchase measures, attitudes, and needs related to deli and prepackaged lunchmeat, cheese and prepared food purchases from retailers.

Retailers are finding a silver lining to the recession’s dark cloud: loyalty program participation is growing.

While the World is struggling with the economic hard times of late, the future poses a new set of challenges that do not stem from arcane financial investments, but from simple demographics. An aging population, a declining birth rate, and growing ethnic diversity will change the face and the spending behavior of consumers in the U.S. Gaining share among population groups that most marketers do not reach today—older and ethnic consumers—will require shifts in focus, tactics, and products.