Shopper Intelligence

BALTIMORE -- Forty-nine percent of adults prefer a discount on specific products during each store visit, vs. 34 percent who prefer to accumulate points for a larger reward or payoff at stores that offer a frequent buyer or loyalty card program, according to the proprietary "Customer Focus 2006: Grocery" study from targeted advertising, media, and marketing services provider Vertis here. More specifically, 51 percent of men age 50 and over and women age 35 to 49 who have loyalty cards prefer a discount as opposed to amassing points, the study found.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill -- ACNielsen U.S. plans to work with PepsiCo to co-develop of a range of value-added applications that are designed to yield strong consumer-driven sales insights.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--ACNielsen U.S. said yesterday it had completed the expansion of its Homescan consumer panel, the end of a two-year initiative that has more than doubled the size of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry's leading source of consumer and shopper insights.

CHICAGO -- Spectra Marketing, a leading provider of consumer-centric segmentation and targeting services for the consumer packaged goods industry, yesterday unveiled its newly enhanced Consumer Trade Areas.

Portland, Ore. -- Mark Heckman, an expert on retail research and trends, has been named to the newly created position of v.p., retail insights at Sorensen Associates, an in-store market research firm serving major retailers and CPG companies.

DALLAS -- Despite the threat of Hurricane Rita bearing down on the Gulf Coast of Texas, more than 320 retailers, suppliers, and other retail industry participants met here on Sept. 26 and 27 to discuss how to increase their business with the growing U.S. Hispanic market, at the inaugural Hispanic Retail 360 Conference. As it turned out, the hurricane veered east and missed Dallas, where the weather was sunny and hot throughout the two-day event.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. -- The study commissioned by CPG industry giant Unilever, "Trip Management: The Next Big Thing," (TM: TNBT), which illustrates where people shop and their different needs on different shopping trips, as well as how supercenters have changed the way consumers shop, topples long-held retailer assumptions, according to the company. Key findings of the TM: TNBT survey will be revealed at the 2005 FMI Show on May 1 to May 3, in Chicago.

SCHAUMBURG, IL -- ACNielsen U.S. yesterday launched Retail ACView, a Web-delivered service that gives retailers a complete view of their total-store competitive performance, both nationally and within their local markets.