ChoiceStream

U.S. retail sales posted a surprising gain last month. Retail sales rose last month by 0.3% according to the Commerce Department. “It seems that the American consumer is a resilient species... snubbing the winter storms that ravaged the nation in February,” said Eric Lascelles, chief economics and rates strategist at TD Securities. “Consumers seem to have shifted into a cautiously pro-spending mode.” Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 0.3% decrease. January retail sales were adjusted downward, to a 0.1% increase from a previously reported 0.5% gain. Retail sales data are an important indicator of consumer spending. Consumer spending represents some 70% of demand in the U.S. economy. Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal

The lackluster economy, combined with the rise of blogs, the declining allegiance to brands and increased retail competition online, have combined to make it more difficult for e-marketers to craft messages that can capture shoppers, says Jeff Wisot, vice president, marketing, for Buy.com. “Consumers now want to be in charge of how, where and when they receive messages, forcing online retailers to adapt to what consumers want, rather than the other way around. Accordingly, retail e-marketers must run highly adoptable campaigns capable of being refined at a moment’s notice. Read the full article at Internet Retailer

The ROI from catalog marketing is low relative to other online and offline media, including e-mail, Internet search and direct-response newspaper ads. The reason is that catalogs are expensive to produce. But consumers revere them and they hold an important position in the multichannel mix because many consumers “either feel uncomfortable buying online or need hand-holding to complete a major purchase,” says analyst Jeffrey Grau of eMarketer. However, catalogers must also embrace the web as well to assure continued success. Retail industry experts who predicted the demise of catalogs at the hands of e-commerce in the Internet’s early days are wrong. The rise of online shopping has forced retailers to re-examine the purpose of their catalog business and its role in a multichannel strategy. A few examples: JCPenney is terminating its “big books” and instead producing specialized catalogs for customers who want them. Taking the opposite stance, Zappos.com launched a holiday catalog as a way to win back lapsed customers and attract new ones. Read the full article at Internet Ad Sales

In an effort to assess the increasingly important concept of customer loyalty, Aberdeen Research recently previewed its upcoming study, "Cross-Channel Customer Loyalty: Rewards vs. Promotions, and the Battle for ROI." The preliminary results show that Best-in-Class retailers are testaments to the positive effects of proper blend of cross channel loyalty offer optimization (customer-segment based point perk or dollar rewards and multi-tier, multi-channel offers or promotions), which are necessary to achieve higher customer retention rates (profitable), as well as reduced customer attrition rates of those with the highest profitability, the report said. However, many retailers are missing the boat as only 22% of retailers identified cross channel shopping as ROI criteria for their loyalty programs, while 67% of retailers rate their loyalty program as "partially successful" or "not successful," marking no discernable ROI. Read the full article at Retail Touch Points

Western Europeans love online shopping—at least more than they did last year, says Forrester Research. They spent 68 billion euros ($92.5 billion) online in 2009, up 12% from 2008. And, Forrester projects the growth trend will continue over the next five years. For the next five years, Forrester predicts online retail sales in Western Europe to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11% to 155 billion euros ($210.5 billion) by 2014. “As the economy gets better and given the satisfaction with the Internet, it is highly likely that consumers will continue to look to the web for purchasing because of the benefits they find in using this channel,” Forrester says in its report. Read the full article at Internet Retailer