Information Resources Inc. and SPINS announced the integration of SPINS’ natural/organic food segmentation and industry expertise with IRi’s Consumer Network household panel.

If you are like a lot of people, hanging a new calendar has inspired you to embrace new beginnings and experimentation. Every January morning begins with plans to put insights into action.

The Network of Executive Women has elected Catherine Lindner, former VP retail marketing for Walgreens, to serve as board chair.

I was fortunate. I was born into a wonderful family. Each of my four siblings and I have certainly chosen individual paths, but it is amazing how interconnected we remain and how we can still rely on each other when necessary.

This year’s Olympics coverage on NBC stood in stark contrast to the television network's failed attempt to offer expanded audience choice through their pay-per-view “Triplecast” in 1992. Remember that 20 years ago, NBC aired the Olympics through three pay-per-view channels? Their total number of subscribers, either for a one-day pass or any of the “gold,” “silver” or “bronze” packages probably couldn’t equal even the smallest service area for a major cable company.

The purchasing behaviors of consumers continue to reflect the ever-challenging economic climate, according to a new report from Acosta Sales and Marketing.

Merchandisers angling for that impulse purchase take heart: As many as 76% of buying decisions are being made in the store, according to research published Wednesday from Point of Purchase Advertising International.

Nearly 75% of smartphone-owning consumers would switch brands if they were offered real-time mobile promotions delivered to their smartphones while shopping in a grocery or drug store aisle, according to a new survey.

According to “Merchandising Trends: Driving Consumption through Shopper Marketing,” a new report published earlier this week by SymphonyIRI Group, merchandising continues to play an important role at retail.

An average consumer encounters the same or very similar product mix from retailer to retailer. Unintentionally, we have almost trained them not to expect anything special from their shopping experience. The retailer that does offer something beyond the ordinary shopping experience can score big points with shoppers. Do something unexpected to surprise and delight shoppers, and word will spread – probably quickly. So what is it that really makes consumers tick? I think it boils down to five main things.

PepsiCo has entered a partnership with an independent cultural marketing group that will allow the beverage company to develop relevant platforms that will target multicultural shoppers at retail.

As more consumers incorporate social media sites and other online shop-assist tools into their daily shopping routines, the concepts defining traditional category management — category schematics and optimized facings and assortments, for example — are fast becoming obsolete.