INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

MADISON, N.J. — According to two new surveys of parents and pediatricians from Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, more than half of all parents report feeling anxious, fearful or helpless when their child comes down with a fever. In addition, many parents are not managing the fever correctly.

This actually is nothing new to the vast majority of pediatricians (94%) who believe that parents need more fever management education.

RESTON, Va. — The holiday season-to-date has garnered $24.6 billion in online sales, a 15% increase above corresponding days last year, ComScore reported.

In addition to the 15% increase in spending recorded for the first 39 days of the holiday season, ComScore also noted that the most recent week (week ended Dec. 9) reached $5.9 billion in spending, an increase of 15% versus the corresponding week last year.

LOS ANGELES — Survey data from PriceGrabber, an Experian company, found that many consumers will continue to hit the stores through the final days leading up to Christmas.

Results from PriceGrabber's fourth winter holiday shopping survey found that 41% of consumers plan to shop between Dec. 21 and Dec. 24 for holiday gifts.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — For those who doubt that consumers and their smartphones are inseparable when it comes to shopping, think again. Mobile advertising company Verve Wireless conducted research and found that more than half of consumers are using their smartphones when shopping. The timing of the news is especially critical given the holiday shopping season is upon us and, clearly, holiday 2011 is shaping up to be the “tipping point” for mobile commerce.

CHICAGO — A report released Wednesday by ShopperTrak said that sales increased just 0.2% year-over-year for the week ended Dec. 3, representing a 22.5% decline from the prior week, which held the largest Black Friday in history — both in terms of sales and traffic.

According to ShopperTrak, this sharp decline in retail sales is typical of the week following Thanksgiving. Although shoppers have an initial burst of activity spurred on by Black Friday sales promotions, they often stay home during the following week.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — "I am appalled that politics has once again trumped science," wrote Brooklyn College Health Clinic director and nurse practitioner Ilene Tannenbaum in a letter to the New York Times. That reaction summed up much of the medical community's response to the Department of Health and Human Services' overruling of the Food and Drug Administration's decision to make the Plan B contraceptive pill a full nonprescription product.

WASHINGTON — A report released Thursday said that consumer confidence in the United States was little changed for a second week, holding at a level typically reached during past recessions.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was at -50.3 in the period ended Dec. 4, after a reading of -50.2 the prior week. The gauge has been at-50 or worse for 11 of the past 12 weeks.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The longer this proposed Express Scripts-Medco deal remains under the microscope, the more people don't seem to like what they see. The general tone at this Senate hearing was against the merger. Many of the senators in attendance were expressing concern that the proposed merger would negatively impact access to pharmacy, which is perhaps the greatest import of the possibility of an Express Scripts-Medco super-PBM.