Retail

Succeeding in the market today is closely tied to how well retailers and manufacturers respond to evolving consumer needs. In the 2012 Shared Strategy Report, CGT offers several compelling examples of collaboration between consumer goods manufacturers and retailers that are designed to deliver improved customer service. Read on for an exclusive preview of research findings on Big Data, Mobility and Product Quality.

Holiday shoppers turned Cyber Monday into the biggest spending day ever with online sales growing 30.3 percent over the same period last year. What's more, nearly one in five consumers used mobile devices to reach retailers' web sites a whopping 70 percent increase over last year. Meanwhile, m-commerce sales experienced a 96 percent jump over Cyber Monday 2011.

Coty Inc. announced the appointment of Marc Rey as president, Coty Prestige U.S., and regional vice president, Coty Prestige, North America, starting Jan. 2, 2013.

In advance of the biggest online shopping day of the year, the Consumer Fraud Center issued its annual Cyber Monday Shopping Alert to warn consumers of the growing use by cyber criminals of legitimate web sites such as Amazon Marketplace to sell illegal or counterfeit goods.

Current Nestl Waters North America Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer, Kim Jeffery, plans to step down after 20 years, and 34 years with the company, to assume a non-executive Chairman position.

Brick and mortar retailers are painfully aware of the impact of showrooming the act of consumers using their mobile phones in-store to compare prices with competing retailers on their bottom line. However, only 10 percent of retailers have strategies in place to combat showrooming.

The move may incite a bidding war with Bayer, which offered approximately $1.2 billion in October to acquire the leading provider of branded vitamins, nutrition supplements and nutrition bars in the United States and elsewhere.

Hostess Brands, Inc. has been forced by a Bakers Union strike to shut down all operations and sell all company assets. But with high brand recognition, it's expected that other companies may be interested in keeping products, like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, alive.