What’s hot in retail – March 2012

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Retailers witnessed exciting new developments on both the industry and legislative sides in March 2012. This year’s unseasonably warm winter continued into March and helped give a noticeable boost to consumers’ moods and retailers’ sales. On the legislative front, Congress took steps in the right direction to reauthorize federal transportation funding, and the Senate held a hearing that would help boost travel and tourism to the states by reducing the visa application process – both welcome sights to NRF and retailers alike. Read on below to see what else was hot in March.

NRF Information

• Continuing the trend for 2012, NRF’s 4-5-4 calendars were another big hit in March as visitors wanted to be sure they have the correct dates starred for when retailers report the previous month’s sales numbers.
• The release of NRF’s Easter survey conducted by BIGinsight was popular as retailers were excited to see that rising gas prices weren’t going to deter spending on Easter goodies. Shoppers said they intend to spend $16.8 billion this Easter, a record for the survey
•  The exciting news of February marking the 20th consecutive month of growth for the retail industry saw also saw a large amount of traffic last month. According to NRF, February industry sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.5% in a month favored by unseasonably mild weather.
• Gearing up for NRF’s Loss Prevention Conference and EXPO, June 20-22 in New Orleans, retailers wanted to know more about honoring loss prevention and law enforcement professionals for their outstanding work with NRF’s 2012 Loss Prevention Awards. The two awards recognize LP cases and a law enforcement professional or agency that has made a positive impact on their company, community and the retail industry as a whole. The winners are recognized on stage in front of more than 2,700 of their peers
•  As NRF led the buzz in discussing the dirty laundry on Tide thefts in America, retailers turned to NRF’s2011 Organized Retail Crime Survey for insights and statistics from senior loss prevention executives representing 129 retail companies. The survey chronicled retailer and legislative efforts in battling organized retail crime rings across the country last year. Stay tuned for the release of the 2012 survey this summer.

http://blog.nrf.com/2012/04/01/whats-hot-in-retail-march-2012/