Michael Pascoe August 2, 2012 The Age The gap continues to widen between what consumers say and what they do as retail spending surged ahead in the June quarter. And the dollars going into tills have implications for the overall economy as well as the ability of retailers to whinge. While the headline seasonally adjusted June retail sales figure surprised on the upside with growth of 1 per cent as the federal government’s mini cash splash hit home, the bigger story is the trend measure recording growth of 0.5 per cent for the month and the two previous months being revised up to that same figure. The 1.5 per cent rise in the trend count for the June quarter indicates the consumption surge that lifted the March quarter GDP figures is continuing. What’s more, consumption and retail sales might be resuming the correlation that had broken down over the past…

Larissa Ham August 2, 2012 The Age The consumer watchdog will again set its sights on private-label brands, after allegations that supermarkets are misusing their powers to boost their own sales. The chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Rod Sims, said the watchdog was carrying out ‘‘an early stage investigation’’ after complaints from small businesses that supermarkets were acting improperly. ‘‘Where you’ve got a supermarket that is selling both its own products and selling the products of competing businesses, that vertical relationship is a situation that always is a concern for misuse of market power, ’’ Mr Sims said at the National Small Business Summit in Melbourne yesterday. ‘‘The claims that have been put [forward] are in relation to things that vary from availability of shelf space … to people being required to provide ideas, and lo and behold those ideas being used by their competitors.’’ Sales…

Aug 01, 2012 CSNews The economic downturn, coupled with near-universal adoption of mobile web devices, has permanently changed the way consumers shop. Shopping trips begin online or at in-store kiosks, and price comparisons and coupon searches via a variety of mediums are increasingly commonplace. Post-recession consumers are looking for relationships they can trust with convenience store retailers. They are guarding their resources and have changed their shopping paradigm to a direction that is more selective and targeted. While it is generally the “brand” that has brought consumers back to the shopping environment, it is the “experience” at the convenience store that builds loyalty and will keep them coming back. Social media and mobile shopping initiatives may be enough to lure consumers into convenience stores, but digital in-store engagement must be at the heart of a convenience store’s strategic cross-channel execution. Focus on the Total User Experience PricewaterhouseCoopers studied post-recession shoppers…

CSD Staff Aug 02, 2012 Three c-store locations on the West Coast are hosting events to promote the sale of the new West Coast Chill Pure Energy, a self-chilled beverage that doesn’t require refrigeration. A Chevron Carwash and Food Mart in Pasadena, Calif., plans to feature the new West Coast Chill Pure Energy packaged in a self-chilling beverage can at a public event on Monday. The Pasadena, Calif.-based Chevron location is the first of three convenience stores to host an event for the new, self-chilled beverages. Both the Malibu Canyon, Calif.-based Shell and a Calabasas, Calif.-based Mac Chevron are hosting events for the beverage on Aug. 8. The new West Coast Chill Pure Energy is the world’s first self-chilling beverage can, and the product goes on sale Monday. The product is based on natural ingredients and contains no sugar, no caffeine, is naturally sweetened, naturally flavored and includes vitamins and…

RONI CARYN RABIN August 2, 2012 New York Times Fewer Americans are smoking cigarettes, but a growing number are turning to cigarettelike cigars that can sell for as little as seven cents apiece or to cigarettes that users can make themselves out of inexpensive loose tobacco labeled for pipe use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Sales of these other forms of tobacco — which are taxed at significantly lower rates than both cigarettes and tobacco specifically labeled “roll your own” — have soared in recent years, the C.D.C. said. The amount of loose pipe tobacco sold in 2011 was enough to make 17.5 billion cigarettes, a sixfold increase over the amount sold in 2008, which was equivalent to 2.6 billion cigarettes. Meanwhile, sales of loose tobacco specifically labeled for roll-your-own use and taxed at higher rates dropped by 75 percent during the same four-year period. “While…