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Tuesday May 13, 2008

Petroleum Economics Driving Consumers To Discount Giants

According to the April Retail Ratings Report from BIGresearch, higher gas and grocery prices coupled with an uncertain economic environment are driving more consumers to Wal-Mart for electronics, home improvement and groceries.

In the Electronics category, Wal-Mart had the highest year over year growth in share of consumers that shop there most often for electronics, with 16% vs. 15%. This growth gives Wal-Mart a Consumer Equity Index of 107.15 (7.15% growth in retail share) in the April Ratings. Best Buy saw a slight decrease in share from 28.6% in April 07 to 27.7% in April 2008 making their CEI 96.88.

Home Depot continues to lead in the Home Improvement sector, but share of preference declined from 28.6% in April 2007 to 27.6% in 08. Second place Lowe's remains flat, while third place Wal-Mart experienced relatively substantial share growth year over year.?

Wal-Mart maintains a strong lead in the Groceries category as consumer share increased to 15.3% from 13.6% in 2007. Kroger marginally weakens, while Publix experienced a steeper decline (83.98). ??

Wal-Mart is also picking up grocery shoppers with higher incomes. Among households who report an income greater than $50K, Wal-Mart's share of preference as a grocer increased from 12.3% in 2007 to 13.5% in 2008. ??

Grocery Store Shopped at Most Often ($50K+ Income)
*Store*	*Share Apr. 2007*	*Share Apr. 2008*	*Share +/-*	*CEI*
Wal-Mart	12.3%	13.5%	1.1	109.04
Stop 'n Shop	2.3%	2.6%	0.3	114.26
Publix	4.3%	4.4%	0.0	100.98
Shoprite	2.9%	2.9%	0.0	100.84
Giant Eagle	1.9%	1.9%	0.0	100.47
Meijer	2.5%	2.5%	0.0	99.72
Costco	2.1%	1.9%	-0.1	93.73
Kroger	6.6%	6.4%	-0.2	97.44
Safeway	3.6%	3.2%	-0.5	87.44
Albertsons	2.7%	2.1%	-0.6	78.57
Source: BIGresearch, Retail Ratings Report, Apr 08?
CEI measures growth in share year over year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates 5% growth.??

For more information from BIGresearch, please go here.

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5/12/08 - Infant Mobile Advertising Faces Significant Hurdles
5/9/08 - Women Would Sacrifice Almost Anything But Chocolate For Blogging
5/8/08 - 161 Newspapers Sliced, Diced, and Rated
5/7/08 - Sender's Reputation Relegates 1-in-4 Invited E-Mails to Junk Folder
5/6/08 - Online Shopping Frustrations Impact Store and Brand Perception
5/5/08 - Customer Care Reputation Studied Online Before Making Purchases
5/2/08 - Newspaper Web Sites Bash Other Media in Local Advertising
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4/30/08 - Most Marketers Go-It-Alone For Custom Content Spending
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4/29/08 - Online Shopping Frustrations Impact Store and Brand Perception
4/28/08 - Green Messaging Has High Recall, But Many Consumers Skeptical
4/25/08 - Who's Watching What Video Online, And Where
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4/23/08 - Less Than Half of Advertisers Use Online Display Ads for Branding
4/22/08 - Channel Hopping Consumers More Loyal to Content Than TV Channels
4/21/08 - Number of Auto Insurance Quotes Up 1/3 Last Year On The Web
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4/17/08 - Paid Search To Acquire, and Email To Retain, Online Retail Customers
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