Walmart had as much to say about an ongoing and expanding investigation into alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in its third quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission as it did about its actual financial results.

Online shopper engagement firm Jingit named former Walmart head merchant John Fleming to their board of advisors this week and offered a view of his career and accomplishments at Walmart that isn’t likely to jive with the recollection of suppliers.

To be successful, growth strategies must go beyond theoretical strategic platitudes, proprietary consumer and shopper insights, robust analytics, and innovative growth platforms; they ultimately must be measurable. To be successful in today’s fast changing world, CPG companies and retailers need to be able to quickly confirm that their strategies are working and, if they are not, quickly regroup and adapt. Strategies today need to be living, evolving blueprints that are continually tested, measured, and reinvented.

Retailers’ growth plans in the United States are up 40% over last year’s levels, according to ChainLinks' Retail Advisors Spring 2011 National Retail Report.

anuary saw strong growth across most retail categories, continuing the positive performance from fourth quarter 2010, albeit at a slightly slower pace, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a report on national retail and services sales that is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network and survey-based estimates for other payment forms, such as cash and check.

According to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, retail sales for Oct. 31 through Nov. 13 continued to...