• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 20, 2011

As retailers gain confidence in the strength of the economic recovery, their worries are shifting, according to a new study from BDO. Consumer confidence, which worried them last year at this time, dropped way down on the list. But dependency on consumer trends—figuring out what shoppers want to buy—jumped up, and was mentioned as a concern by 87% of stores.

"Worries about external factors, like economic trends where retailers are basically helpless, have subsided," Doug Hart, partner in the retail and consumer product practice at BDO USA, tells Marketing Daily. "They know consumers are spending. The concern now is, 'How do we get our share?'"