During my many years as a supermarket retailer I saw my share of panic buying related to natural disasters like blizzards and hurricanes. Like many, I lived through the 9/11 crisis and its impact. But I have never experienced anything like what we are currently going through.
I’ve talked with many people across the supply chain these past few days, from brand manufacturers to distributors to retailers. I have been in our local stores seeking supplies but also watching how retailers are responding to a never-before environment.
While healthcare workers are always thought of as the front lines in a pandemic like we are experiencing, it is just as true that the workers in supermarkets and drug stores are equally on the front lines. The commitment by people across the massive grocery industry to serve the people in their communities during this crisis is to be commended. They don’t have to be there - they can stay home like many others, taking care of their families, and self-quarantining. But these store workers are unselfishly putting themselves on the front line of the coronavirus battle, realizing that feeding and providing needed supplies for their communities is as important as the doctors and nurses caring for the ill.
When the current crisis abates - and it will - I believe the retail industry can step back to realize what it has accomplished….
According to the latest Brick Meets Click research that included 27 supermarket banners, independent grocers that offer products both in-store and online reported online basket sizes averaging $110, and average weekly online store sales of $9,964. The four of My Cloud Grocer’s clients that participated in the research reported online basket sizes averaging $215, and average weekly online store sales of $49,248.
These 10 secrets have enabled our clients to achieve such outstanding results….
In a previous post, I discussed the impacts of higher labor costs in retail. This post will explore how retailers can address this significant challenge with the latest generation of workforce manag
ement (WFM) tools that leverage expanded use of artificial intelligence (AI), real-time data exchange and more robust enterprise computing platforms. These enhancements offer retailers an inventory of new opportunities for early adopters.
Grocers are leaning more heavily on technology to engage shoppers and attract new business. When it comes to digital technology, it can be overwhelming, and finding the key to long-term success can seem elusive.
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. When it comes to choosing the right technology platform for customer engagement, there are…
When a customer enters your store for alcohol, they have an idea of what they’re going to pay. They are loyal to your location and watch advertisements, or they have visited a competitor and purchased the same product at their store. Either way, they have a price they expect to pay and won’t accept buying a case of beer for more than they anticipated. So, if your customers won’t accept a variance in what they expect to pay for alcohol, neither should you.
In the grocery space…
The eCommerce tsunami has already begun to build. FMI and Nielsen project that more than $2Billion brick and mortar trips will be migrating to eCommerce over the next 3 years. The spigot is on and no one can stop the flow as this is a cultural phenomenon more than an industry phenomenon. Size wise, this means $50 Billion migrating from brick and mortar to eCommerce. That’s like the size of a retailer TWICE the size of HEB entering the marketplace to grab business away from existing retailers. A true tsunami, and the independent grocer faces an extremely volatile environment if they cannot defend against the onslaught, and do so in a profitable way…
Are you still accepting WIC checks? Are you using a stand-beside WIC terminal in your store? Independent grocers have known for almost 10 years of the federal mandate that all states must implement electronic benefit transfer (EBT) for WIC program benefits by October 1st, 2020 and many states are scrambling to make that deadline. In fact, over 50 million Americans are served by two states (California & Illinois) that are just in the process of rolling out the program now.
What is eWIC?
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides…
Starting an online grocery business can seem intimidating and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. A framework for understanding what one can do to leverage the strengths of stores, is to grasp the concept that their proximity to shoppers is key to competing in the online grocery landscape. At Bringoz, we’ve been working with several grocery chains, providing them with a SaaS-based delivery management platform to build and scale a flexible operation that uses their own employees or third-parties to enhance the customer journey at a lower cost..
Age verification is one of the most friction-heavy parts of a buyer’s shopping journey and can make up for over 50 percent of interventions at self-checkouts. The process is slow, inconvenient and can even sometimes cause offence to a customer who is asked to show ID, even when the lines on their face and the (lack of) hairs on their head say clearer than any piece of paper that they are over 21.
However, a “card everyone” policy is often seen as…
Today’s thriving retailers leverage technology at multiple shopper touchpoints to provide the best customer experiences. However, most retailers still rely on traditional methods of customer insight to measure and manage the customer experience. The two most prevalent tools, customer feedback surveys and mystery shops, emerged long before the mobile revolution, and each has drawbacks solvable through the use of emerging mobile architecture…
The other day I overheard a phone call between one of our sales representatives and an Independent Grocer. It went something like this:
Sales Rep: Hi, this is Nikki from Mercato. We are the only e-commerce and delivery platform designed exclusively for independent grocers. I was hoping to talk with you about getting your store online and growing your business.
Grocer: Oh, I’m not even thinking about that right now. There is a store across the street and they aren’t online, so I’m not sure it is important for me. Plus, I’m really busy.
The sad truth is that we hear conversations like this all the time. It’s almost 2020, and here is a merchant who isn’t even thinking about getting online.
It might come as a surprise to learn that frontline workers make up the majority of the U.S. workforce. But it shouldn’t.
Consider the number of frontline—sometimes called “deskless”—workers you encounter on a daily basis: baristas, retail sales associates, customer support representatives, healthcare workers, security guards, flight attendants, teachers, bus drivers, cashiers, hair stylists, custodians. The list goes on. In fact it doesn’t even include…
A significant trend in grocery marketing and the merchandising of grocery products has been the widening chasm of strategies between the traditional Retailer and Consumer Package Goods (CPGs) in how they market and sell to the consumer. This chasm is not created by diverging goals, as both are working towards getting closer to the consumer, but at the pace at which the use of new technologies and engagement techniques are being deployed. Studies now show…
For a long time, the grocery industry was a major holdout on the move to ecommerce. Most grocers lacked the resources to make online grocery buying as convenient and satisfying as in-person shopping, and it was easy to assume that it couldn't be done.
Those assumptions are still holding the industry back. As of early 2019, only 3% of sales in the grocery retail sector happened online – compared to around 10% for all retail sectors. Online grocery has…
“Personalization” is increasingly being recognized as a “must have” for retailers of all types; but especially for grocers. Here are a handful of insights regarding personalization:
“In 2020, retailers are focused on identifying and serving the individual customer with tailored services by investing in Shopper Tracking, Location-Based Marketing and CRM/Personalization.”- Progressive Grocer, 2019
“Personalization will be the prime driver of marketing success within five years. Only by acting today, however, can companies hope to be in a position to deliver value to both their customers and their brands.”- McKinsey, 2019
“As the digital age offers up new ways to fight for customer mindshare and dollars, consumer-facing organizations are responding with new efforts to personalize the customer experience…and reaping big rewards in the process.”- Harvard Business Review, 2018
Not all personalization solutions are alike!
No one ever said it’s easy to be an independent retailer. This is especially true in a retail world where the battle for supremacy among giants such as Amazon, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Alidi and Costco can cause collateral damage to independent retailers.
However, as the new decade begins soon, independents have a lot going for them relative to larger rivals. They are nimble, smart, very connected to their markets and communities and can move quickly if they choose. They can fully capitalize on these strengths by...
In food service retail, the adage “convenience is king” still rings true. What has changed is the understanding of — and associated expectations for — what it means to be convenient. Gone are the days of location being the primary factor in whether a food service retailer is a convenient place to shop. On-demand culture, gig economy vendors, and rapidly-evolving technology have vastly impacted consumer expectations for their retail experiences.
True convenience means getting exactly what you want instantly. It means…
Grocery stores offer a wide variety of foods, including many perishables that require tight temperature controls. Fridges, freezers, reach-ins, and bunkers that hold these sensitive foods must be checked throughout the day, taking time away from team members from ensuring good experience for their customers. Manual temperature checks, typically done with pen and paper, are error-prone, easily forgotten, increase compliance risk, and lead to unnecessary food waste in the event of a temperature failure. This presents a significant opportunity to leverage…
Guest blog by Bobby Brannigan, Founder and CEO of Mercato
The other day I overheard a phone call between one of our sales representatives and an Independent Grocer. It went something like this:
Sales Rep: Hi, this is Nikki from Mercato. We are the only e-commerce and delivery platform designed exclusively for independent grocers. I was hoping to talk with you about getting your store online and growing your business.
Grocer: Oh, I’m not even thinking about that right now. There is a store across the street and they aren’t online, so I’m not sure it is important for me. Plus, I’m really busy.
The sad truth is that we hear conversations like this all the time. It’s almost 2020, and here is a merchant who isn’t even thinking about getting online. That isn’t even the worst part! The worst part is how far this is from what the big chains are actually thinking and doing. To them, e-commerce is yesterday. They are already there. They have already moved on to the next big things.
How is the independent grocer supposed to compete in a world where the resource gap between the “haves” (Kroger, Amazon, Albertsons, etc.) and the “have-nots” is this large?
