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….
Think about major developments in the grocery retail industry between 1940 and 2015, and by major I’m talking about advances that are truly transformational in nature.
When I went through this exercise I came up with only three: The development of self-shopping, the development of UPC barcode scanning, and the development of capturing customer identified transaction data via loyalty programs.
Data powers the retail industry, especially in today’s digital age. From in-store analytics to optimized-everything, and from marketing personalization to product customization, big data is the fuel in an age of tech-enabled innovation. Rarely do we see a few weeks go by that some new solution enters the industry that either creates a new data stream or feeds off existing data.