As intrepid consumers have shopped for groceries in-store and online during this COVID-19 pandemic, they have not been shy about providing their feedback when given the opportunity. Between working with supermarkets throughout the U.S. and conducting our own national research, RFG has monitored thousands of grocery shopping experiences over the past 8 weeks. We've heard about positive and negative experiences, of the joys and frustrations in the pursuit of putting food on a kitchen table that's gotten way more use than ever before….
A Potential Silver Lining in the COVID Crisis
DinnerTime.com helps our members plan, shop and prepare delicious, healthy meals tailored to their personal needs and preferences, using ingredients that are on-sale this week at 85,000 grocery stores across the U.S. We help people save money, reduce stress, and eat healthier….all the more important in this challenging time!
We are passionate about bringing millions of families to the table, sharing delicious, healthy meals together, building positive family dynamics, children’s self-esteem, performance in school and so much more.
Repurposing Retail Technology: Shifting Priorities for Safety of Staff
Under “business as usual” conditions, our software platform provides workforce management and communication tools that enable managers and workers to facilitate faster and better performance. And right now, for many companies, all that comes secondary to safety and compliance.
Now, running a business becomes a balance between keeping operations up and running and keeping customers served, but also trying the best you can to protect the safety and the health of those front-line workers. Within our app, we’ve seen a lot of ebb and flow in a highly geographic and demographic mix to how teams are being deployed or not being deployed….
Digital Media…The New “Norm”
The in-store experience for grocery shoppers is now dealing with many interim norms that will likely become a part of the new “normal.”
In-store technology will certainly play a role in this new norm and digital media will officially become the dominate method to communicate to customers both in-store and at home. While it is still early, and new shopping patterns are being developed during the current crisis will likely live on as we return to the a new “normal.” These new trends represent opportunities that independent retailers will be well positioned to take advantage of.
In Sixty-Six Days the World Can Change. (Can You Hear it Coming?)
Sixty-six days. About nine-and-half weeks.
That’s how long – on average – it takes to form a new habit, according to a highly-cited 2009 behavioral study.¹
Let that sink in. Especially as pandemic-driven shelter-in-place mandates are extended. And especially as we consider the present and future of new technologies, and especially voice assistance.
It was 23 January when the city of Wuhan was locked down in response to COVID-19.²
Nearly ten weeks later – 67 days, to exact, on 30 March – stores in Wuhan began to open. Nearly eleven weeks later – 76 days, on 8 April -- Wuhan residents are being allowed to leave the city if their smartphones show “green” on a special health app.³
Ask yourself what this may mean….
Using Psychology to Increase eCommerce Sales
The Internet provides businesses with some of the best opportunities to sell products. Online shopping is easy and convenient, and with how versatile smartphones have become through Android and iOS mobile app development, the shopping experience can go wherever the customer goes.
While the Internet has given rise to eCommerce, businesses that engage in this industry have to do everything they can to maximize sales. To this end, the use of psychology can be one of the most valuable tools available to an eCommerce business…
The Radical Collaborations that are Shaping Retail
While it’s true that managing brick and mortar retail grows consistently more challenging each year, and more long-respected brands continue to shutter their doors, it’s important to note there are still many retailers who are thriving.
Businesses who are winning are those who have worked to re-invent themselves, accommodating changing expectations and customer shopping behaviors to create in-store experiences that matter.
To determine how others might be able to recreate these successes – or pioneer new ones – we’ve invited retailers, brands, merchandisers and industry experts to join us for the 9th Annual INSIGHT conference. We’ll gather to share ideas and observations about the people, processes, and tools that are driving superior instore results….
Are You Leaving Profits in the Basket? 10 Secrets to Increase Basket Size Week After Week
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….
Next-Generation Workforce Management: An Inventory of Fresh Opportunities for Retail Stores
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.
Smart Speakers and commerce? It’s time to reframe the question (and to grasp the implications of 18% growth YoY).
In early February eMarketer released a study on the state of conversational commerce through smart speakers.
Their headline: "Purchases via Smart Speakers Are Not Taking Off."
Hmm.
Those who delved into the details of the report found that purchase activity via smart speakers had actually grown by 18 percent year over year, to a user community of 21.6 million US consumers.
And, with this growth, smart speaker purchase activity should pass an important milestone in 2020: more than 10 percent of all digital buyers will make a purchase using a smart speaker.
Actually, that’s reasonably impressive. But the overall numbers did not meet eMarketer’s original forecast. And thus, the headline.
The tone of the headline led several days later to an interesting discussion among the industry experts of RetailWire….
Transitions – Raising Capital
Raising capital is one of the most monumental decisions any solution provider will make. Friends, family and angel investors are great options early on particularly during the heavy product development stage. For the purpose of this post I’ll focus on the move to sophisticated venture capital and private equity firms. Some guidance…
Using elasticity-based pricing to boost profit margin
Behind the elegant window displays and colorful online marketplaces, retailers are fighting a profit war; a war in which profit margins can be as low as 1-2 percent in a market that is rapidly changing. To compete in such a tough environment, retailers need to be armed with the best pricing strategies possible to win. When talking about profit margins, every percent matters, and the right pricing strategy can influence margins drastically. So which strategy is the winning strategy? What pricing method boosts profit margins enough to give competitors a run for their money?
Find the Right Approach to Your Grocery Technology
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…
Three Ways Grocers Protect Alcohol Margins
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…
ShopHero’s Mission….”To Make Next Generation eCommerce Affordable for Independents and Small to Mid-Sized Retailers”
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…
The eWIC Deadline is Approaching: Is Your Grocery Store Ready?
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…
Best Practices for Starting a Grocery Delivery Service
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..
The happy customer - revolutionizing the self-checkout experience with omnichannel age verification technology
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…
How Crowdsourcing Your Customer Feedback Delivers the Best of Both Worlds
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…
3 Ways Independent Grocers Can Compete with the 'Big Guys'
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.