retail, commerce, grocery, COVID, COVID19, coronavirus
Gary E. Hawkins
Retail Response to COVID19: Innovation in ...

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….

Retail Response to COVID19: Innovation in Realtime

retail solutions

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Retail Response to COVID-19: Rising to the Challenge

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Retail Response to COVID-19: Rising to the Challenge

The supermarket industry is truly inspiring during the crisis caused by COVID-19. The workers across the supply chain - from those manufacturing needed products, to truckers and distributors, to the people stocking shelves and checking shoppers out - are on the frontlines of this battle. Everyone and every organization throughout the industry has stepped up to ensure that food and needed supplies continue to flow to shoppers in every community across the United States.

Speaking with retailers and others, many retailers are slowly recovering from the panic buying that has occurred in the first couple weeks of this crisis. Food and supplies are slowly being restocked, and retailers are wisely limiting purchase quantities to insure that the majority of shoppers are able to get needed products. 

The partnerships…

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The Radical Collaborations that are Shaping Retail

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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….

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Next-Generation Workforce Management: An Inventory of Fresh Opportunities for Retail Stores

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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.

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Using elasticity-based pricing to boost profit margin

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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?

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Three Ways Grocers Protect Alcohol Margins

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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…

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The eWIC Deadline is Approaching: Is Your Grocery Store Ready?

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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…

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Best Practices for Starting a Grocery Delivery Service

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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..

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3 Ways Independent Grocers Can Compete with the 'Big Guys'

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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.

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The Tipping Point… The Right Time for Solution Providers to Emphasize Sales & Marketing

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The Tipping Point… The Right Time for Solution Providers to Emphasize Sales & Marketing

Solution providers spend the early years of their existence immensely focused on building their product(s).  The vast majority of resources are allocated to programmers, engineers, product development people, etc. This is as it should be for without a solid product little else is possible.  And yet as a company aspires to grow there comes a point where, as a percentage of total resources, a proportionately larger share must be allocated to sales and marketing. This transition point is a vital prerequisite to growth and yet many solution providers miss this timing and, in so doing, miss windows of opportunity – sometimes for years on end.

Some guidance…

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The Real Return on Frontline Investment

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The Real Return on Frontline Investment

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…

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Decision Making in Retail is Broken. AI Comes to the Rescue.

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Decision Making in Retail is Broken. AI Comes to the Rescue.

Decision making in retail is broken!   While most retailers want to be a lot more data-driven in their decision making, there are too many system impediments, data accessibility and even cultural obstacles preventing that from happening.  

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Know your Prospect!

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Through CART, we talk with and get to know a lot of solution providers, companies seeking to sell some new innovative technology or capability to retailers. It is concerning how few solution providers take the time to do some basic research on their retail prospects, walking into a sales meeting very unprepared.

The first step in selling is to determine what size or type retailer you want to approach first. In the supermarket industry you can think in terms of independent retailers (smaller, privately owned, typically with fewer than 10 stores), regional retailers (est. 10-250 stores), and then larger regiona/national retailers (companies like Ahold, Kroger, Walmart, etc.).

Once you’ve decided on your target, generate some specific retailers you want to approach; maybe retailers in your area or a retailer you have some connection to. Next do a basic Google search to find out more about the retailer. How many stores do they have? What are their annual sales? How many employees? Where are their stores located? Who are their competitors? Search for any recent news articles about them. Identify who the key executives are, especially those you think will be decision makers or influencers relative to whatever solution you’re going to bring to them.

If you get a meeting, visit some of their stores before you meet. This should be a standard operating practice for anyone selling into retail, especially grocery retail. Walk the store, noticing any and all details that may involve whatever solution you’re seeking to sell them. Get a sense for the retailer as an operator and for their customers. When you go into your meeting, share that you were in the retailer’s store - any retailer of any size will appreciate you’ve taken time to learn about them and visit their store operations.

Finally, relate what your solution is to what problem you are solving for the retailer or what opportunity you’re able to help the retailer realize.