How an Increase in Minimum Wage Could Affect Retail Profitability
The story of minimum wage in the United States is one of incremental yet halting progress. The first minimum wage standard was passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, in 1938 at a rate of $0.25 per hour—long before the days of big-box retailers. Over the ensuing eight-plus decades, the rate has ticked […]
5 Reasons Shoppers in the US are Crazy for European Grocers
North America is far from unexplored territory for European grocers. The likes of Food Lion, Giant Food, Stop & Shop and Hannaford are owned by the Dutch Ahold Delhaize company, which bought-in in the mid-70s. Despite their non-domestic corporate roots, these stores help define the quintessential American grocery shopping experience: huge store footprints with a […]
CB4’s 2nd Annual Convenience Chain Loyalty Awards
CB4’s Convenience Store Loyalty Awards honor excellence in c-store loyalty programs. And what a year to evaluate both convenience and loyalty, as the pandemic prompted shoppers in 2020 to seek out new chains and channels based, above all, on the need for safe and successful one-stop shopping. Converting even a fraction of these opportunistic shoppers […]
3 Ways You’re Wasting Staff Time & Retail Labor Costs
The retail industry was beset by uncertainty and unprecedented operational challenge in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded across the world. It was a year of sudden lockdowns, store-capacity restrictions, endless sanitization protocols and a fundamental shift in the way customers shop, as more and more buyers opted for online shopping or curbside pickup. For […]
How Innovative Retail Companies Are Capitalizing on Their Outdoor Footprints in the Pandemic
As 2020 comes to a close, the pandemic is a long way from being over. But the initial shock to in-store retail in the first half of the year—when in-store shopping bottomed-out by more than 80 percent—has slowly faded. By late September, the drop-off had rebounded to only around 25 percent. Here’s the bad news: […]
Grocery Store Operations: What Shoppers & Front Line Workers Reveal on Reddit
2020 was a year of the ordinary becoming the essential. At the beginning of the year, videoconferencing was a niche tool for connecting remote teams, or staying in touch with relatives across the country; now, it’s the backbone of the business economy. The exercise bike was a rarely used contraption that sat in the corner […]
5 Retailers Using Tech Incubators to Stay Competitive
As traditional retailers take stock of the marketplace in 2019, it’s beginning to appear as though fears of a full-blown “retail apocalypse” were exaggerated. Today, upwards of 90 percent of all retail sales are still completed in physical stores, and industries such as home furnishings, automotive and beauty supplies maintain low percentages of e-commerce sales […]
5 Ways to Attract Retail’s Conscious Consumer
Voters have to wait years to register their opinions at the ballot box, but consumers can vote with their wallets every day. And as ‘Buycotting’ campaigns—from #DeleteUber to the war on plastic straws—become increasingly effective means of activism, more and more consumers are putting their money where there values are. This rise in so-called conscious […]
3 Grocers Using Tech to Combat Food Waste and Drive Profits
The first thing most consumers see when they walk into a supermarket is the produce department. It’s specifically designed to evoke bounty, with gleaming, freshly misted piles of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables in every colour imaginable. But the problem with bounty is that it can lead to waste. In fact, the USDA estimates that in-store […]
How Nike Slayed 2018, and Takeaways for Fashion Retailers
2018 was a year full of wins for Nike, on the field and off. The brand’s iconic swoosh was ubiquitous at the 2018 World Cup before a television audience of nearly 3.6 billion people—the third-most-viewed television broadcast of all time. By Nike’s count, 60% of the athletes competing in the tournament’s opening round wore Nike […]
