RFID in Food Retail: Will Stores Bite?
RFID technology—short for “radio-frequency identification”—is often associated with controlling inventory and reducing theft. It uses electromagnetic fields to identify and track tags that have been attached to different items. RFID in retail means the item might set off an alarm if someone tries to lift it from a store. But it also means the item […]
Top 3 US Retail Pharmacies: Who’ll Capitalize on Consumer Obsession with Health & Wellness?
Note to reader: This is the second installment of our series on how the top retail pharmacies in the US—Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens—are evolving to meet ever-changing consumer demands. When you’re done, check out first installment on new store formats. Retail pharmacies have long been a one-stop-shop for beauty, grocery and yes, pharmacy. But […]
Local Grocery Chains vs. Big Box Supermarkets: Which is Coming Out of Covid-19 Ahead?
The COVID-19 outbreak pushed no industry (save for healthcare and biotechnology) to evolve as dramatically as the grocery retail industry. Within weeks of the pandemic’s arrival, big box retailers and local grocery chains alike were driven to upend their operations across the board, from stocking to staffing to safety protocols. Behemoths such as Walmart and […]
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 […]
5 Grocery Industry Trends to Watch in 2021
Nearly one year after the COVID-19 pandemic began ravaging the globe, your local grocery store is likely looking a little different. Few businesses have been affected as dramatically by the virus as the grocery industry. Initially slow to adapt to e-commerce, the grocery industry has shoveled billions of dollars this year into developing online platforms […]
5 Ingredients That Make Kroger a Customer Favorite in the Food Retail Industry
Customer delight on aisle three! The Kroger Co., the Cincinnati-based, largest pure-play supermarket chain in the country, had more than 2,750 stores as of early 2020. Despite its reach, however, the chain has also been known for something else: being a consumer favorite in the food retail industry. As with other large chains, that may […]
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: […]
Retail Strategy: Compete for Bargain Shoppers Without Seeing Red
The pandemic-driven boon in online shopping has brick and mortar stores searching for a successful retail strategy to stay competitive in the shifting landscape. Mega-retailers like Walmart (famous for its “everyday low prices”) and Amazon (famous for next day shipping on reasonably priced staples) have reported a rise this year in sales of pandemic-related items, […]
Retail Industry Trends: Make a List and Check it Twice for a Successful Holiday Season
Before we can say 2020 is a “wrap,” there’s still shopping to be done. The challenge? For many, the impending holiday season feels a bit like the rest of year: rife with uncertainty, ongoing changes and unfamiliar situations. Retailers and consumers alike are facing things they could never have previously imagined. Retail industry analysis shows […]
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 […]
