3 Ways Retailers Are Getting More Done, Faster With CB4’s New Messaging Feature
Good communication in retail—so important, but so hard. When it comes to communication, the odds are stacked against retailers. That’s because store teams are remote and usually (if they’re doing their job well) not in front of a computer. The bigger the chain and the more product you sell, the more complex it all gets—the […]
Conflict De-Escalation 101: Cautionary Tales for Retail Operations
The holiday spirit may feel less jolly this year, and not just because customers and store staff will be wearing masks and socializing from a safe distance. The frenetic shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas has always called for extra patience in retail operations and—for some stores—more security guards. But holiday retail during the […]
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 […]
Covid Retail Restructurings: Just in Time or Too Little Too Late?
Birthday parties. Vacations. Your daily commute. Everything, including a trip to the store, changed completely in 2020. City and state governments, along with some of the biggest companies on the planet are all rethinking budgets and resource allocation. Many retailers are doing the same with highly public restructuring moves. Historically, restructuring (read: closing stores, cutting […]
10 Things I Learned Leading a Remote Team Through the Pandemic
Work—what it means, how it happens, and where it takes place—has completely changed due to Covid-19. I don’t need to tell you that as you read this article at home on your iPad, in the quiet moments between Zoom meetings. If managing a team was hard in the past, it’s arguably ten times more difficult […]
Grocery Shopping in the Time of Corona: It’s Awful
Of all the uncertainties the novel coronavirus as brought upon us, one thing is absolute: shopping has changed. Specifically, grocery shopping. In a recent survey we ran, more than 50% of customers across the country said that they were afraid to shop in supermarkets. Give that a minute to really sink in. More than 50% […]
How Retailers Are Responding to COVID-19: A Timeline
Coronavirus has hit the world—and the retail industry—hard. Some retailers are grappling with empty stores. Others with empty shelves. Some are just trying to stay afloat. All strive to serve their customers, the workforce, and their communities. As a partner to many in the retail industry, we’re gathering and sharing stories of how retailers are […]
How Retail is Readying for a Post-Pandemic Rebound
While the so-called “retail apocalypse” turned out to be a big ol’ bust, recent times haven’t taken it easy on brick-and-mortar retail. Business consultants and retail strategists have long been calling retailers’ attention to the game-changing forces challenging the industry. Retailers have chosen when and where to adapt, for better or worse, doing their best […]
5 Ways Grocers are Protecting Their Store Teams Through the Pandemic
Regardless of whether the stores in your chain are 16,000 or 135,000 square feet, keeping daily operations running smoothly is a big challenge under normal circumstances. That challenge is now Mount-Everest-sized due to a pandemic that no one at any level in your organization has experienced or trained for. Necessity is the mother of invention […]
5 New Rules for Retailing in a Recession
Back in 2009 during the Great Recession, Harvard Business Review published a piece by Ken Favaro, Tim Romberger, and David Meer entitled “Five Rules for Retailing in a Recession.” In this article, we’ll take a look at the rules the authors laid out and see whether they stand up in today’s crises. And if they […]
