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 […]
Retailers Form 3 Unconventional Partnerships to Beat Coronavirus
In a recent op-ed for CNN, Marcelo Gleiser, 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate and Natural Philosopher at Dartmouth College declared that Covid-19 will change us as a species. Most of us are facing the first major global crisis in our lifetime. Likening the war against the virus to the world wars our parents and grandparents witnessed, […]
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Covid & Pharmacy Retail
Let’s talk silver linings. By now, we’re all familiar with both the serious devastation and annoying everyday inconveniences of life during a pandemic. In addition to dispensing life-saving medication, pharmacies are often the closest place to grab a bottle of water or toilet paper. As a result, health retailers occupy a unique position in retail. […]
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 […]
What Happened When I Used CB4’s AI Engine to Predict US Covid-19 Outbreaks
Last month, as COVID-19 began to hit New York City hard, I flew back to Colorado in order to weather the storm with my parents and sister. I soon found myself trying to explain what I do for work. Unsatisfied with “we use AI to identify in-store opportunities”, we moved onto what exactly a “Variable […]
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 […]
How to Support Your Grocery Staff During Coronavirus
During the 2019 holiday season (and man, does that feel like a long time ago now…) we put together a white paper called, “How to Unlock the Potential of Your Part-Time Workforce.” It was written by Heidi Sax on our editorial staff, and it was my favorite piece that we published last year. It’s an […]
