Viewpoints

The worst thing about conventional wisdom is it’s often mistaken for absolute truth. Case in point is the assumption that supermarkets are stuck in the middle — between value and upscale retailers — and dying as a result. As this line of thinking...

Earlier this year, Lidl quietly launched a new promotional loyalty card within Scotland. Shoppers are encouraged to sign up for the new “Smarter Shopping” loyalty card to “Knock pounds off your big shop, again, and again, and again.” This effort ...

A few weeks ago I wrote about how growth is defined in various ways. A key facilitator of growth however should be quite clear — the Human Resources department. At present, the supermarket industry has several growth and expansion initiatives ...

It’s hard to get better sales numbers than what supermarkets are seeing in health and wellness. SN’s Whole Health industry survey back in March produced eye-popping results. Some 80% of industry respondents said these categories have grown in sal...

You don’t need to be a history major to remember Burger King’s “Have it Your Way” television commercial from the 1970s. It was a savvy move by the company to appeal to frustrated McDonald’s customers who found it hard to get (or get in a timely f...

The reality is that increased food shortages, due to global weather conditions, could well be a real problem for keeping supermarket shelves stocked in the near future. The latest quarterly report from the privately held global investment managem...

Natural and organic foods have become democratized, and supermarket retailers have made registered dietitians available to the masses, but now health aspirations could become even more attainable as Andronico’s Community Markets adds certified ho...

You don’t have to be in the food retail industry to know many supermarkets don’t consider nonfoods a core segment. The lack of strategy is often apparent on the shelves in areas ranging from general merchandise to health and beauty care. Less ...

The thing about produce departments is, they kind of all look the same. “And not even from an assortment standpoint. Even just a merchandising strategy,” said Jonna Parker, director, Nielsen Perishables Group. “It’s an important department...

The story line about Millennials is different now. Until recently food retailers were a bit tentative about Generation Y, focused more on questions such as, “When will they get married, have families, and start spending more?” There was no ...