Shoppers Returned To Stores For The Holidays
Shopper traffic to physical retail stores has strongly rebounded from 2020. Data from Placer.ai, a company which measures shopper visits across a wide range of physical stores including grocery, apparel, big box, department and specialty, indicate that shoppers returned for the 2021 holiday season. Store visits were higher than 2020 and slightly ahead of 2019 […]
Starbucks Tests Cashierless Stores
Starbucks is exploring a new store format in partnership with Amazon that will allow customers to buy drinks, snacks and other items without waiting in line, utilizing automated checkout technology developed by the e-commerce giant. The first concept store opened recently in New York City, on 59th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues. The companies […]
The Absolute Simplest Explanation for America’s Supply Chain Woes
Supply chain problems have dogged the world economy all through the pandemic. Early on, panic hoarding and problems in particular industries, such as semiconductors, made it impossible for shoppers to get their hands on specific items like Clorox wipes or a new Playstation 5. But those narrower problems have sprawled into a much broader mess. […]
Halloween is Back on Track
Halloween is back on the schedule this year and Americans wanted trick-or-treaters, more decorations and new costumes – for us, the kids and our pets. When the totals are reported, consumers are expected to have spent a record $10.14 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation, up from $8.05 billion in […]
The Grocery Business Is Going To Get Much More Competitive
During the pandemic, home delivery and customer pickup of groceries exploded. Those changes are now significantly impacting the future of the grocery business, making the business harder and more competitive than before. There are two reasons why this is occurring: one is in home delivery and the other is in-store. Home Delivery With the realization […]
Why retail bankruptcies have stopped dead — for now
To appreciate the turnaround the entire retail industry has made over the past year, consider the months of July and August 2021 compared to July and August 2020. In 2020, over those two months, 11 major retailers filed for bankruptcy. Over the course of just seven days last July, five retailers went bankrupt (The Paper […]
This Amazon Fresh Store Is Only Blocks From A Whole Foods. Why?
The two grocery properties are in the same Washington, D.C., neighborhood. But the stores are on such different trajectories it may not matter. On a July day in Washington, D.C., the latest Amazon Fresh store opened. The checkout-free grocery concept allows customers to enter through a QR code tied to their Amazon app, place items […]
The US has 8.4 million unemployed and 10 million job openings – Why?
A mystery sits at the heart of the economic recovery: There are 10 million job openings, yet more than 8.4 million unemployed are still actively looking for work. The job market looks, in some ways, like a boom-time situation. Business owners complain they can’t find enough workers, pay is rising rapidly, and customers are greeted […]
Wegmans in Manhattan: the State of Retail 2021
The news this week that Wegmans will open a new store in what was the Kmart on Astor Place in Manhattan says so many things about the state of retailing circa 2021 that it’s hard to even figure out where to start. But start first with the facts: Wegmans Food Markets, the upscale supermarket chain […]
Dick’s Is Testing 5 Store Concepts. Here’s Why.
Store revamps are also in progress, and the sporting goods specialist Dick’s is expanding its private label reach as it looks to maintain a winning position. Since June of last year, Dick’s has debuted four new store concepts, announced the launch timeframe for a fifth, set up a new men’s private label, signed brand ambassadors […]