Running a retail food store is a young person’s gig. Lots of heavy bags and boxes to move around, staying active all day, relatively low pay. The generation now coming through your doors to apply for work is digital native; wired differently than baby-boomers. How can you relate? How do...
For small business owners with limited marketing dollars, it’s a common conundrum: Should you focus your marketing budget on generating new customers, or should you focus your time and efforts into cultivating repeat customers? Which is going to have a stronger impact on the bottom line? It’s easy to get...
In this issue we present our 37th Annual Retailer Survey Overview, which breaks down the results for independent natural products retailers for the 12 months ending June 30, 2014. In addition, I hope you’ll feast your eyes on Retail Insights’ 2015 Retail Universe for Premium Natural, Organic Food, Supplement, and...
Shoppers can be picky about produce. A slightly bruised apple or misshapen tomato can sometimes be enough to let a perfectly good item go to waste. Vig’s Health Food Store of Lewiston, ID, recently decided to do something about it by introducing the Imperfect Produce Bin. The store has deep...
What makes you decide to shop in a store? If you need diapers for the baby, maybe you don’t need to get in the car and drive to a brick-and-mortar location. You know the brand, style and size you need, and you can save time and possibly money by simply...
According to Bob Phibbs, “The Retail Doctor,” on The Kinesis Blog, it takes less than 0.05 seconds for online users to form an opinion about a Web site (1). This impression forms users’ opinions about a company and dictates whether they will stay or leave the site. As a business,...
Way back in my distribution days, when we started servicing conventional supermarkets that wanted to bring in “natural sets” for the first time, nearly all of the brands we wholesaled were ecstatic at the chance to dramatically increase their sales. This included both food and supplement manufacturers. There were, however,...
Do you factor generational differences into your approach to acquiring new customers? How much thought do you give to a generational mix when designing your advertising and marketing programs? Are you looking for a new method to stay ahead of your competition and stay on the leading edge? If so,...
Sprouts Farmers Markets announces plans for 1,200 U.S. stores. In response, Whole Foods Market ups its projections to 1,200 stores from 1,000 stores. Fresh Thyme targets the Midwest for 50 stores, saying there are “gaps” in service from conventional grocers they plan to exploit. Mrs. Green’s, with nearly 20 stores...
At this point, we all know that social media can be a great marketing tool and many stores are active on Facebook, Twitter or both. Once you’ve signed up for a social media account and placed the Follow Us on Facebook link prominently on your Web site, you’ll inevitably ask...
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