Where should you place the products in your store? Or, more precisely, which product categories should be next to one another to optimize shopping? Your choices can grow or shrink sales, and a well-thought-out merchandising plan can subconsciously relax your customer, encouraging her or him to slow down and...
As if there weren’t enough competition…Whole Foods Market decides to compete against itself. One cannot say that Austin, TX-based Whole Foods Market isn’t willing to change. In its May 6, 2015, quarterly conference call, discussing the company’s newly revealed plan to open a completely different grocery brand banner, with smaller,...
Is retailing a dead-end job? Many people think so. But if you were one of them, you wouldn’t have opened your store. So, how can you communicate your enthusiasm to current and prospective employees, most of whom likely work out of necessity, not aspiration? First, let’s agree that an engaged...
In February, Nestlé announced it would clean up its ingredient list on its signature chocolates, followed about a week later by Hershey, with a similar announcement to use “simpler” ingredients in its ubiquitous candies. A couple of months ago, drugstore chain CVS dumped $2 billion of its sales at a...
You spend your days helping others achieve optimal health, but what about your store? As the old adage goes, it is always the cobbler’s children that have no shoes. So, with March in full swing, and your vitamin and supplement sales at their annual peak, now is a good time...
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...
What is the state of the natural products industry in 2015? For a clear picture, let’s look at what the consumer wants, which has been rapidly changing. Healthy Lifestyles Healthy lifestyles are a growing factor in American culture, as a majority of U.S. households now actively aspire to achieve better...
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...
What products should you carry? The answer to this question 20 years ago was fairly simple, since natural products weren’t widely available; you just carried them all. But today, with retail competitors in eight separate distribution channels offering some or all of the same products you carry, the answer becomes...
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...
