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Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

Jay Jacobowitz is President and Founder of Retail Insights®, a professional consulting service to the natural organic products industry, with a focus on retail. With nearly 50 years of industry experience, Jay publishes annually the Retail Insights® Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Food, Supplement, and Personal Care Sales, the definitive source for natural products sales through all U.S. retail channels, and provides retailers strategic guidance for expansions, relocations, valuations, mergers, and acquisitions.

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Follow the Money

October 24, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

Are your co-op ad dollars going to someone else?Would you like an extra $30,000 to promote your store every year? There’s a rather large and open secret in the natural products industry: independent retailers are consistently losing out on their share of cooperative advertising dollars that manufacturers have allocated to...

Employee Performance

September 17, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

The best performance review takes place daily.As a new manager in my 20s, I found myself responsible for a dozen inside-sales staff and a half-dozen field salespeople at the natural products distributor Stow Mills, a predecessor company to United Natural Foods. While I had worked various jobs since age 16,...

Mission, Money & Meaning

August 24, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

The Future of Food Retailing and the 20,000-Square-Foot Field of PlayIn 1980, you couldn’t find yogurt in a supermarket. By the early 1990s, Peter Roy and John Mackey of Austin, TX-based Whole Foods Markets were “rolling up” the largest independent natural products retailers around the U.S. to form the first...

Service and Selection: Finding the Balance

July 13, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

One great strength you have as an independent natural products retailer is your broad selection of hard-to-find, high-quality products. But for first-time natural shoppers, this massive selection can be overwhelming. You remember the jam study, where a large independent high-end supermarket known for its selection presented two sample tables...

The Price of Liberty

June 28, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

Most of us didn’t miss a wink while Durbin’s amendment failed.Washington, D.C., 10:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Late in the evening on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, the advocacy team of the Washington, D.C.-based Natural Products Association (NPA) became aware that longtime natural products industry opponent, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin...

The Employee Discount

May 17, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

Should you offer one?Should your employees receive a discount for purchasing products from your store? In my view, there are several compelling reasons why you should consider it. 1. The employee product-purchase discount is a valuable, untaxed fringe benefit that enhances implied compensation. Instead of increasing base pay, giving a...

Special Comment: New Chapter-Procter & Gamble Tie-up

March 23, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

Industry veterans with long memories will recall some early examples of supplement brands that tried to make the leap from exclusive distribution in the independent natural products channel to the mass market. Plus and Thompson come to mind. More recently, several other brands have followed the same path, with...

The Risk of Rewards

February 23, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

Discounting can put you out of business.Recently, several natural products retailers have asked me about discounting in the form of “rewards” or “loyalty” programs. Because most natural products retail stores operate on thin net profit margins—usually 4–6% before paying taxes—discounting in any form can badly damage your profits and, at...

Building an End Cap

January 19, 2012

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

How do you create an effective end cap? Here are a few tips. 1. An end cap is promotional, so you should refresh it at least once per month. 2. Pick your theme first, like “Heart Health Month” for February. 3. Use a visual design concept based on the...

Why Tell Your Story?

December 20, 2011

Jay Jacobowitz, President & Founder, Retail Insights

How important is it to promote your store?Giving seminars around the country, I ask natural products retailers to tell me why they think it is important to tell the story of their store. “Because we care,” says one. “Because we’re knowledgeable,” answers another. “Because we help,” offers yet a third.

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