Tracking the food retail evolution from workforce to sustainability and beyond.
By Emily Crowe
This special report charts four key themes driving the vision of fully integrated retail:
As grocers fight to capture market share in an increasingly competitive playing field, having powerful capabilities that can optimize key drivers of success will be crucial to prolonged, profitable growth. The future of the grocery store will be shaped by four disruptive imperatives – workforce, sustainability, customer experience and omnichannel – each of which should be carefully considered when making investment decisions and forward-looking plans.
As grocers fight to capture market share in an increasingly competitive playing field, having powerful capabilities that can optimize key drivers of success will be crucial to prolonged, profitable growth. The future of the grocery store will be shaped by four disruptive imperatives – workforce, sustainability, customer experience and omnichannel – each of which should be carefully considered when making investment decisions and forward-looking plans.
Click here to activate these four key themes
Tracking the food retail evolution from workforce to sustainability and beyond.
This special report charts four key themes driving the vision of fully integrated retail:
Featuring exclusive Q&As with:
Customer Experience
As grocers fight to capture market share in an increasingly competitive playing field, having powerful capabilities that can optimize key drivers of success will be crucial to prolonged, profitable growth. The future of the grocery store will be shaped by four disruptive imperatives – workforce, sustainability, customer experience and omnichannel – each of which should be carefully considered when making investment decisions and forward-looking plans.
One thing that’s guaranteed never to go out of style at food retail is striving to create an optimal customer experience. Shoppers now have, and will continue to have, more options than ever when it comes to choosing where to purchase their groceries, and making a positive impact both online and in brick-and-mortar stores remains vital.
— Bill Gray, Givex Rewards
Rewards get personal
"What’s changing now is getting rewards more personalized, and the retailer being more in touch with the shopper and knowing what they want next."
Customer Experience
When it comes to driving a positive online customer experience, Gray stresses the need to reduce friction and make shopping a truly seamless journey. “It’s just making it easier and staying ahead of the competition,” he says.
“You’ve got to make it easier because the competitor down the street is going to be making it easier,” continues Gray. “They’re going to be putting relevant deals in front of the shoppers, and if you’re not doing it, you’re out of the game.”
Technology enhancements like smart carts, electronic shelf labels and more can enhance the in-store shopping experience, but at the end of the day, customer experience could come down to very simple terms, such as grocers having the same products that their competitors have, as well as keeping customer service at the forefront of operations.
Analytics, data mining, first-person data, third-person data and other forms of technology will all continue to be imperative when getting to know shoppers and giving them exactly what they want, when they want it. Loyalty programs can help drive this data and knowledge, while rewards add to the customer experience, as well as encouraging repeat visits.
Another avenue to consider when looking at the future of customer experience is subscription programs, such as Walmart+ or Kroger Boost, which can help food retailers of all sizes extend their physical aisles out into the internet and offer shoppers access to better deals and products. Grocers that adopt this strategy will have the ability to sell non-standard grocery products, ethnic items, and more, and also offer better deals on larger product sizes. Gray believes that the technology and supply chains of the future will help aid the frictionless adoption of these programs.
