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Grocery Stores That Are Emerging as Market Research and Technology Labs Means Opportunity

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In 1916, the first modern, self-service grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was opened in Memphis by a Tennessee entrepreneur, Clarence Saunders. In the little over a century since, humanity has experienced a wave of technological innovation exponentially greater, many times over, than at any other time in human history. Of course, the grocery industry hasn’t remained untouched by that technology. We’ve seen innovations in food storage, shipping, online merchandising, self-checkout kiosks, and more. Despite that, the actual brick-and-mortar grocery experience has remained virtually unchanged. Grocery stores continue to order and stock popular products that customers select and pay for. That dynamic, however, may be changing, and that could mean big things for the industry, CPG marketing and brokerage agencies, and the customer. Emerging Technology Much of the recent innovation in retail grocery isn’t exactly predictable as much as it seems like an inevitable step once
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What Does the Grocery Store Dining Experience Mean for the Future of Grocery Retail?

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The rise of the internet marketplace has forced every industry to make some adjustments. Grocery retail has certainly not been an exception. Any sales and marketing agency worth its salt would tell the average brick-and-mortar retail business that the key is shifting their business strategy to an outgoing one, and to focus on making products available online. The retail grocery industry, however, isn’t positioned to live largely just online. Rows of fridges and freezers, deli, bakery, and butcher setups require real estate. The only recourse for grocery stores is to bring business to them.    As a result, the industry has seen an upswing in more niche and artisanal grocery stores, increased point of sale convenience, an emphasis on health and transparency, and, significantly, a reimagining of what grocery stores are and provide. There are two key components of that paradigm shift. One is a generally expanding push to control and market more of the food preparation p
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How Grocery Outlets Can Prepare for the Millennial Holiday Experience: Friendsgiving

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The “Millennials are killing [insert industry, product, service, or convention here]!” trope is cliché to the point that it’s now become a self-referential joke about the commonness, and often absurdity, of the accusation. That it’s become a canard taken increasingly less seriously makes sense. The seemingly accusatory implication that a generation, collectively, showing less interest in something, financially or otherwise, is a failure or betrayal on the part of that generation is part of the issue. The reality is every generation, ever, has seen the rise and fall of countless products, conventions, and trends. More importantly, if millennials are “killing” something by not spending their money on it, it’s a virtual certainty that they’re spending that money on something else. For the retail industry, which certainly includes grocery retail and the CPG marketing agencies supplying them, this should present an opportunity. For instance, the fact that millennials a
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How Your Niche Food Product Can Compete Against a Brand Giant

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Entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses in food retail face an enormous obstacle: established brand giants. Of course, that’s an obstacle faced by small businesses in any market, but it tends to be a larger obstacle for niche food brands. That’s due in part because people tend to be very particular about what they choose to ingest, which can make for extreme brand loyalty. That very personal, very particular concern about what one eats and drinks serves as an extremely powerful motivator to choose the best products on the market. This can mean that over time as different trends and health information come to light that people can be looking for products to potentially replace the brand giant they grew up with or are most familiar with. That provides an “in” from which a shrewd food retailer can carve out a sizable chunk of market share, particularly when partnered with a competent CPG marketing agency. Establish Your Ideal Customer and Take Them Away F
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Is That Hot, New Health Product Worth Investing Your Store’s Money in?

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Trends are the name of the game for much of retail merchandising. It’s certainly the case for grocery purchasing (just ask a CPG marketing agency). Trends that are picking up steam can draw mini-rushes of interest and purchases. But in some cases (seemingly overnight) all that stock that had just been flying off the shelves is now relegated to the discount rack. Then there are the products that prove to be steady trends, rather than fleeting fads. They’re the ones that peak, dip, and then plateau—but seldom disappear (like quinoa, smoothie-specific fixings, granola, goat cheese, etc.). This is one of the features that distinguishes a fad from a trend. So how can you know if a trending health product is a long-term draw worthy or early adoption, or a flash-in-the-pan fad destined to fizzle out? Consider the Sources and the Claims The general nutritional information provided by mainstream scientific authorities and organizations usually turns out to be accur
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How to Sell Your Online CPG Brand to Retail Chains

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So, your niche food or drink product or brand has been doing well online. You have a website with the appropriate dedicated point-of-sales landing pages and may also be offering your product through third-party vendor sites as well. This is the point at which online sellers of consumable goods face an all-important decision for their brand: Continue to sell solely online by focusing exclusively on digital marketing, optimization, ads, and expansion to seek additional internet-linked niche markets and the sites catering to them? Or, is it worth going after brick-and-mortar grocery stores and retail chains? The latter can certainly be a risk, but success would change everything. However you choose to court the grocery retail market, it’s going to require an investment of time, money, and effort. The question is: Which of those investments is going to yield the greatest ROI? Which direction offers the greatest possibilities for growth? Being Your Own Brand Amba
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Meal Kits: Fleeting Fad or Here to Stay?

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First off, what are meal kits? As the name promises, meal kits are a collection of all of the ingredients you’ll need to create a specific meal—proportioned ingredients, spices and sauces, and step-by-step instructions—combined in a single kit. Meal kits are usually ordered online from companies such as HelloFresh and Blue Apron. They typically arrive once a week as a subscription service, have two or more servings per meal, and usually are designed to be completed within an hour or less. Who is Buying Meal Kits? Although the age, income level, and general situation of consumers buying meal kits vary considerably, they tend to be more popular with a younger demographic. Perhaps predictably, the specific younger demographic most likely to order and eat meal kits are urban, middle- to upper-middle-class millennials, with men being slightly more likely to use a meal kit service than women, according to a survey conducted for MONEY. Why Are They Buying Meal Kit
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