COVID19

Articles about the impact Covid19 has had on the retail industry.

  1. Data & Insights

Marketing Contracts Under Economic Pressure Despite Growing Value and AI Gains

Share Post Share Email Results from the 35th edition of The CMO Survey paint a challenging portrait of opportunity and challenges for marketing leaders. These findings arrive at a moment of notable economic stress, and the results reflect it — not just in the macroeconomic data, but in the patterns of behavior, investment, and strategic […]
4 min read
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  1. Associates & Employees

Labor Pains

There were a number of stories that were reported over the past few days that illustrate the state – and state-of-mind – of the US workforce. •  Gallup is out with a study saying that “the personal and professional environment of U.S. workers was worse at the end of 2025 than at any point in […]
4 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

Darden Restaurants: From Dining Rooms to Doorsteps—The Strategic Evolution of Takeout, Delivery, and Bundled Meals

  Few companies illustrate the transformation of American dining habits better than Darden Restaurants. Known for powerhouse brands like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, Darden has steadily repositioned itself from a dine-in dominant operator to a multi-channel foodservice leader where off-premise occasions drive incremental growth. The Historical Shift: From Dine-In to Off-Premise Dominance Historically, Darden’s […]
5 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

Darden Restaurants: From Dining Rooms to Doorsteps—The Strategic Evolution of Takeout, Delivery, and Bundled Meals

  Few companies illustrate the transformation of American dining habits better than Darden Restaurants. Known for powerhouse brands like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, Darden has steadily repositioned itself from a dine-in dominant operator to a multi-channel foodservice leader where off-premise occasions drive incremental growth. The Historical Shift: From Dine-In to Off-Premise Dominance Historically, Darden’s […]
5 min read
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  1. Department & Category

Lane Crawford’s CEO Jennifer Woo on Building a Different Kind of Department Store; Plus Lululemon Struggles, Macy’s Stalls, and Five Below Shines

This week on The Remarkable Retail podcast, Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc begin with a sweeping look at the key retail and macro stories of the week, then dive into a compelling interview with Jennifer Woo, Chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based luxury retailer Lane Crawford. Woo shares her unusual path into retail leadership, from […]
2 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Abuse and threats against retail workers continue to grow, according to survey

Retail trade union Usdaw has launched statistics from its annual survey of nearly 9,000 retail staff showing that abuse and threats continue to grow, with violence still more than double pre-pandemic levels. With shoplifting having more than doubled since the pandemic, the survey found that… This story continues at Abuse and threats against retail workers […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Corporate Strategy

Planning for Uncertainty

Almost exactly 6 years ago, as things started to shut down for Covid, I drew a cartoon about the challenges of planning in a time of uncertainty. An executive holds up a coin and says, “We need to update our forecast. Heads, this will blow over soon. Tails, it’s the end of the world.” At […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Are You Counting Visitors or Buyers?

Foot traffic dropped for the first time since COVID last year. Most retailers still don’t know why. This week’s blog, The Thing You’re Avoiding, is about the thing on your list you keep skipping — and what it’s actually costing you to avoid it. In this newsletter, we’re looking at why foot traffic alone is no longer […]
4 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

Exclusive Q&A: Why Retailers Should Leverage the Power of Dynamic Pricing

The flurry of tariffs that have reshaped international trade have created multiple challenges for retailers, and among the biggest is their concern about passing along tariff-generated price increases — particularly as consumers remain focused on budget-cutting and value. For the entire retail ecosystem, these disruptions are sharpening the focus on supply chain flexibility and resilience. […]
4 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Staying Human in the Age of AI

Image by addyfe (UrbanOrigami) using Midjourney. A few days ago at I delivered a keynote at a SAP event at their US Headquarters in Newtown PA on Staying Human in the Age of AI. Nearly 2000 people comprised of technologists ( primarily enterprise architects) from the top 1000 global companies and leaders of SAP listened […]
6 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

The Grocery Barbell Effect: The Middle Is Shrinking — and the Food Dollars Are Moving

  The latest JLL report confirms a structural reality: the American grocery marketplace is no longer linear — it’s polarized. Traditional supermarkets are being compressed between aggressive discounters and premium fresh specialists. Foot traffic data from Placer.ai shows traditional grocers such as Kroger and Safeway captured 73.2% of grocery visits in Q1 of last year […]
5 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Retail Technology Show: Roblox tops TikTok as biggest commerce channel for Gen Z shoppers

Roblox is the fastest growing Gen Z commerce channel, with order volume growth outstripping that of TikTok, according to research from Retail Technology Show 2026. Its study of 1,000 shoppers revealed that on average Gen Z made 20 purchases on Roblox in the last 12 months, rising +54% year-on-year.  This outgrew TikTok, which experienced a […]
3 min read
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  1. Channel: Delivery

As Winter Storm Raged On, Food Delivery Remained Essential

As the northeastern US got hammered by a blizzard yesterday, the New York Times reports that food delivery workers were among those considered to be “essential.” From the Times coverage: “During the heaviest snowfall in New York City since 2016, which closed the city’s schools, shuttered Broadway and caused the city’s airports to cancel thousands […]
2 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

25 Years of Day-Part Disruption: Winners, Losers & The Economics of Relevance

  True day-part disruption is not menu extension.  It is behavioral ownership according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Over the last 25+ years, only a handful of brands have meaningfully shifted consumer eating occasions, at scale. Let’s take a look, at what the team at Foodservice Solutions® thinks about […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Store Openings Are Up. Here’s Why That Matters.

At normal speed, retail looks fine. Traffic seems steady. The team is working. The showroom looks good. And yet — the numbers don’t always add up. This week’s blog, The Beauty in Slow, is about what happens when you slow the camera down. Because underneath every comp report, every “store opening,” every earnings headline, there […]
3 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Latest CMS Data Reveal Six Trends Reshaping U.S. Drug Spending

The boffins at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently dropped the latest National Health Expenditure (NHE) data, which track all U.S. spending on healthcare. (Links below.) We spent an astounding $5,278,588,000,000 on healthcare in 2024. Yes, that’s $5.3 trillion! Retail outpatient prescription drugs accounted for less than 9% of that total. More […]
2 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Curating the Future of Local Restaurant Commerce: Perspective on Curate, Instant Apps, and the Long Arc of Foodservice Technology

  From Cash Registers to Clicks: A Brief Historical Context Foodservice technology has always evolved in response to friction according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. In the 1970s and 1980s, the friction was labor and accuracy—solved by electronic POS systems. In the 1990s and early 2000s, it was inventory […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Amazon’s and Saks’ Retail Reset, Plus Live from the Big Show: NRF Top Voices Billy May and David J. Katz

The episode opens with a sweeping look at the biggest retail stories shaping January. Amazon dominates the headlines again, this time with the closure of all Amazon Fresh grocery and Go stores and a renewed reliance on Whole Foods and online grocery. At the same time, Amazon is laying off tens of thousands of employees, […]
2 min read
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  1. Acquisitions, Divestitures & Mergers

Tipping in the Grocerant World: The Real Price of Food, Labor, and Convenience

  Tipping is no longer a social afterthought—it is a structural component of the modern food economy. As restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and delivery platforms converge, consumers are navigating a fragmented system where food prices are transparent, but labor costs are not. In the Grocerant World, tipping has become the consumer’s most direct investment […]
5 min read
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  1. Department: HBC

How Beauty & Wellness Destination Bubbles & Mane Finds Products that Match its Vibe

The moment one sets foot in Bubbles & Mane, you immediately sense a vibe of beauty, wellness and spiritual harmony, and know you are about to be totally immersed in a self-care experience. Just the walk from the front door to the check-in desk relaxes the mind and fills the senses with an array of […]
6 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

OpenAI’s Latest Mega-Fundraise, Big Tech Earnings Week, Amazon Layoffs?

Sam Altman is fundraising again and the next round could be historic. The OpenAI CEO is reportedly in early talks with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds about raising $50 billion, a round that could give his company a valuation between $750 billion and $850 billion and eclipse its own record-setting $40 billion SoftBank investment fulfilled […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

A Small Change That Saves Time, Protects Margins, and Signals Hospitality

  Delivery platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub have permanently altered the economics of foodservice. They drive incremental sales but extract a heavy toll—often 15–30% in commissions—at the same time operators face a shrinking labor pool and rising wage pressure. The modern restaurant reality is clear: doing more with fewer people is no longer […]
3 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

Investing in Culture: Why Starbucks, Why Now

  In foodservice, culture is not a soft concept—it is an operational lever according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Starbucks’ decision to institutionalize a new leadership layer across its U.S. estate is a clear signal that the brand understands this reality and is acting decisively. By rebranding assistant store […]
4 min read
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  1. Acquisitions, Divestitures & Mergers

The New Economics of Eating Out: Customer Acquisition, Loyalty, and Chain Restaurant Viability Through 2030

  The U.S. chain restaurant industry is at an inflection point according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. After years of post‑pandemic recovery, rising operational costs, menu price inflation and volatile customer traffic, the calculus of growth has shifted. Traditional metrics like same‑store sales and unit expansion remain important—but they […]
5 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

2026 Food Price Forecast: Relief or Rebound? CPI Data Reveal What Shoppers Will Face Across Grocery, Convenience, and Restaurant Sectors

  As 2025 wraps up, labor statistics and industry forecasts point to continued food price inflation in 2026 — but at moderated levels compared with recent years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that overall food prices rose about 2.6 percent over the last year, with food at home (grocery store purchases) up 1.9 […]
5 min read
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  1. Channel: Delivery

Gopuff enlists Rick Ross and Wiz Khalifa for rapid delivery of New Year’s Eve party essentials

Gopuff is teaming up with hip hop big hitters Rick Ross and Wiz Khalifa to ensure New Year’s Eve parties across the US are fully stocked. On December 31st, Ross becomes Gopuff’s “Chief Delivery Boss” and calls Khalifa for backup, bringing rapid delivery of Luc Belaire bubbly and McQueen and the Violet Fog Gin (for […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Malls’ New Success Strategy: Attracting Gen Zers Hungry for Social Contact

Malls are coming off the holiday season on a high — despite years of stories about the demise of the shopping center, consumers ventured to the mall in droves to cross items off their shopping lists and enjoy the spirit of the season. For example, visits to indoor malls on Super Saturday (the last Saturday […]
8 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Small Business-Retailer Partnerships with GlobalData Retail’s Neil Saunders

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Neil Saunders, Manging Director & Retail Analyst at GlobalData Retail. Follow Neil on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilretail/Follow GlobalData Retail on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/globaldataretail/ This episode was recorded in Seattle at Amazon Accelerate 2025. Neil answers these questions: Neil, What are some of the biggest surprises you’ve encountered […]
2 min read
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Editor’s Choice

  1. Trends & External Forces
  2. Shopper & Customer
  3. Technology & Innovation
  4. Trends & External Forces
  5. Associates & Employees
  6. Merchandising
  7. Stores & Formats

Walmart to Expand Digital Shelf Labels Chainwide

Walmart will deploy digital shelf labels (DSLs) chainwide this year, doubling the approximately 2,300 U.S. locations currently using the technology (Walmart U.S. operates more than 4,600 stores). With more than 120,000 items in a typical Walmart store, managing price changes manually requires significant associate hours. Additionally, these DSLs are equipped with LED lights that make […]
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