Economy

Articles on how the economy is impacting retail.

  1. Media & Marketing

5 Ways Brands Can Beat Inflation

The pressure of inflation on name brands is starting to show. Prices slashed. Pack sizes reduced. Budgets cut. Innovation postponed. Advertising on hold. All of which ignores the one sure and proven way to win during downturns. Don’t cheapen the brand. Making sure a brand fits a budget is true during good times, too. So, […]
2 min read
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  1. Associates & Employees

Labor Pains May Be Easing

The New York Times this morning writes that “by many measures, the labor market is still extraordinarily strong even as fears of a recession loom. The unemployment rate, which stood at 3.7 percent in August, remains near a five-decade low. There are twice as many job openings as unemployed workers available to fill them. Layoffs, […]
2 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

5 Tips to Boost Your Holiday Search Strategy

With the global economic downturn, inflation, ongoing supply chain challenges, and uncertainty due to the Ukraine war, this year’s holiday shopping season promises to be very challenging. Will people be in the mood to spend despite the gloom? Or will they rein in their enthusiasm and save for the year ahead? With these issues in […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

How Retailers Can Monetize Data

Few words have been used and overused more than “data.” What emerged from a series of zeros and ones has evolved into a critical pillar of every business. Data drives all aspects of a company, from research, buying behaviors, stock/inventory levels, assortment plan, replenishment, website design, store merchandising, staffing and finance to product lifecycle and […]
7 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

Made.com notches up a social commerce first with Pinterest campaign

Furniture and homewares retailer Made.com has launched its first Idea Ads with Paid Partnership campaign on Pinterest, making it the first brand to do so in the UK. To support its Never Ordinary campaign, the company’s collaboration with two creators on the platform (Kerry Lockwood and Little Big Bell) aims to inspire Pinners to style […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

NRF: Consumer Confidence Down, But Spending Still Grows

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is out with its assessment of August spending, concluding that while “consumers remain worried about high inflation and Federal Reserve interest rate hikes intended to bring inflation under control,” they are not so worried that they’ve stopped spending.  The rate of spending growth may have slowed a bit, but “consumer […]
2 min read
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  1. Channel: Ecommerce & Digital

Amazon Launches “Affordable Shopping” Hub

TechCrunch reports that Amazon is innovating in the “affordable shopping” space, launching a consumer hub called Amazon Access, designed to allow shoppers “to explore the programs, discounts and features” that will help them find more economical options. According to the story, “The new Amazon Access hub gives customers access to information on options like payment […]
2 min read
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  1. Channel: Drug

Walgreens Turns To Robots To Fill Prescriptions

The Wall Street Journal reports that Walgreens is using robotics to help compensate for staffing shortages in its retail pharmacies, “setting up a network of automated, centralized drug-filling centers that could fill a city block. Rows of yellow robotic arms bend and rotate as they sort and bottle multicolored pills, sending them down conveyor belts. […]
2 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Americans inflate the impact of higher prices

American consumers believe that food inflation is 5.1 percent higher than it is in reality, according to new research from dunnhumby. “Consumers are responding by changing their shopping behavior, and perhaps most troublingly, nearly a third are cutting back or completing eliminating some meals,” said Grant Steadman, president for North America at dunnhumby. “Retailers and […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

10 retail trends to watch in 2023

The world of retail is moving faster than a new PlayStation console on launch day. Luckily, we’ve got bags of consumer insight at the ready to help you work out what’s next for the industry. Big questions are swirling around the future retail trends of 2023: What are people spending more on?  Which generations are […]
6 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Retail Vacancy Rate Hits 15-Year Low

Retail vacancies in the United States dropped to 6.1% in the second quarter, a 15-year low, as Americans continued to resume in-store shopping. Asking rents for shopping center spaces during the quarter were 16% higher than five years ago, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday (Oct. 4), citing figures from commercial real estate broker […]
2 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Consumer confidence remains solid in face of economic challenges

Prices are rising and the stock market is not doing well. On the other hand, the job market remains strong and consumer confidence is high despite the challenges. Sylvester Villareal, owner of Bundy Auto Sales, said his business in Santa Monica, CA, is doing well. “Around where I work, it’s not a blue-collar area, but […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Retail Ecosystem

Groceryshop 2022: Top Retail Influencers’ Key Takeaways

The RETHINK team visited Las Vegas from September 19-22 for Groceryshop 2022. While there, we had the opportunity to speak with many of our Top Retail Influencers and learn about their event experience. #TRI2022 members- Ricardo Belmar, Michael LeBlanc, Jeff Roster, Melissa Minkow, Bryan Gildenberg, Andrea Leigh, and Stewart Samuel- all shared their thoughts on […]
5 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Unlocking the Business Benefits of IoT-Enabled Food Retail 

Amid evolving consumer preferences and a myriad of business challenges across food retail, organizations have turned to digital transformation as a source of support for their physical supply chain and stores. Among the most prevalent innovative adoptions is the applied use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. However, as economic volatility has increased and consumer […]
2 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Customers Over Competitors: How to Build a Lasting Competitive Advantage

Across the e-commerce landscape, brands and business leaders are reckoning with economic conditions that present serious challenges to growth and profitability. Inflation is higher and consumer sentiment lower than at any point in multiple decades. Continuing disruptions from compounding crises of the pandemic, supply chain, and war in Ukraine have rendered nearly every organization’s growth […]
3 min read
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  1. Department: Food

Brand Strength Begins With Trustworthy Value

Beyond Meat, the plant protein, traditional meat alternative brand, has a value equation problem. A value equation is the internal mind-set that customers have when assessing the worth of a brand. A value equation is a mental perception that assesses value prior to a purchase. A customer-perceived value equation is what you get for what […]
5 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Consumers believe food inflation is higher than it is

CHICAGO – Americans believe that food-at-home inflation has hit 22.8%, 9.7 points higher than the 13.1% annual rate reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to the latest dunnhumby Consumer Trends Tracker (CTT) released Monday. The perceived rate of food at home inflation is 5.1% higher than the dunnhumby Consumer Pulse report from February […]
3 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

NRF: consumers still spending despite economic concerns

WASHINGTON – Consumers are still spending despite their worries about inflation and rising interest rates, National Retail Federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said today. “The economic situation in the United States is unsettling,” Kleinhenz said. “Consumer confidence is down, consumer spending’s rate of growth has slowed, and economists and consumers alike are worried about the […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Sorting Out The Employment Piece Of The Current Economic Puzzle

From the Wall Street Journal: “A persistent economic puzzle is why labor is still so tight amid slowing growth, high inflation and growing fears of recession. “Gross domestic product growth slipped into negative territory in the first half of the year. Borrowing costs have risen steeply as the Federal Reserve boosts interest rates in an […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Walmart+ attracts subscribers from up and down the economic ladder

Walmart believes that the value of its Walmart+ subscription is compelling enough to attract larger numbers to the service, even those participating in federal assistance programs. The retailer says that around 25 percent of its current members receive food assistance from the government.
< 1 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

A New ESG?

ESG has been important to companies and to investors though recently there has been some blowback from certain segments of the market on whether ESG is a feel-good, hard to measure, share-holder unfriendly and fuzzy goal. This piece proposes that while ESG remains important a new ESG which is far more focused and therefore measurable, […]
6 min read
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  1. Department: HBC

As Cannabis Goes Mainstream, Opportunity Grows for Traditional Retailers

Cannabis is in growth mode: the industry posted sales between $24.5 and $27 billion in 2021 and reached an estimated 11,800 retailers in 2022, according to data from the MJBiz Factbook. A Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans believe marijuana should be legal and 16% of adults aged 26 and over used cannabis in […]
6 min read
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Editor’s Choice

  1. Shopper & Customer
  2. Corporate Strategy
  3. Corporate Finance
  4. Media & Marketing
  5. Shopper & Customer
  6. Technology & Innovation
  7. Trends & External Forces
  8. Stores & Formats

Retail Vacancy Rate Hits 15-Year Low

Retail vacancies in the United States dropped to 6.1% in the second quarter, a 15-year low, as Americans continued to resume in-store shopping. Asking rents for shopping center spaces during the quarter were 16% higher than five years ago, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday (Oct. 4), citing figures from commercial real estate broker […]
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  1. CPG: Food
  2. Department: Food
  3. ESG
  4. Merchandising

Nestlé Confectionery reveals Quality Street and KitKat sustainable pack innovations

Nestlé Confectionery has announced sustainable packaging innovations for two of its best-loved brands – Quality Street and KitKat. In a category first, Quality Street will move to recyclable paper packaging for its twist-wrapped sweets. By replacing the double layer of foil and cellulose with a paper wrap, Quality Street will remove more than two billion […]
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  1. Retail Ecosystem
  2. Channel: Delivery
  3. Channel: Ecommerce & Digital
  4. Channel: Grocery - Natural
  5. Department & Category
  6. Corporate Strategy
  7. Corporate Purpose
  8. ESG
  9. Partnerships & Alt Profit
  10. Media & Marketing
  11. Retailer Media
  12. Agencies & Vendors
  13. Retail Ecosystem
  14. Data & Insights
  15. International
  16. Shopper & Customer
  17. Technology & Innovation
  18. Trends & External Forces
  19. Retail Operations
  20. Associates & Employees
  21. Operations & Supply Chain
  22. Stores & Formats

Groceryshop 2022: Top Retail Influencers’ Key Takeaways

The RETHINK team visited Las Vegas from September 19-22 for Groceryshop 2022. While there, we had the opportunity to speak with many of our Top Retail Influencers and learn about their event experience. #TRI2022 members- Ricardo Belmar, Michael LeBlanc, Jeff Roster, Melissa Minkow, Bryan Gildenberg, Andrea Leigh, and Stewart Samuel- all shared their thoughts on […]
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