Marketing: Loyalty & Subscription

  1. Trends & External Forces

The Power Of Proprietary and Defining Private Label

The New York Times reports that this week, Amazon Prime Video “becomes the first streamer to serve the patrons of the Masters, joining mainstays CBS and ESPN.”  A major deal, the Times suggests, that signifies the degree to which Amazon is delivering on its ambitions. “It was eight years ago that Amazon Prime Video completed […]
2 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Reoccurring Customer Visits Drive Incremental Revenue Faster

  The growth algorithm across all sectors of food retail—restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery service delis—has converged on one immutable truth according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®:  frequency of visits is the most reliable driver of incremental revenue and long-term profitability. What was once a convenience-store insight is now […]
5 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Guest Column:  Thom Blischok on “Retail Restructured”

Content Guy’s Note:  I don’t run a lot of guest columns on MNB, but when I read this LinkedIn posting from Thom Blischok, of The Dialogic Group, I decided that it was exactly the kind of piece that should be featured here – it focuses on how three major retailers are engaging in fundamental rethinking […]
3 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

The VETO Vote Wins: What Amy’s Drive Thru Closure Signals About Organic & Vegan Foodservice

  The closure of Amy’s Drive Thru—including its final unit at San Francisco International Airport—is not an indictment of organic or vegan food. It is a case study in consumer relevance, price elasticity, day-part fit, and the ultimate authority of the “consumer-facing VETO vote.” From the perspective of the Grocerant Guru®, the takeaway is clear: […]
5 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

Local Brand Building at Scale with Ace Hardware’s Kim Lefko

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Kim Lefko, SVP and Chief marketing Officer at Ace Hardware, which has over 5,000 stores around the world with the majority of those stores independently owned and operated by local entrepreneurs.  Follow Kim Lefko on linkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimlefko/ Follow RedVest media on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/redvest-media/ Follow […]
2 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Intuit Mailchimp’s Sarah Logan: retailers need clarity, not more campaigns, to drive profitable growth

By Sarah Logan, Head of Agency Partnerships, EMEA, Intuit Mailchimp Despite having more ways of reaching consumers than ever before, retail marketers are finding it harder to convert customers. However, it’s not due to the lack of campaigns, but the lack of clarity: With so many touchpoints at play, it’s difficult to clearly see which […]
4 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

McDonald’s Has Lost the Plot — and Consumers Are Walking Away

  For decades, McDonald’s has been the gravitational center of American fast food — a brand so large, so omnipresent, that it seemed immune to the pressures reshaping the rest of the restaurant industry. But in 2024–2026, the Golden Arches have begun to flicker. Not because of a single scandal or a fleeting trend, but […]
4 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Is AI Retail’s New Front Door? with Bret Taylor (OpenAI Board Chair & Sierra CEO) and Guest Co-Host Neil Saunders

Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc are joined by guest co-host Neil Saunders, Managing Director and retail analyst at GlobalData, bringing his signature analytical rigour and on-the-ground store insights to a wide-ranging discussion of the week’s biggest retail developments and the future of AI-powered commerce. For our feature interview, Steve sits down live at ShopTalk with […]
2 min read
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  1. Channel: Ecommerce & Digital

Behind Amazon’s Rural Delivery Infrastructure Focus

From Bloomberg: “Small business owners craving extra cash are on the front lines of an ambitious Amazon.com Inc. initiative: bringing the quick delivery popularized in cities and suburbs to America’s remote outposts. Many rural online shoppers are used to waiting half a week or longer for purchases to arrive. Amazon, which disclosed its $4 billion […]
3 min read
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  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. Data & Insights

Grocers Step Up: Solving Parents’ Time Crunch with Better-for-You Meal Solutions

  Back-to-school is no longer just a retail event—it’s a high-stakes meal solutions moment, where grocers have a unique opportunity to solve one of the most persistent pain points for families: time-starved parents seeking nutritious, convenient, and kid-approved food options according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. In 2026, the […]
5 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

Crowning the Comeback: How Burger King Is Reclaiming Its Throne in Fast Food’s Marketing Cycle

  The quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector has always been defined by cycles—periods of menu innovation followed by simplification, bold brand storytelling followed by value-driven messaging, and digital disruption followed by a return to operational basics. Few brands illustrate this pendulum swing more clearly than Burger King, which is now signaling a strategic return to form […]
4 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Gen Z Eats on the Move: Why Value, Convenience, and Brand Trust Are Reshaping Every Meal Occasion

  Gen Z isn’t abandoning brands—they’re recalibrating how, when, and where they spend. New data from First Insight reveals a nuanced shift: while national brands still dominate preference across food and beverage categories, Gen Z is actively reallocating spending, prioritizing value in everyday consumables while trading up in lifestyle-driven categories. For food marketers, operators, and […]
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. 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. Technology & Innovation

Many Brits would stump up more for a seamless shopping experience, Visualsoft research

New research from Visualsoft, surveying 2,000 UK consumers, shows that 33% would pay a premium for a seamless shopping journey. Among younger consumers aged 18–34, that figure rises to more than 60%. Frictionless shopping is key for younger demographics, and that includes everything from knowing what’s in-store before setting out, simple payments, earning loyalty points […]
4 min read
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  1. Department & Category

The Grocerant Guru® on Everytable: Why “Better-for-You” Food Is Better for Everyone

  The U.S. food industry is undergoing a structural shift. Consumers want food that is convenient, affordable, flavorful, and nutritionally responsible—all at the same time. That convergence sits directly at the heart of the Grocerant Guru® thesis: the future belongs to food retailers and restaurants that blur traditional lines and deliver ready-to-eat meals with retail […]
5 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Why Local Retailers Outperform Algorithms When It Comes to Knowing Their Customers’ Needs

Digital platforms promise precision. They track clicks, monitor behavior, and categorize preferences. Algorithms now shape much of modern commerce, directing what consumers see, what products surface, and what brands rise. Yet despite this technological dominance, product discovery remains fundamentally human. Local retailers continue to outperform algorithms because they understand context. Independent store owners and staff […]
2 min read
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  1. Department & Category

RoFo Sauce, Tender Fest, and the Playbook of Food Identity: Why Royal Farms Is Quietly Learning from Fast Food Giants

  In today’s hyper-competitive food retail ecosystem, success rarely comes from simply selling food. It comes from creating menu item identity, delivering portable value, and building loyalty ecosystems that keep customers returning day after day. That’s exactly what Baltimore-based convenience retailer Royal Farms is doing with the debut of its proprietary RoFo Sauce as the […]
5 min read
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  1. Stores & Formats

Moves To Drive Food Industry Back To The Past Gain New Momentum

The New York State Attorney General has come out in favor of a bill that would ban electronic shelf labels, calling them an “exploitive practice” resulting in higher prices. From The Gothamist: “New York Attorney General Letitia James is throwing her support behind state legislation to curtail retailers and grocers from setting prices using algorithms […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

The Iron Man Suit of Fashion: Stitch Fix’s Human + AI Formula

AI may be everywhere right now, but for Stitch Fix, it’s been foundational for 15 years. In this episode of Retail Remix, Nicole Silberstein sits down with Tony Bacos, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Stitch Fix, to explore how the brand blends data science and human instinct to power personalized styling at scale — […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Operations & Supply Chain

Why returns are rewriting the rules of inventory agility

​[[{“value”:” Returns were once considered a back‑room problem. They still may not dominate boardroom agendas, but returns have become a central concern for modern retail and ecommerce operators. In a recent survey of 150 supply chain leaders by GXO and Retail Dive’s Studio, 62% cited returns processing costs as one of the most difficult aspects […]
4 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

The mounting cost of voice fraud: Revenue loss, broken trust and operational strain

​[[“value”:” Voice fraud is now one of retail’s fastest-growing threats, and fraudsters are winning. A new survey by Modulate and Retail Dive’s Studio by Informa TechTarget found that eight in 10 retail and finance leaders faced moderately to highly sophisticated voice attacks in the past year. Tactics are evolving faster than most organizations can adapt. […]
4 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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