By John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. With any size retailer, getting customer trial at your store is the easy part. If the store owner throws out a compelling offer – perhaps a free deal – customers will come to your store to “check you out.” This is fairly straight forward, [...]
Gulfcoast Software Solutions introduces the new Store Keeper Plus module. Manage up to 1000 stores in real time between store and corporate level. 10x per second provides an accurate picture of your store in real time in an easy to use reporting format with intuitive graphic capabilities. Graphical interface allows you to view all of [...]
Study finds some shoppers are looking at products in-store, then using their phone to find it cheaper elsewhere. A recent blog post by Retrevo examined the results of a Retrevo Pulse Study that polled shoppers about how they use their cell phones when they shop. Findings showed retailers aren’t doing enough to give smartphone equipped [...]
An effective rewards program can drive new business and increase the average ticket ring with existing customers. By Howard Riell, Contributing Editor. There was a time when loyalty programs were tools used by large chains to reward customers for their daily business. But the times have changed. Convenience store operators of all sizes are now [...]
General purpose prepaid debit cards are rapidly gaining favor with consumers as an alternative to closed-loop gift cards. By John Lofstock, Editor. Sales of open-loop prepaid cards, issued by banks and credit card companies and able to be used at multiple establishments, are only going to go up as more consumers come to appreciate their [...]
Despite the global recession, convenience stores have thrived thanks to their ability to provide fast service, quality products and great value in strategic locations. As service and location remain the industry’s primary competitive advantage over supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers, many of whom are moving into the fuel and fresh food business, convenience stores [...]
ExxonMobil has introduced the “Exxon Mobil Fuel Finder” iPhone and iPod touch application, which provides drivers with real-time maps, driving directions and station information for more than 10,000 Exxon and Mobil retail locations across the continental U.S. “We are very excited to bring our customers the first mobile app from ExxonMobil, using technology to allow [...]
Global retail theft totaled $107.3 billion in 2010, representing a 5.6% decrease from the prior year (6.8% in the U.S.), according to the fourth annual edition of the Global Retail Theft Barometer. Click here to view the entire study. The study, sponsored by an independent grant from Checkpoint Systems, monitored the costs of shrink (loss [...]
In his FY 2011 budget proposal, President Barack Obama addressed the need for bringing healthy food options to underserved communities by calling for more than $400 million in investments in new and expanded supermarkets, farmers markets and other food stores. The public-private grant and loan program would dramatically reduce the roughly 23 million Americans who [...]
Innovation will differentiate the winners from the losers in this crowded retail marketplace. IRI’s Summit 2010 will enable retailers to identify innovative ways to use valuable insights to drive profitability and growth in the current economy, how to understand and predict shopper behavior across channels and geographies and learn best practices for profitable pricing and [...]
A new study, sponsored in part by ADT and its Sensormatic Retail Solutions group, revealed the need for retailers to focus on technology solutions that enhance their current operational goals and combat theft without adding labor costs. They study, “Loss Prevention 2010: Retailers Battling Shrink in Touch Times,” found that during these challenging economic times, [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Frito Lay Cheez-It (Kellogg’s) Chex Mix (General Mills) HONORABLE MENTIONS Combos (Mars) Cape Cod (Lance) Pringles (P&G) The down economy has inspired a consumer trend toward eating in and choosing less expensive home-entertainment options, which has been a boost to the salty snacks category. Customers are likely to choose snacks they perceive as [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Oreo (Nabisco/Kraft) Kellogg’s/Keebler Chips Ahoy (Nabisco/Kraft) HONORABLE MENTIONS Bon Appetit Mrs. Freshley’s (Flowers Foods) Prairie City Bakery Sweet snacks purchases are on the rise at convenience stores creating new sales opportunities across all dayparts. Packaged sweets accounted for 2.6% of the $114,010 stores acquired through average monthly sales in 2008, according to the [...]
TOP PERFORMERS PaySpot (dba epay) Coinstar HONORABLE MENTIONS Incomm First Data Prepaid services are changing the way customers do business. Low-income families, unbanked and underbanked customers, students, those with poor credit and customers that spend much of their time on the road are among those taking advantage of prepaid debit cards and bill services that [...]
Mounting cigarette costs are driving smokers to test cost-effective tobacco alternatives, such as roll your own (RYO). The 2009 NACS State of the Industry report, which polled 156 retail firms with 20,553 stores as of December 2008, found that pipe and cigarette tobacco sales had the strongest growth of all tobacco products and were up [...]