... and Costco Tames the Amazon Beast ...

Is it possible to "Amazon Proof" your offering?

Maybe.

Maybe Costco has some lessons to teach us.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Costco's June comps show that the retailer is continuing to successfully deflect e-commerce pressure and ride strong momentum as food deflation abates.

For the forty-four weeks ended July 2, the company reported net sales of $104.28 billion, an increase of 6 percent from $98.51 billion during the similar period last year.

U.S. comparable sales in June rose 6.3%. Total worldwide comps were 6.5%.

Costco has been steadily adding locations, growing its membership base (despite fee hikes), and increasing its sales.

Here is the full story:

https://retailleader.com/costco-knows-how-be-amazon-proof

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Grocery Stores in Decline

If you aren't growing, or increasing market share, you are probably going the other way.

Bad news for the well-established Supermarket concept.

Here is a snippet from the story:

Sure, Americans head to Costco some days, drop by the dollar store another, and sometimes swing by their neighborhood grocer, too. But that doesn’t mean they’re happy about all that running around, andProgressive Grocer’s new annual report finds that many feel forced to make multiple trips to find everything they want.

And whether shoppers are looking for deals, quality or variety, supermarkets continue to be on the losing end, with their share of total grocery spending—about $2 trillion each year—falling to 54.5%. That means its slice of the grocery pie has fallen more than six percentage points since 2007. Warehouse clubs and supercenters continue to be the big winners, with their combined share rising from 25.1% in 2007 to 31.3%.

Read on:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/280591/report-finds-grocery-stores-continue-to-lose-share.html?edition=94758

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Kroger Increases Omnichannel Presence

Pretty significant news in grocery retail.  Kroger has acquired a strong eCommerce player.  This move seems obvious to allow Kroger to acquire a skill-set it was missing.

Here is one article on the news:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/krogers-ecommerce-buy-puts-them-into-the-grocery-delivery-fray/#.U7rAxZRdX9Y

Here is a snippet from that piece:

With the purchase of online Vitamin seller Vitacost.com, supermarket chain Kroger is ready to enter the big leagues of grocery-delivery competition with such marquee players as Google and Amazon.

“(Kroger) now has companies like Google competing against them because I can order the same stuff,” Forrester Research Inc. analyst Adam Silverman told CIO Journal.

Here is another article:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/kroger-augments-mobile-expertise-with-vitacost-buy

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Excellent write-up on the implications of this move:
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/viewpoints-blogs/guest-viewpoints/expert-column-kroger%E2%80%99s-vitacostcom-acquisition-%E2%80%93-what-does-it-mean

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0055 Mobile for Holiday Shopping Retail Strategies

This is a good time to take a look at the real world utilization of mobile to support Holiday sales.

Multi-Channel Merchant.com has a nice write-up on the topic:

7-ways-support-holiday-sales-mobile-strategies

Here is a snippet from that piece:

After a disappointing sales season this fall for Victoria’s Secret, Costco, and American Apparel, among other merchants, the stakes are high for retailers heading into the crucial holiday shopping season. While it’s difficult to predict which retailers will reign supreme during the most crucial selling time of the year, one thing is certain: mobile devices will play an even bigger role in supporting retail sales this holiday.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0013 Crowdsourcing Grocery Shopping

Very interesting concept.  A San Francisco startup called "Instacart" uses crowd sourced grocery shopping fulfillment to provide a new method of online grocery shopping.

Full article is here:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-10/instacart-crowdsourcing-your-grocery-shopping#r=tec-ls

Here is a snippet from the article:

The company’s app sends customer orders to about 200 independent Bay Area personal shoppers, who receive commissions based on the number of items and orders they deliver in their own vehicles. The app features detailed maps of local supermarkets and can direct the personal shoppers to specific aisles. Founder Apoorva Mehta says Instacart’s “secret sauce” is its fulfillment software, which allows the online retailer to combine orders placed at different times and fill them from different stores—supplementing frozen food from Trader Joe’s with fresh fruit from Whole Foods (WFM) and cereal from Costco (COST).

Here is the company web site:
https://www.instacart.com/store

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant