Campaign corner
This changes everything. Two months following the initiation of its marketing campaign focused on farmers and health, the prominent alternative meat company Beyond Meat is intensifying its emphasis on the health benefits of its products through the introduction of its latest "This Changes Everything" campaign. This move comes a few months after receiving certification from the American Heart Association for the heart-healthy attributes of its Beyond Steak product.
Emergency pizza. Domino's announced the launch of "Domino's Emergency Pizza," a program designed to provide customers with a complimentary medium two-topping pizza for use during their times of greatest need. To be eligible for the Emergency Pizza offer, customers are required to make a digital purchase online or place a digital carryout order valued at $7.99 or higher. Upon the successful completion of their order, customers become eligible for the Emergency Pizza promotion.
Technology in retail
Grocery events 2024. Trade shows are a dynamic platform for invigorating various industries, offering attendees opportunities to explore new strategies in response to the evolving business landscape. Some of the key grocery industry events in 2024 include the NRF's "Big Show" in New York, FMI's Midwinter Executive Conference in Florida, the Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas, the NGA Show in Las Vegas, Natural Products Expo West in California, Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis, IDDBA 2024 in Houston, and Groceryshop in Las Vegas, each catering to the specific needs and interests of professionals in the grocery and food industry.
Intelligent fragrance development. Procter & Gamble is enhancing its fragrance capabilities through the implementation of scalable AI-powered technology to enhance its control over malodor management. This fragrance design software enables P&G to exert greater influence over the digital scent creation process, resulting in accelerated time-to-market and improved processes throughout product development and design. Collaborating with Moodify, the company is modernizing its fragrance initiatives by harnessing intelligent algorithms to drive innovation in product development.
Retail experts
Negociating. What do you think of the promise of chatbots to haggle, or negotiate prices, to help drive online conversion for retailers? Do you see enough appeal for consumers? These are the questions that various retailer experts answered in one of Retail Wire’s discussions. This is what Neil Saunders mentioned:
Hiring expectations. What does the variation in hiring expectations for the holiday season mean for the retail industry as a whole? What do you think is the primary reason some retailers are planning to hire fewer seasonal workers than normal? Retail experts shared their opinion regarding this topic in one of Retail Wire’s discussions. Here’s what Jeff Sward stated:
In other news…
Online holiday sales. Adobe Analytics forecasts that online holiday sales for the period from November 1 to December 31 are expected to reach $221.8 billion, marking a 4.8% increase from the previous year. Buy now, pay later options are anticipated to contribute $17 billion in online spending, up from $14.5 billion in 2022. Retailers are expected to offer the most discounts on toys (35%), followed by electronics (30%), apparel (25%), sporting goods (24%), televisions (22%), and furniture and bedding (19%). Additionally, the report suggests that 51.2% of online spending will occur on mobile devices, surpassing computer-based online shopping for the first time, and nearly half of U.S. shoppers plan to start their holiday shopping in October.
Supply chain. A McKinsey survey of supply chain leaders revealed that 95% of them faced challenges in the past year, leading 100% of them to take actions to enhance the flexibility and resilience of their supply chains, marking a 3% increase from 2022. To achieve greater flexibility and proximity to their markets, 66% of respondents brought suppliers closer, 42% engaged in nearshoring, and 44% increased backup production sites. Additionally, 64% planned to regionalize their supply chains, with a focus on Western Europe and Southeast Asia, and optimizing inventory levels was a top priority, though there was uncertainty in how inventory management strategies would evolve.
