Stores Weekly

For several reasons, grocery shopping seems to be an increasingly frequent occurrence, though no longer a thankless chore. Shopper preferences and habits are driving up the number of trips, and the market appears to be on the cusp of a major shift in how consumers access food and household items.

It’s no secret that communication, collaboration and a healthy dose of well-deployed technology are essential for the health of any retail organization. Through productive dialogue with customers, competitors and consultants, a retailer can strive to continuously improve all aspects of its operations — be it merchandising, promotion, logistics or, perhaps most importantly, security.

Boston-based ecommerce site Dough is highlighting women-owned businesses with the launch of a subscription-based service. The effort took off in June with 1,000 founding memberships, available for $89 on a first-come, first-served basis. It’s an opportunity for women to support women with their wallets, says co-founder Vanessa Bruce.

Rush, rush, rush? When it comes to pizza, not so fast. Sargento introduced its Reserve Series, featuring aged cheeses, with a “world’s slowest pizza” campaign. Consumers were able to order a free pizza on April 29 — but had to wait between four and 18 months for delivery. The idea was to emphasize just how long it takes for these quality cheeses to age.

Jeffrey Rayport, a faculty member in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, helped plan the recent NRF NXT conference. Now Rayport sits down with NRF’s Retail Gets Real podcast team to talk about the three-ingredient “secret sauce” retailers can employ to keep pace with today’s competitive retail platforms. Listen here and subscribe.

NRF’s 2019 National Retail Security Survey found that 89 percent of loss prevention executives saw increasing overlap between retail LP teams and cybersecurity teams, but only 30 percent were regularly involved in cybersecurity issues. Executives from Williams-Sonoma Inc., Dunkin' Brands, Jack in the Box and D&D Daily discussed how IT and LP can work together at the recent NRF PROTECT 2019 conference. Read more.

The rise of social media influencers has given retailers of all sizes a new way to reach untapped customers and promote their brands. At NRF NXT, H&M USA’s head of marketing Mario Moreno shared how H&M built its influencer ambassador program, along with three tips for turning influencers into a network of loyal and diverse content creators. Read more.