Shoppers' changing interests.
"What seems important to me has changed a lot in the last few
years." That comment resonated at a recent focus group and
triggered a survey about how shoppers themselves see themselves
changing. . . .
FMI was more fun than flavor.(Food Marketing Institute)
Going to the FMI spring conference in Chicago this year was like
being a kid turned loose in that candy store complete with ice cream
cones. It was an opportunity for unlimited nibbling on the fat, . . .
Fresh today specials.(Brief Article)
Do "fresh today" specials run the risk of making
everything else seem less fresh? That depends on how the specials are
handled. In many cases, the possibility of having to stock more of
today's . . .
Healthy grab and go.(health prepackaged food)(Brief
Article)
Fast food and convenience stores are doing a better job of
responding to this wish than supermarket delis. McDonald's has
introduced premium packed-to-go salads. Convenience stores are . . .
Price visibility.(supermarket pricing policies)(Brief
Article)
This scored in the top seven because it's a storewide
irritant. In many ways, delis and bakeries have better price visibility
than any other department in the store. The price-visibility problem . . .
Clean aprons may be important.(cleanliness is important to
customers)(Brief Article)
Dirty aprons used to be as common in delis as they were in butcher
shops. Slicing spatters and spots happen. The impact of food scares and
growing knowledge about the role of cleanliness in . . .
The freshness imperative.(salad and prepared food
freshness)(Brief Article)
Salads and prepared foods are the freshness dating sore spots. No
one has accurately measured the aggregate sales lost to retailers'
failure to meet shoppers' need for freshness assurance. Although . . .
What shoppers would like to see in their deli, dairy and bakery
departments.
What Shoppers Would Like To See In Their Deli, Dairy and Bakery
Departments
Differences of 10% of more between Total 125 107
older and younger shoppers are shown . . .
Friendly service tops everything else.
The top-rank for friendly deli service suggests a hunger to
personalize at least this one part of the supermarket. It also suggests
nostalgia for what delis were before they became part of . . .
Women are smart buyers.(Brief Article)
A business group called "Women In Packaging" just
reported on a member survey taken to evaluate women's preferences
of "how they like to be approached as buyers, and what behaviors
they find . . .
Store brand advertising.
The growth of store brand advertising is changing perceptions of
the role of store brands in the marketplace. It's also raising some
questions and some eyebrows. Some consumers like it, others . . .
The win-win position.
Consumers are frequently smarter than marketers (who frequently try
to outsmart them) give them credit for being. Smart consumers, like
smart people in general, like to feel that they really know . . .
Avoiding the negatives.(Brief Article)
When a store shows that their version of Ritz crackers cost $1.00
while the same size of Nabisco's original costs $2.00, there is an
implied putdown of the Nabisco original. The implied put down . . .
Merchandising insight.(Wegmans Food Markets Inc.)(Brief
Article)
A walk through a new Wegman' s before the crowds poured in
gave me a chance to see and digest a novel approach to store brand
merchandising. Large overhead price and item signs throughout the . . .
Store brands blossom.
Store brands continue to be about saving money, but most of our
younger shoppers agreed that they are now as good as national brands in
most food categories. "I mistrusted store brands until I . . .
Brand blur?(Brief Article)
In a multi-subject survey, we asked shoppers what they thought
about brand blur. Our question went like this: "One expert is
saying that consumers don't depend on brands as much as they used
to . . .
How to save McDonald's.(Brief Article)
McDonald s freshness image problems were discussed in the February
Shopper Report. During March, we got feed back suggesting that we d
failed to talk about the sparkle of cleanliness, which . . .
Patriotism questions.(Brief Article)
It s usually great for retailers to communicate their involvement
and their positions. But for the first time in our memory, a significant
number of mainstream consumers are raising questions about . . .
In-store customer relations.(Brief Article)
Today s stresses appear to be exacerbating both customer and
employee irritability. The tales shoppers are telling us suggest that
the frequently annoying demands of customer care are triggering . . .
Lost in the takeovers.
Almost everywhere that retail takeovers happen, some customers and
some employees are disappointed. Among the comments that arrive here,
less than one out of every 40 comments about the new owners . . .
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