Trends

Dry January, Sober Spring, Dry July Sober September – these seasonal holidays are gaining popularity with younger generations that now abstain from alcohol on a short-term or longer term basis as reported here in Phil Lempert’s review of key trends for 2020.

In his enlightening review of key trends for 2020, RDBA President and CEO Phil Lempert showcased the addition of modular micro-farms at grocery stores as a way to bring the farm directly to shoppers, providing an unique “pick-your-own” experience.

As plant-based burgers hit retail stores, your customers and internal team members may have questions about these products. Here are some important considerations as you provide customer guidance and assist your store(s) with driving sales across all departments.

Phil Lempert, RDBA's CEO, has an unique ability to predict trends well ahead of the curve. Join this webinar to gain an understanding of emerging retail and health and wellness trends in 2020.

The National Retail Federation’s Big Show filled New York City’s Javits Center with drones, robots, self-checkout, touch screens, mirrors that let you try on clothes (without trying on clothes) and countless technologies all designed to move the retail environment to the future. In mid-January, nearly 40,000 people gathered to search for the silver bullets that could fix declining sales, lost customer traffic and equip them for the battle against online shopping. I found few silver bullets.

The numbers say it all about fresh. According to IRI’s 2017 Top Trends in Fresh Foods study, the grocery store perimeter has outpaced other areas by 2.1 times. IRI also reports that spending in the fresh departments, including produce, prepared foods, bakery, meat and seafood as grown from $116 billion in 2013 to $140 billion in 2017.

The grocery industry is stepping up its investment in shopper-facing robot technology ambitiously, and evidently with much confidence, as it strives to offset the costs of online delivery and pressure from non-supermarket competition.

If 2019 was the year of the mushroom, then 2020 is poised to be the year of The Blend™. 

The Financial Post in Canada writes that food visionary and restaurateur David Chang “wants the ethnic food aisle to die.” Chang “urged supermarkets to mix it all up instead, putting sauces and spices with spices, regardless of where they came from.” He argues that the current ethnic food aisle is “out of date and doomed … because it puts all the places in the world that are not White America in one aisle.”

Recently, I’ve had several interesting discussions with retail RDs as well as program managers on new priority benefits that are of interest to employees and being requested from employers.