Frank Pacheco

Dollar General is enhancing its retail media program by teaming up with solutions provider Criteo. The commerce media platform will work with the retailer's Dollar General Media Network (DGMN) arm to support onsite sponsored ad offerings. Through this arrangement, brand partners can access inventory and campaign execution and utilize Criteo’s self-service demand-side platform. Among other capabilities, brands can leverage DGMN’s inventory within their private market through Criteo’s retailer monetization platform. In addition, the technology enables brands to reach Dollar General’s digital customers who often build lists online before making their weekly in-store purchases. Omnichannel insights will be available for marketers to see if sales are taking place online or in-store. | Progressive Grocer https://lnkd.in/gATgumgr #retail #retailmedia #grocery #shoppers #media #digital

11

Target didn't just miss on revenue and earnings (20%!)- this was standing in the batters box and flailing wildly at a ball 3 feet off the plate. When you permanently lower prices on 10,000 items (including staples like diapers, bread, and milk), increase same store foot traffic by 2.4% YoY, and still have same store declines of 1.9% - all while your biggest rival, WalMart RAISES their quarterly and annual revenue forecast the day before - retailers and brands would be near criminally negligent not to take notice. Even front running the Holiday sale didn't help. Other take aways for brands to consider: ➡ Forecasting - Target now expects fourth-quarter comparable sales to be approximately flat. ➡ Consumer Demand- lingering softness in discretionary categories / deceleration in discretionary demand ➡ Consumer Strategy- Target offered discounts after hearing from shoppers about “the importance of value and affordability" ➡ Category growth: Customers gravitated toward food and everyday essentials during the quarter, along with beauty items (Comparable sales in beauty grew more than 6%). Two other categories, food & beverage and essentials, posted low single-digit gains compared with the year-ago period. Other Key take aways: ➡ Groceries account for about 60% of Walmart’s U.S. business but only about 23% of Target’s. ➡ "The retailer is contending with savvy and selective shoppers who aren’t willing to buy until the price is right....Consumers have become increasingly resourceful and strategic on how they shop” - TGT Chief Commercial Officer For as long as I can remember, if you're an emerging CPG company getting into Target was the holy grail. The collab with ULTA expanded the Heath and Beauty category and the "Target Shopper" embodied who brands catered to. That strategy appears to have holes - and you can bet when your share price drops by 20% while margins reduced across the board, category buyers will be extra diligent, selective and demanding with their assortments. Unit Velocity and high margin items will carry a premium. The other take away - and this is just my opinion - consumer fatigue has set in and demand is tapering off. I've written about Care Free Carrie and Anxious Anne in recent posts, as well as consumer debt being at an all time high. With Target forecasting a flat Holiday season YoY, brands and retailers need to be prepared and not wait too long to discount. This will be a holiday season driven by bargains.... and there is nothing AI can do about it. Where do you see holiday spending trending this year? #cpg #retail #branding #RetailTrends #ConsumerBehavior #RetailStrategy #ConsumerInsights #EmergingCPG #ConsumerDemand #InflationImpact #HolidayShopping #BrandStrategy #CPGTrends #MarketingInsights #SalesAndMarketing #CategoryGrowth

3

Still shocked that most large retailers haven't implemented this to date. The potential for expansion of in-store retail media ad units and revenue (profit) is significant. It's a financial investment, but the opportunities are somewhat endless... think beyond pricing. #Retail #Marketing #BusinessOpportunities

13

2 Comments

Now the most viewed television show pulls in approximately 10 million viewers, and top 10 shows may attract fewer than 5 million. Meanwhile, there are U.S. grocery retailers that have tens of million transactions daily. So, in this age of truncated attention spans and increasingly fragmented media, retailers and brands have discovered a relatively new and highly effective way of reaching shoppers — retail media networks. #retailmedia #retailtech #digitalmarketing

4

No surprise that Walmart continues to post huge numbers! However, I would look beyond the headlines of these articles for the takeaways in the context of the overall industry. Yes, we are seeing Walmart post strong numbers but that doesn't necessarily mean consumer spending is strong. A rise in Walmart is also an indication of trading down from more premium retailers. When we see budgets tightening we also see consumers start to prioritize and be strategic about where they trade down (on a retailer level or also on a product/category level with private label usage). We are approaching a very critical pre-holiday season that continues to start earlier every year. I am highly interested how current economic trends are going to impact spending not only on a product level but on a retailer level as well. No surprise in the continued rise in the RMN numbers for Walmart. I believe we will only continue to see an expansion of channels/ad products and an integration of retail media trading variables into overall retail JBPs for brands. With consumers tightening budgets and not spreading themselves too thin, perhaps it's time for brand's to take a similar approach, to prioritize a few critical retailers to their business and focus on what matters most (to me this is more flexibility with partners to drive mutually accountable BrandFormance type opportunities). https://lnkd.in/eb9368Mm https://lnkd.in/eCm8puST

24

Ulta Beauty has some big plans for Holiday 2024... 🎄 What is the #1 retail beauty destination prioritizing through Q4? 🤔 🧴 Categories on the Rise - Ulta has invested in in-demand categories such as body care and wellness to ensure it remains the go-to destination for trending products. It's also positioned itself as a leader in the Gen Alpha skincare craze. 🤩 Bringing Joy to Stores - With cultural sentiment seeming to always be negative, Ulta has an initiative to bring more joy to stores, and the gifting season presents the perfect opportunity to communicate this to customers. 👂 Listening to Customers - With 44 million loyalty members, Ulta has an incredible opportunity to learn about trends and get feedback on initiatives. This enhances a sense of community and ensures that retailer continues to deliver what customers truly want. My bet is that Ulta Beauty will continue its beauty dominance through the holiday season and grow as a major retail beauty destination through 2025. #ultabeauty #beautyretail #giftingretail #beautygifts New Ground

5

1 Comment

I am so honored and humbled.  "AI-powered solutions will also play a pivotal role in lowering returns by enabling more accurate product descriptions, personalized recommendations, and efficient reverse logistics."   Thanks Shelley E. Kohan for including my thoughts in Forbes on how brands can reduce returns this holiday season. Zeta Global leads retailers in digital transformation! #retailnews #retailmarketing #retail

28

3 Comments

Private-label brands continued to prosper in 2024 with almost every U.S. household purchasing at least one private-label grocery item, according to a new report by data analytics firm Numerator. #privatebrands

3

What's the headline from recent retail earnings transcripts from Walmart, DICK'S Sporting Goods, The TJX Companies, Inc., and more? Value wins. The macroeconomic environment played a role in crowning the season’s winners. Value is top of mind for consumers as they look to stretch their budgets. Read on below for more insights: https://lnkd.in/gCvZghbY

11

2 Comments

Great insight into what Co-Op retailers need to do in order to be successful in retail media

5

Redefining convenience, quality, and community connection has come to fruition with the launch of our Daily Shop store located in Manhattan's Upper East Side. The Daily Shop is more than a smaller store; it’s a strategic response to the evolving needs of modern shoppers. As fill-in shopping trips have become more common and urban communities demand high-quality, accessible grocery solutions, this concept has reinforced our commitment to meeting customers where they are. By focusing on curated essentials, local relevance, and operational efficiency, we’re delivering a neighborhood-centric experience that’s uniquely Whole Foods Market. Looking ahead, more Daily Shop stores are on the horizon including East Village’s StuyTown development and Hell’s Kitchen locations in New York City. This growth aligns with our broader vision to integrate innovation into Whole Foods Market’s Growing with Purpose framework focused on thoughtful, sustainable, and meaningful expansion that benefits customers, team members, suppliers, and communities.  By leveraging data-driven insights, fostering community, and creating value for all our stakeholders, we’re paving the way for a future where innovation drives purpose.  #GrowingWithPurpose #DailyShop #TeamWFM https://lnkd.in/gsRFPB-U

221

8 Comments

It’s no secret that the retail dynamic is complicated right now — brands are fighting for every conversion in an increasingly expensive ad environment where consumers are less loyal and more price-conscious. But Walmart thinks it has the answer, for its own suppliers at least — making its robust slate of first-party data on shopper behavior and supply chain journeys available to brands via the Walmart Luminate suite of insights tools. #data #retailanalytics #walmart #dataventures

6

Key EMARKETER stat: US ecommerce resale volume will hit $80.60 billion this year, a growth of 3.4% YoY, per our December 2023 forecast. Beyond the chart: Ecommerce resale volume is returning to growth after a 6.9% dip YoY in 2022 and a 2.5% one in 2023, per eMarketer forecast. But it still hasn’t returned to its pandemic high of $85.87 billion in 2021. Growth in the number of online fashion buyers has slowed, leading platforms to search for strategies to boost order values by offering luxury goods and courting wealthy shoppers. #ecommerce #resale #retailsales

6

We've identified 6 main operational pillars for leading execution in retail stores. One of those pillars is promotional execution. Here are some thoughts from ReStore for Retail, our Virtual Store Management platform.

23

Retail's next big growth play is hiding in plain sight - right on store shelves. Coresight Research data shows that smart retailers are doubling down on in-store tech. As of Q2, about 50% have invested in solutions targeting: - Addressable out-of-stocks - Pricing and promo execution - Planogram compliance - Allocation and assortment optimization Over 80% of the remaining retailers plan to invest in these areas by Q2 2025. Nailing just ONE of these can boost sales up to 6% and operating margin by 5%. The future of retail is not just digital-first. It's data-first, store-centric, and powered by intelligent automation.

41

Hello Retail Friends, convenience retailers face unique challenges. Small footprints and limited storage space require highly accurate and scalable supply chain planning – especially when charged with supporting aggressive growth targets. We’re proud to announce that OXXO, the largest convenience retail chain in the Americas, recently chose RELEX to optimize forecasting and replenishment as they focus on international growth.    https://lnkd.in/ebaedkfH   #supplychainplanning #supplychainoptimization #supplychain OXXO Internacional Enhances Retail Operations with RELEX Solutions for Forecasting and Replenishment | RELEX Solutions Focused on international growth, OXXO adopts RELEX AI-driven forecasting and replenishment solutions for smarter supply chain and inventory management.

26

1 Comment

Consumer Confidence is Skyrocketing…But Are Retailers Really Ready for It? Just in: U.S. consumer confidence is up, and it’s not just a blip on the radar. We’re seeing consumer confidence levels that haven’t peaked like this in years and all while an election looms. But is this the “buyer’s high” retailers dreamed of, or a canary in the coal mine? Here’s what you need to know: 70%+ of Americans report being “confident” about their finances and, according to data from the Conference Board, consumer confidence index hit 109.7 this October. Not exactly “YOLO,” but enough to expect higher spends in categories like luxury and travel. Spending & Strategy: McKinsey’s latest found that 48% of consumers will splurge this holiday season, yet 50% will also hunt for discounts... aka, consumers want to “have it all” without paying for it all. Are we ready for the mental gymnastics this takes? Retail’s Moment of Truth: With supply chains stabilizing, consumers expect faster delivery and cheaper prices. But here’s the kicker, they’ll drop a brand at the first hiccup. Gartner notes a 63% abandonment rate for retailers that miss the mark on delivery. Amazon’s spoiling them all. Economic Caveat: With Fed rates staying high, credit card debt has skyrocketed to over $1 trillion, yet optimism holds. The disconnect? We’re riding a wave that economists say could “turn on a dime.” If consumer sentiment shifts, are brands agile enough to react? Takeaway: Retailers take note. The opportunity is here, but so are the risks. The days of “push product, watch it sell” are gone. Be bold, be fast, and be adaptable. #ecommerce #consumerconfidence #retailtrends #holiday2024 #electionyear #retail #Amazon #Ecommerce #Walmart #Target #Shopify

9

8 Comments