Kimberly G.

Considering my early career history, the retail🛍️experience always stays forefront. “Experiential retail is critical for relevance in the future.” Check out the insight into Target's continued efforts to attract retail 🏬guests in a way that is complementary to and distinctively different from its online sales efforts. I appreciate Christina Hennington's framing of the intersecting balance of convenience and discovery within the change required to maintain and grow traffic and value at the retail. When time⌛ is our most valuable asset and when everything can show up tomorrow, the time spent becomes the currency within the value equation. Is it worth it for me to go? #peoplefirst https://lnkd.in/e5WYicGH

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Happy National Coffee Day!! ☕️ Today has me reflecting on the incredible experience of executing my very first POG transition as a Merchant while I was working in our Bloomington Target store. We took every bag of coffee off the shelf, vacuumed it (coffee grounds…), reset the pushers, and added all the right products back. A few lessons I want to remember: - Live your values & make big bets. Buyers have the awesome privilege of choosing and supporting brands that are driving growth & making a difference. Don’t take that responsibility lightly. - The details matter. The wrong date in a system or a few inches off on product dimensions can cause chaos. Check your work twice (buyers & manufacturers!). - Coffee is personal. A guest who drinks decaf stopped in the aisle to share exactly what she was looking for… we didn’t have it, so she left. - Store hours force tradeoffs. If you’re spending hours on something that doesn’t add value, you’re sacrificing something else that probably does. Try hard not to waste time. Cheers to a great cup of coffee - and the learning that comes with new experiences across a career!

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Heading to NYC 🗽 in Jan for NRF?? In-store Retail Media is forecast to be one of the biggest growth drivers in 2025, so why not join Nick, Troy, Spencer, Brett and the Zitcha team for a Store Tour to learn more about the opportunity Why we do these store tour 👇🏼 1️⃣ The store is of course such a critical part of the customer journey. 2️⃣ The store environment continues to transform at speed, and Retail Media is and will continue to be a critical component. 3️⃣ Zitcha is the only Retail Media Platform, that truely has the ability offer workflow, ad serving, and reporting across Onsite, Offsite [more than just programmatic], and Instore. Connecting the full customer journey. At each store we will review offerings across:: 🛍️ Digital Ad & signage assets 🛍️ Static Shopper Marketing assets 🛍️ Data capture opportunities 🛍️ Sales Associate x Store Sizing ratio [Sales Associates are one of the greatest assets of the Store experience after all] 🛍️ As well as additional unique and personalised customer experiences on offer AND, discuss the opportunity and importance of In-store as part of Retail Media campaigns. If you are a Retailer/Brand/Agency, we'd love to have you join us for the tour. Please sign up 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/gqefcMnP [we try and keep the group intimate, so spots will fill fast] #retailmedia #commercemedia #advertising #marketing #innovation

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The Hamptons, Aspen, Santa Monica & the palm of your hand. Aviator Nation has long created meaningful brand experiences around the communities of their now 19 store locations. However, with brick & mortar locations only in select areas, Director of Ecommerce, Curtis Ulrich & team were looking for a way to translate the one time in-store purchaser to a lifelong customer. Since 2020, our partnership with Aviator Nation has unlocked digital in a way that allows the beloved omnichannel brand to reach new heights - authentically. Check out a few of the impact metrics below: ✅ 23% higher CVR on app vs. web ✅ 35% higher GMV per session on app vs. web ✅ 3.6% higher AOV on app vs. web To consistently drive repeat purchases, Aviator Nation uses its mobile app for push notifications, new product launches, exclusive sales, and integrations, like Yotpo, Rebuy Engine, and Klaviyo. A supercharged retention journey for customers. The power of Tapcart & our integration partners working in concert. Cheers to all of the continued success, Aviator Nation team! Full case study in comments.

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Sooo, we’re doing a thing and bringing cannabis sales and consumption to the California State Fair. I believe the future of cannabis is in social consumption. Creating the first cannabis restaurant was (and is!) cool but….it wasn’t until I met Lauren and Dustin that I realized that it’s actually events that are the best opportunity for normalization. [Side note: I remember working on pitch decks for the business back in 2020-pandemic times and we had an events section. I’m 100% sure I said “hey guys, there will never be events again. I think it’s over? Sure we want to include this?” Happy to be wrong about that. 😅 ] Think of it this way– people that are going to lounges/cafes are intentionally seeking out a cannabis experience. Events tho? You’re tapping into an entirely new audience. These are folks that aren’t seeking out cannabis and just so happen to be at an event where cannabis co-exists. The mindset is different. The ability to change perception is different. And that is incredibly powerful when we are talking about destigmitizing the plant. Which is our mission at embarc– to destigmitize and normalize cannabis…at scale. What better place to do it than at one of the most normal events ever? Where corn dogs, cotton candy and now cannabis will co-exist for the first time in 170 years! See you in Sacramento! PS- I just got a sneak peak of Terri's State Fair sunhat and she’s ready for the heat! 🔥 #cannabis #cannabisretail #cannabiscommunity #marketing #history

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PRIME DAY LIVE TAKES: DAY 2 We’re wrapping up the second and final day of Prime Day. It’s looking like Amazon has accomplished its goal of beating last year’s Prime Day performance… by a healthy margin. Not only that, but participation from CPG brands this year felt like the highest it’s ever been! Here are some hot takes from Day 2 (maybe a bit less rosy!): 💹 Are the deals fake? - I got questions about price increases ahead of Prime Day, which has the impression of making the deals seem “fake”. (I think this is trending on Tiktok) - This definitely exists, though it’s not so simple to pull off: requires months of planning. “Reference price” is closely monitored and if it moves ahead of Prime Day, you often have to recreate your deals or restructure - In our categories we actually worried about June or July deals or price matching which would make your reference price too *low*, requiring too deep of a discount brands couldn’t afford. On that topic… 🏷️ Price matching from other platforms is getting worse: - Chewy and Target have started price-matching promos or sales prices which can jeopardize Prime Day deals. - Because of this, it’s becoming almost table-stakes to have unique assortments for different retailers. ♻️ Amazon is emphasizing repurchase behavior: - This year, Amazon showcased deals from brands on “Buy It Again” list (appearing high on the homepage) - S&S coupons were everywhere - a 50% coupon was a great follow-on to a deep discount - The mega brands you know were some of the biggest deals - Apple, Dyson, etc. Best Buy now operates as a 3rd party seller - Paired with less prominent badging of deals, feels like Amazon focused on driving sales a bit more than new product discovery 🛠️ Prime Day also had lots of technical issues: - The Amazon advertising console was down for over an hour last night - Brands experienced several strange, new suppressions that prevented them from running coupons or promos. - Prime Day badging displayed somewhat inconsistently, causing confusion for shoppers (and frustration for brands!) The next 2 weeks is critical. The purpose of Prime Day is—and always has been—new customer acquisition. Brands should specifically target new people who visited their pages. Follow-on promos for people still in cart, emails about the follow-on promos (”Did you miss it?” FOMO is strong!), retargeting ads, and repurchase campaigns should all be launched in the coming days. Finally, want to know if your Prime Day was good? My advice: look at your Best Seller Ranking compared to your direct competitors. It’s the simplest measure of relative performance! You can use a tool like Keepa or Helium10 to track both this and price (to see if any brands pulled price increase tricks!). - - - - - Next week, we’ll be aggregating all of Cartograph’s Prime Day performance data and writing a deeper list of learnings from this year.

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I've been thinking about how cannabis MSO expertise qualifies someone to do, well, just about anything. We are agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale, distribution, and retail - usually separate entities - but not always - governed by the same team. And all of it is wrapped up in state specific compliance layers rivaling pharmaceuticals or gaming... that in some ways support product safety and in most ways just make our jobs harder. Sprinkle the formula across different markets, with disparate supply chains, disparate stages of maturity, and the whole banking thing.... and you get the inevitable chaos of it all. Any one of you that are successfully navigating this - you should take a minute and appreciate what you are doing. People, process and technology transcends industries. If you can vertically integrate and scale, build teams, optimize process and implement new technology solutions to thrive in this environment - you can do it anywhere.

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This is a really great article that highlights a few areas where emerging brands are beating legacy brands in the market. The shelves have been looking a lot different lately! What have you been seeing? #CPG #EmergingBrands #HumorStillWorks #HowsYourPackaging

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New research shows how Gen Z is driving the importance of sustainability and quality in their grocery products and even willing to spend more to support brands that reflect those values. A recent Whole Foods Market survey revealed over half of Gen Z is ready to invest in environmentally sustainable products and prefer brands that prioritize lower environmental impact and locally soured foods. What’s even more exciting? 70% of this generation supports climate-smart agriculture practices, with their top priorities centered around transparent sourcing, climate impact, and high-quality food. It’s clear the future of food is being defined by values that go beyond just taste and convenience. These findings give us optimism and reaffirm our dedication to supporting a healthier planet for generations to come. Dive into the survey here: https://lnkd.in/gE6w5fT2 #Sustainability #ClimateSmartAgriculture 

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October Retail Sales up 2.3% YOY. Shoppers got an early start on Holiday shopping this year. Miscellaneous store retailers grew 4% YOY General merchandise stores grew 3.1% YOY. Clothing and accessories were up 2.9% YOY. Electronic and appliance sales grew 2.3% YOY Food and beverage stores grew 2.7% YOY Health and personal care stores up 1.6% YoY Sporting goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book stores were down (3.4%) YOY Online retail sales had the most significant YOY gain of 7%. Prices for apparel and appliances fell YOY. Footwear, furniture, and personal care product prices rose YOY.

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As promised… Yuval Selik has treated me like royalty this week and I’m super appreciative. We spent about an hour together talking about so many things. I can’t thank him enough for his kindness, sincerity, and friendship. I hope you’ll give the show a listen…and not just my episode but all of them! Link in comments. #workwithwade #cpg #sales #retail #grocery #crawlwalkrun

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Good morning California Cannabis Industry, Today, in the economic evolution of cannabinoids (both cannabis and help), there's one question remaining: WHO WON THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  

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“Our new store concept cements Foot Locker’s position as the leader in sneaker culture by offering an engaging, cutting-edge shopping experience for the sneaker passionate,” Foot Locker’s president and CEO Mary Dillon stated in a press release.  I spoke with Inside Retail US and Nicole Kirichanskaya and what this all means for the 👟 retailer. Some of my insights: Foot Locker is headed in the right direction with their ’store of the future’ strategy. In fact, it is long overdue. This strategy will put a spotlight on product obsessed sales associates, hyper-localized assortments as well as curated experiences. Rethinking the physical store will get Footlocker to take customer insights and inform product and store decisions based on location and community. This will make every store different and get customers excited about visiting the retailer. The sneaker industry has lost a lot of its luster. Brands like Nike and Under Armour are overstocked with SKUs, and adidas would have had a rough year if it wasn’t for the Samba. Additionally, there are more brands competing for market share. On and HOKA have taken the running community by storm. Brooks Running is focused on innovation and wholesale while PUMA Group and Reebok are relying on celebrities as creative directors to capture a new customer base. The hype around exclusivity and limited editions is not as exciting for consumers, and it will take a lot more than just the product to persuade shoppers to buy. Retailers like Footlocker have the upper hand if they reimagine the physical store as a destination for innovative and exciting experiences vs. focussing on pushing a handful of brands. It’s all about the customer and getting them to spend time in your store. Find the entire article here --> https://lnkd.in/ebzaEUam Shoutout to Neil Saunders and Marie Driscoll, CFA 🙌🏽 #retail #retailnews #footlocker #footwearnews #stores #cx #merchandising

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Instead of wine, let’s look at craft cannabis vs craft beer, which holds 24.7% of total US beer market share at retail! This means craft cannabis will be the same? Right? Not really… At wholesale, (where they actually make their money) craft brewers only hold 13.3% of sales. In some ways, yes, there are models in this category that could be feasible for cannabis companies to follow, (Tilray thinks so…) But that’s the point….TILRAY is the #6 ‘craft brewing’ company in the country… Simply put, ‘craft cannabis’ doesn’t equate to ‘craft beer’. “Craft Brewers” are defined by the Brewers Association as: SMALL Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to rules of alternating proprietorships. INDEPENDENT Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. So… you can own 3% of total national market share, and Anheuser Busch can own 25% of your company, and you’d still be considered a craft brewer. This includes companies like: Boston Beer Co. (2,793 employees), $2B in sales Sierra Nevada (1,050 employees), $320M in sales Tilray , (1,600 employees*), $152M in sales *includes cannabis employees One vital point being missed in the comparison between wine and beer and cannabis… we have to note that both wine and beer exist in complex supply chains, wher the grower of the grape very often may not bottle or brand (i.e.selling bulk), and where beer requires hops and barley, which are grown by farmers. So… who are the cultivators in this scenario? The brewers? Or are they barley farmers?

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How can you best maintain your focus through the holidays and end-of-year? 𝗡𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀. 💡   Wait ... what? I know this sounds radical, but hear me out.   Convenience Store News just published a piece on the innovation agenda for convenience retailers, citing five strategic initiatives that will never get old.   1️⃣ The Store Experience 2️⃣ Foodservice Innovation 3️⃣ Customer Engagement 4️⃣ Data-Driven Decision Making 5️⃣ Workforce Optimization   "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴."   These are not new concepts, but rather well-known ideas put into action. Take a look at this work from Melissa Kress, Danielle (Romano) Rowan, and Tammy Mastroberte to see how the winners keep winning, even despite "no new ideas."   📕 Read on: https://lnkd.in/g5wwrenK #convenience #cstore #innovation #roadmap #digital

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Check out this incredible BPN set at the Scheels store in Colorado Springs! Awesome partnership and retailer to work with! 🙌 Question for brand representative's that have a large portfolio, 50+ skus and 3+ product lines... Would you prefer to have your products "brand blocked" meaning all of your product lines together in one location? OR... Have the retailer segment the set by different product types and have each of your product lines in their respected sub-category (ie. your whey proteins with the protein set, your electrolytes with the hydration set etc)? How about for consumers...which way would you prefer to shop these products!? #retail #planogram #categoryassortment

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