Jan 28, 2011 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/28/11 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Sansolo Speaks: It’s a Small World…of Line Management
- Limited Assortment Stores Expand, Taking Advantage Of Trends
- O, Canada, Your Land Is Fertile For Retail Expansion
- Safeway Debuts New Natural Food Private Brand
- Fresh & Easy Plans To Get Smaller To Get More Competitive
- Walmart Eyes San Diego For A Dozen New Stores In Five Years
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

BDS Marketing Inc., Launches New Brand Positioning, Expands Service Offering

IRVINE, CA — (January 25, 2011) BDS Marketing, Inc. (BDSmktg), a leading marketing agency, today introduced new brand positioning in support of continued expansion of their service portfolio and customer base. Under the tagline, “Sales. Powered.” the agency boldly defines their role as a marketing agency that delivers sales impact. With over 25 years in the industry, this move reinforces the agency’s roots in field marketing, expertise at retail and new strategic services such as Marketing Analytics, Training Development and Performance Management.
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The SN Top 75 Reveals Grocery Comeback

Reports of economic recovery have been consistently inconsistent as optimistic numbers are offset by news of closings, bankruptcies and forecasts of tougher times ahead. The retail sector, specifically food retailing, offered another sign of hope this week as Supermarket News released its Annual Top 75 Retailers for 2011. The largest food retailers in the country saw some impressive gains in 2010.

Although holding the industry up against the low point of 2009 makes for some easy comparisons in terms of sales gains, it is hard to argue with the direction being shown by the food industry giants. According to the SN report, sales among this group rose 7.7% during 2010. Revenues among food and non-food merchandise reached to $960 billion mark versus the $894 billion in 2009. These numbers appear to be top-heavy as the top ten on this list comprise 69% or $666 billion of the entire group volume, which is up slightly from the year earlier. The sales gains reported by the top ten rose 2.2%.

In terms of rank, there was little movement from the year before as Wal-Mart sits comfortably at the top of the list. Kroger is still number two, but number three Costco is closing the gap. Safeway has passed Supervalu for the number four spot with the rest of the top ten unchanged.

You can click here to read the Supermarket News story and see the list for yourself. For members of NARMS, professional at-retail merchandising and marketing service companies, it is important to keep an eye on all these metrics as a means of sniffing out new business opportunities, making strategic operational decisions and planning ahead for hiring with new job listings. Stay tuned to this column, the Top Shelf blog which appears on Tuesdays and www.narms.com as we keep you abreast of key industry findings and thought leadership. If you have not already done so, make sure to renew your membership so you do not lose access to these helpful streams of information.

IFBA Top to Top Registration Open Now!

The 8th Annual IFBA Top to Top Executive Business Conference will be held May 17-19, 2011 at Renaissance Chicago Hotel. Registration for this business building event is now open and on-line. Everything you need to know for your mid-May trip to the Windy City is available on the Conference Center page at www.narms.com.

The three-day networking event is filled with opportunities for CPG manufacturers to meet with independent brokers from all across North America. The agenda features ample time and space to schedule business-to-business meetings and still enjoy market perspectives from industry thought leaders. The keynote address will be delivered this year by David Orgel, Editor-in-Chief of Supermarket News.

Our manufacturer/supplier attendees will not want to miss out on attending the Manufacturer Share Group Session on Tuesday, May 17. Industry consultant, speaker, author and frequent NARMS contributor Harold Lloyd will lead the conversation in this idea/issue-sharing session.

Sponsorship, advertising and meeting room space rental opportunities are all available while they last. Sponsorships opportunities range from $1,000 to $5,000. Advertising in the Top to Top Conference program is available in full and half page increments. Meeting space rentals on levels 3 and 4 in private B2B suites is $400 per day.

Be sure to book your hotel room as soon as possible to ensure group block pricing. After the IFBA room block is filled, reservations will be accepted on a space available basis at prevailing hotel room rates. Absolute hotel cut-off date for Top to Top-available group block pricing is Monday, May 2, 2011 at 5 p.m. EST. Hotel reservations are available by calling 312-372-7200 or by simply clicking here.

This annual event has evolved into a staple for manufacturer/suppliers who are seeking to maximize their sales presence by aligning with the market specific experts of the IFBA. Visit the Top to Top Conference Center and register for the event today!

Jan 21, 2011 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/21/11 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Sansolo Speaks: “The Fault Lies Not in Our Stars…”
- Study Suggests Men Are Doing More Food Shopping
- Walmart To Announce Major Healthy Eating Initiative
- Fortune’s “100 Best Companies” List Includes 10 Retailers
- Delhaize Plans To Spend $1 Billion On U.S. Expansion, Remodels
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

You may not know Acosta, but you see its work every day

It’s one of Jacksonville’s largest companies with $1 billion in annual sales and a payroll of about 17,000 people in the U.S. and Canada. You see the results of its work nearly every day, even if you don’t realize it.

And there’s a good chance you’ve never even heard of this company. Or if you did hear its name, unless you happened to drive by its headquarters building along Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, you thought someone was talking about a local bridge

Read the entire article at website of the Florida Times-Union

Webinar to Highlight RORI of MSOs

NARMS members are constantly striving to show customers and prospective clients how using third-party professional at-retail merchandising and marketing service companies can deliver not only exceptional in-store execution, but also how that results in increased sales revenue. During the next NARMS Webinar, Bart Flaherty will present a new release of data from the ongoing RORI project that finds MSOs deliver a greater than a 2 to 1 return to their clients. The hour long session will take place on Tuesday, January 25 at 1:00 PM CST. The NARMS Webinar Series is sponsored by Natural Insight and powered through the technology of ReadyTalk.

Flaherty, CEO of GroupM Business Sciences, will co-present third party vendor research analysis on the effective marketing strategies of Return on Revenue Investment (RORI), a program that efficiently measures investment with versatility and simplicity creating a positive benefit for vendors. He will illustrate how this will generate prominent resources for potential new business as well as building a more promising relationship with current clientele.

A catalyst in changing the role of marketing science in consumer product companies, Flaherty has been recognized for his forward thinking on the function of marketing in the retail environment. Twice awarded the prestigious PepsiCo Chairman’s Award, Flaherty leads the strategic hubs of the GroupM family of companies, including Mindshare, MediaCom. Maxus, MEC (Mediaedge:cia) and includes Ohal, the oldest ROI consultancy in the world.

This NARMS Webinar is another in a series of valuable member educational offerings by NARMS – U. The session is complimentary to NARMS members as a membership service but is also made available to other interested persons at a non-member rate of $99.95. We encourage you to share this invitation with other co-workers and anyone else who might gain value from this information-sharing opportunity. You can get more information and register for the event by clicking here.

Shoppers More Connected Than Retail Associates

NARMS Newsfeed featured an interesting item yesterday from the pages of Progressive Grocer. The story reported on a recent survey, conducted by Motorola Solutions, in which 55 percent of retailers believe that holiday shoppers are better connected to consumer information than the retail personnel who are trying to serve them. It is no big surprise that the shift is caused by online shopping tools and mobile phone applications that enable price checks, e-coupons and social networking.

This shortfall of associate knowledge is costing retailers profits. The study said that 28 percent of store visits end up with $132 not spent as a result of price shopping, out-of-stocks, lack of assistance and long check-out lines. It is official, retail associates are at a distinct disadvantage when dealing with their now connected shoppers.

The article and study build a case for putting more technology in the hands of retail associates, but there may be a bigger issue. In a brave new world of super-connected consumers, at-retail merchandising and marketing companies have an even more compelling value proposition. Retail sales associates could be concentrating on their core competency of taking care of the customer, instead of building displays, cutting in new products, installing signage and running demos. Stores could be better merchandised and prepared to anticipate the demands consumers who, if they cannot find what they are looking for, can locate a product or a deal elsewhere, instantly.

Simply put, no matter what information a consumer may find on their mobile device, if it is not on the shelf, it is not for sale. The study found that 55 percent of the losses due to out-of-stocks could be recovered with a little help from a store associate. More than ever, shoppers have the tools at their disposal to make fast and accurate buying decisions. Beyond that, they also have the tools to spread the word about a bad shopping experience to thousands of people in seconds.

NARMS members are in the business of improving the customer experience. Expert retail execution of in-store initiatives can ensure brand marketer success and put the retail associate in a much better position.

Jan 14, 2011 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/14/11 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Sansolo Speaks: Some Like it Hot (Not!)
- Jungmann Out At Supervalu, Haugarth Elevated In Exec Shakeup
- Whole Foods Embraces New Healthy Foods Initiative
- Supervalu Tries To Get Past The Numbers For Its “Multi-Year” Journey
- 7-Eleven Wants To Take Manhattan
- Store-Within-A-Store Concept Gaining Traction
- Fresh & Easy Comes To Northern California (Finally)
- Roundy’s Plans Three Mariano’s Store Openings In Illinois This Year
- Walgreen Expands Its Vision, Mission, Marketing Efforts
- Kmart Testing In-Store Financial Centers
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

January Times & Trends Examines Merchandising Trends

A particularly good read for members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing industry is the January edition of Times & Trends. All of these monthly reports, authored by SymphonyIRI Group, address an important and relevant aspect of the retail landscape. But this edition - Merchandising Trends, Achieving Differentiation with a Shopper-Centric Approach –speaks volumes to NARMS members.

According to the report, 43% of all CPG volume across grocery, drug and mass channels is sold with merchandising support. Merchandising support is defined as displays, feature ads, feature and display combined and price reduction only. This support began to climb during 2009 and continues to do so. The report goes on to say that 56% of CPG categories are seeing an increase in merchandising support in grocery and 70% of categories sell in excess of 30% of their volume with merchandising support. These facts and figures add up to the conclusion that merchandising activity and support has been a critical component to attract and retain customers and to drive market share.

Display activity seems to be on the rise in all channels, a departure from clean floor policies of the past. Forty-nine percent of categories in the big three channels reported an increase in display activity in 2010 on top of a 69% increase in 2009.

These few facts and figures only scratch the surface of the valuable information contained in Times& Trends. You can download your copy of the report by visiting SymphonyIRI Group here.

As we all know, the merchandising activity discussed in this report, particularly displays, can only be truly effective if it actually gets done at store level. NARMS members can not only get out and audit display compliance levels, but they can also deploy across broad geographies and execute the display building in the first place. Many can also handle the logistics of getting the display to the store. This is a sure fire way to ensure that merchandising and display activities bring the kind of lift being reported by SymphonyIRI Group. We again thank them for their leadership and insight.