Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009 - (Page 54)

Wake-up call Tough-love tips on smart retailing New habits die hard The economy is reshaping shopping and eating patterns that will persist for generations— make them work for, not against, you. By David Diamond eating at home, more people will have more time on their hands, and more people will be looking to stretch their time, rather than compress it. That means more people in your stores, spending more time (if not more money) and more effort on their shopping. First and foremost, it seems clear that the cur• There will be more focus on pricing, and rent economic situation is the most challenging on opportunities to save money. As a result, we’ve seen in a long time. It’s affecting all of us— the consumer pendulum will swing from being not just rich investment bankers, or poor homeless willing to pay more people, but everyone in between as well. for some gain, such As a citizen of New York City, I see this broad as convenience, to impact every day. It’s easier to get a cab, a relative being willing to breeze to get a table at the hot new restaurant, sacrifice something and no problem to snag a ticket to the latest to save money. And Broadway hit. But despite these opportunities, I that sacrifice could find myself taking the subway home, warming be of time, effort, up canned soup, and watching a DVD on my or other variables. TV for entertainment. Consumers will I know I’m not alone in making these choices. want to save In other words, not only have the economics money, they’ll need changed, but attitudes have changed as well. to save money, and Almost all of us are at least a little bit poorer at they’ll be willing to the moment, but more to the point, all of us feel a work to save that money. lot poorer, we’re behaving accordingly, and that • Interest will grow in learning how to shift will last for a long time. cook, and in general how to work with So what does this mean for food retailers? We’ll food. Over the past 15 years, we as a country feel the effects of the economic have managed to raise a genMore ONLINE meltdown in our stores in at eration of consumers who For how retailers should adapt least these primary ways: have no idea how to cook. to this economic climate, • Traffic counts will The confluence of virtually go to Progressivegrocer.com increase, rather than all women joining the work decrease. More people will be force, the rise of fast-food 54 • Progressive Grocer • January/February 2009 A H E A D O F W H AT ’ S N E X T A nother year has come to a close, like clockwork, and predictions abound in the trade and general media. But this time, things are so radically different from the recent past that I want us instead to think hard about what the down economy means to us as food retailers, and what we can do about it in 2009. and casual dining, and the development of many convenience food options had made the basics of cooking something nice to know, but not a necessity. But another trio of forces is at play now: Budgets are getting tighter, folks are staying in, and they feel the need to move from high-priced prepared foods to lower-cost ingredients. This will drive consumers to learn how to cook, and I don’t mean that they’ll learn how to cook beef Wellington; I mean they’ll learn basics such as how to roast a chicken. This will lay the groundwork for long-term changes in habits. Once consumers begin to take a few extra steps to save money, for example by cooking a chicken in the oven rather than buying a rotisserie chicken and popping it into the microwave, these steps will quickly become habits. Some of these habits will last a lifetime, and that ought to fundamentally change the direction of our stores. If only 50 percent of the consumers who are being forced by economic hardship to learn how to cook decide that they actually enjoy cooking, this will significantly change the future direction of our stores. Contributing Editor David Diamond is an independent consultant focused on marketing and strategy, and was most recently chief vision officer for Catalina Marketing. His e-mail is david@ddiamondassociates.com. www.progressivegrocer.com http://www.progressivegrocer.com http://www.progressivegrocer.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009

Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009
Front End: Aldi’s Private Label Showing its Fitness
Nielsen’s Shelf Stoppers/Spotlight: Prepared Foods-DryMixes/Rice Mixes
Market Snapshot: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Outstanding Independents Awards: Up with People
Current Events: Retail Newsmakers
Contents
Lempert Report: The Phoenix Format Face-Off
Independents Report: Making your Workplace Family-Friendly
Multicultural Marketing: Where there’s Mystery, there’s Margin
Wake-Up Call: New Habits Die Hard
Beverage Alcohol: Wine 101
Soft Drinks: Creating a Buzz
Whole Grains: The Brown Version
Packaging: The Whole Package
Meat: Master Beef Backer
Pet Care: Financing Fido
Executive Insight Series: Technology and the Independent Grocer: Eye of the Gale
Equipment Case Studies: Food. Service. Equipment
Financial Insights: What the Yield Curve Shows
What’s Next: Editors’ Picks for Innovative Products

Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009