How many are too many?
The fact that long-booming sales of beverages have started to slip
at convenience stores is being attributed to sticker shock for gas,
which keeps some drivers from going into the store to spend . . .
Whole food troubles.
Whole Foods is having a bumpy ride in this cut-back economy. Having
to recall some of their pricey ground beef didn't help. The recall
seems to have blown over quickly. The young people who eat . . .
Coupons, sales & store brands.
Consumers having a tough time right now welcomed the recent drop in
gas prices like rain in a dry spell--with the hope that maybe other
kinds of relief would follow. The books and films about the . . .
Older consumers poorly served on cereal.(Brief article)
With threats of already high grain prices getting higher and
higher, older consumers feel that they are getting the short end of the
stick, especially on cereal. Most ready to eat cereals are sold . . .
Hoping to hold on.
Besides looking for painless ways to spend less, the economy is
making many consumers leery of company cutbacks on quality and safety,
as well as people.
* "Everyone is cutting back, and I'm not . . .
Keeping associates informed.
Employees who don't know the answer to customers'
questions are often embarrassed by not knowing--they get defensive,
which is irritating to the customer, bad for them, and awful for morale.
One of . . .
Price, price, and more price.
Shoppers are reading and hearing about prices, as well as shrinking
from them. Kristen McNutt's Consumer Magazines Digest reports that
the editor in chief of Good Housekeeping wrote an editorial . . .
Getting less.(Report)
* "Prices are soaring, and packages are getting smaller. I
think we are in a pickle. "
* "Flour and sugar are the same price, but you receive a pound
less. The quality of clothing has gone down, . . .
Price vs. health barriers.(Brief article)
This table shows that the shoppers we polled are twice as likely to
bypass a product for price reasons as for unhealthy ingredient reasons.
This puts enormous price pressure on retailers.
. . .
A Supermarket Experience.
"A Supermarket Experience" is the tagline of
McCaffrey's Supermarkets, which uses it as a background theme,
unlike the upfront and high-profile way that Publix uses "Where
Shopping Is a Pleasure." . . .
Store brand food poor value.
Shoppers are trying and buying more store brand foods these days,
but they aren't too happy about it. Our feedback says that when it
comes to food, shoppers are making do with store brands but . . .
"Tooth friendly" Juices.
Traveling in Ireland this summer, I was tickled with the
"TOOTH FRIENDLY" flags being used to promote no-sugar added
juices. The marketer responsible for this claim is GlaxcoSmithKline,
best known . . .
Packaging solutions.
If you haven't seen the new "steam in bag" frozen
veggies, take a look at this second generation of packaging for the
microwave that is catching on and worth paying more for. In a new
Consumer . . .
Anxious times.
"When it comes to food, I don't know what to worry about
first these days. "
Many shoppers would know just what this shopper is talking about.
Confidence is shaky. Food safety scares are . . .
Recession diet.
One of our shoppers asks:
* "Between health care insurance costs, prescription costs,
gas, and now food, just how am I supposed to manage?"
Three cheers for pasta and peanut butter. In their . . .
The Grocer's son.
If you're in the grocery business, try to see the fully
subtitled French film called, in English, The Grocer's Son. The
French countryside is exquisite. The young man playing the title
character is . . .
Wheels better than wrists.(Brief article)
Besides beautiful scenery, music, and literature, one of the
shopper things I found to admire was small shopping baskets on wheels.
The Irish have turned the kind of shopping baskets that . . .
Costco, Gas, & Visa.
Did you know that Costco doesn't accept MasterCard or Visa
credit cards and does accept American Express and their own Costco
cards? This was the policy of many higher-end department stores . . .
Advertising opportunity.
Newly informative advertising is a great way to engage today's
consumers, who dismiss so much of the advertising that is able to reach
them. What can you tell them about your store or product that . . .
Hoping for local values.
Consumers are paying more attention to the transportation,
pollution, and safety costs of global food sourcing. Some are looking
for ways to buy local stuff without paying more for it. So far . . .
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