August 2013

Slim margins in the grocery retail industry are spurring many companies to re-evaluate their human resource budgets and look for more efficient ways to staff their stores, plants and warehouses. Many retailers are hiring more part-time workers to avoid paying health care benefits.

Purchasing personal care products at a bus stop might seem an impossible feat.

Welcome to the first annual Trends and Research Issue of

Several critical initiatives were examined, and three major conclusions gained general consensus:

Safeway's digital advertising messages for loyalty club members have been so effective, the retailer plans to eliminate the printed circular it has relied on for decades.

Many of the same trends retailers and food manufacturers are grappling with in the United States also are playing out in the U.K. and Europe, where channel-blurring has amplified competition and cash-strapped consumers are cutting back in an uncertain economy.

With organic growth hard to come by, U.S. retailers and food and beverage companies have stepped up the pace of mergers and acquisitions during the past 18 months, and consolidation is expected to continue.

As the world changes, so does retail.

Technology has become omnipresent in grocery retail, and in the past year retailers have benefited from an array of advances that allow them to better serve customers by gaining information quickly.

Some say the world is getting smaller as geographic borders fade and multinational companies set up shop in emerging markets.