Have You Seen It: Future Forward Retail Activations
By RDBA Executive Director Annette Maggi, MS, RDN, LD, FAND
Because comp shops to other retailers may not be in your travel plans right now, I’m highlighting here some health and wellbeing introductions at retailers across North America.
CBD Kiosks at Schnuck’s Banner
The regulatory landscape around selling CBD at grocery retail is complicated to say the least, and the vast majority of sales are made online or at dispensaries or vape shops. But grocery chains are interested in taking advantage of the grown CBD wellness market. Schnuck Markets solution at their wellness banner EatWell is CBD kiosks. By tapping on a touch screen, shoppers can access educational content on hemp, cannabinoids like CBD and wellness, and GMP practices in place in CBD production. The shopper can then purchase product directly from the kiosk. The benefits to the retailer are that NutaEra, the kiosk owner, manages inventory, purchaser age verification, and ensuring information is consistent with regulations and policy.
Weis Markets Earns Sustainable Food Retail Certification
While consumer insight data indicates growing interest in sustainability, the ongoing challenge is how to measure it in a way that is meaningful. Weis Markets is taking a step in this direction as the first food retailer to receive Ratio Institute’s Sustainable Food Retail Certification. The achieved this certification by reaching various sustainability goals from lowering food waste to reducing carbon emissions to recycling tons of plastics to reducing energy usage in their stores. The next step in my mind is to determine how they tie their sustainability efforts to their health and wellness programming, moving into sustainable nutrition programs and messaging for their shoppers.
Text to Shop in Beta Test at Walmart
With a concept of shop as fast as you text, Walmart is testing a text-to-order option. A customer can text a reorder for a usual item they buy, and the selection will be added to their Walmart.com cart. They can inquire, via text, if a particular food item is carried at Walmart, and if so, it can be added to the cart. Alternatively, Walmart will text options based on the food sought. The new order option is designed for younger generations who think opening an app or website is too much work. Click here to test the system yourself. As technology in e-commerce continues to evolve, retail dietitians can consider how they activate against this concept with better for you foods. Could you text or email your shoppers a list of five health foods on ad this week, for example, that can be automatically dumped into their shopping cart? One day each week in social, could you list new products to try by disease condition that link directly to e-commerce?
