Business Skills

The pandemic and resulting need to social distance, forced retail dietitians to change the way they communicate to team members and consumers and shift from in person conversations to virtual meeting platforms. These platforms provide a means to stay connected, exchange information, and reach consumers in order to keep departments and educational programming running smoothly and consistently. However, finding the best platforms for different work functions can be confusing. To help you break through the clutter, here is a quick list of those platforms with high ratings and the best uses for each:

Heading into the fourth quarter of the year, questions tend to crop up about strategic planning for the 2022 year.  The Retail Dietitians Business Alliance offers a variety of resources on this topic, all compiled here for your use in planning for the upcoming year.

The retail industry is filled with acronyms, and during a recent webinar Grocery Convergence: Five Sensible Solutions to Win the Future of Food Retailing, the concept of convergence at retail was discussed, adding a new term to the list.

In his podcast during the summer of 2019, David Chang (the brilliant chef and founder of the Momofuko chain of restaurants and line of sauces and spices) made headlines when he declared that the ethnic aisles of supermarkets is “the last bastion of racism that you can see in full daylight in retail America.”

Just as consumers have gotten more comfortable with online grocery shopping, their ease with tele-health appointments has also increased. As use of technology for health care visits has grown exponentially, opportunities to perfect the consumer experience during these sessions remains. If your retail health and wellbeing services include tele-nutrition consider these suggestions for overcoming common client complaints.

While product shortages were common during the height of the pandemic last year, we’re seeing a continued reduction in product range. Today’s grocery stores have 80 percent more products than 30 years ago; while shoppers may appreciate having more choice, they also value the ability to quickly find the products they want, which is difficult when so many choices appear on the shelves. This product proliferation which has occurred over time is actually a disadvantage for retailers. Simplifying the product assortment can scale efficiencies and save costs savings for the retailer. Everything from managing inventory to stocking shelves to the procurement process is easier and less expensive with fewer products.

Although retail foodservice made it through the pandemic better than the rest of the foodservice industry, to remain relevant and successful, this is one area of the store that needs to continually adjust to meet consumer tastes and trends. Technomic Principal Wade Hanson, who specialized in retail foodservice indicates we should see at least a 10.8% increase in retail foodservice growth in 2021, but that percentage could jump even higher by creating the right solutions. Here are some ways that retail RDNs can help their retailer achieve maximum foodservice success:   

Getting feedback from your customers is important if you want to understand how your current wellness programming is being utilized and to help determine future needs. In our last article, we discussed the different types of surveys to choose from but conducting a successful survey is more complex than simply asking shoppers how they feel about your initiatives. You need strong survey questions to effectively obtain meaningful customer insights. In addition, you must properly sift through the data to obtain key behaviors, needs and trends that can enhance your future strategy and actions.

As consumer needs and expectations around health and well-being are continuously evolving, it is vital that retail dietitians understand their target consumer to help direct programming. Conducting consumer surveys can help you with marketing and advertising strategies, social media tactics, website content, community outreach, store training needs, service offerings and promotional concepts. Asking the right questions and evaluating the feedback properly, will assist you with focusing your efforts in a meaningful way. The first step for conducting a consumer survey, however, is to decide which type of survey method to utilize. Here is a summary of 5 different options:

Consumers are living in a reality where they don’t have to wait to download an audio book, stream the latest movie, or get their groceries delivered in a matter of hours. In fact, large retailers are working hard to satisfy the need for immediate gratification by providing same day delivery, even as fast as within two hours. This desire for convenience and immediacy will be a key factor in shaping the future of retail.