According to an L2 Insight report on grocery trends in the US, only 9 per cent of the American population purchase their groceries online, suggesting that in-store grocery shopping is still very prevalent despite digital innovations. However, since Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market earlier this year, big companies like Walmart and Costco noticed a decline in sales—indicating a certain ambiguity when it comes to investing in technology to increase a grocer’s lifespan.

As suggested by L2’s insight report, grocers must consider both organic and paid search visibility in order to compete with their competitors that prioritize digital shopping experiences. While consumers are more likely to purchase their groceries in-store, enabling online visibility provides a brand with potential customers and provides convenience. In order to increase a grocer’s search visibility, spending money on regional grocery terms, like “pasta,” will allow a grocer’s name to appear at the top of a search list for that particular region.

Along with developing search strategies, grocers must also consider implementing grocery delivery services to better serve their customers. This requires partnering with other platforms, or establishing their own program that meets the needs of their customers.

All in all, traditional grocers should implement digital trends as new and innovative companies bring tech to the forefront.

Retail Maverick is a marketing agency that has created an innovative program that delivers a unique opportunity to the retail industry. Their company offers a state of the art advertising network that broadcast promotions and sales to their brick-and-mortar landlords. Retail Maverick’s networks have over 350 shopping centres in Canada, making it the perfect middleman for individual retailers and shopping malls.

The concept for Retail Mavericks fills a gap in the industry. When branches of chain retailers are having sales they are advised to do so from their corporate headquarters. Though many customers may be aware of these sales, the malls may have next to no knowledge of upcoming promotions, this can be detrimental since the malls marketing department may not be capable of hosting such huge events.

The idea behind Retail Mavericks is a simple one: get the word of sales and upcoming promotions from the merchants to their landlords through every digital median possible. By publishing the promotions directly to the malls, Retail Maverick is able to extend its reach to every retail center website and their social media. This is all designed to maximize customer awareness and leverage SEO. This will divert and drive the traffic to the brick-and-mortar stores themselves.

The retail experience that Retail Mavericks offers is not finished when the sale items have been published. Retail Mavericks also delivers post-operational research by creating detailed reports. These documents were made with the intention to itemize the breakdown in digital reach, how the message was sent and received to the consumer, and how service can be improved for the next promotional event.

Through their services, they are getting better ROI than comparable Google Adwords and Facebook Ad campaigns.

With all of their success Retail Maverick has since needed to expand their advertising as well as their digital reach into staffing and HR for the retail sector. This service is also used to advertise jobs within the shopping malls.

The success of Retail Maverick in such a short period of time is a testament to their innovation and the merging of technology and networking.

Kristy Redmon, Honest Herbal president, founder and a registered pharmacist, announced that the company is the recipient of two awards in DOPE Magazine’s DOPE Cup Colorado. The full-spectrum CBD hemp company placed first in the Best CBD Edible category for its capsules and took second place for Best Transdermal Cream.

“We were thrilled to have our products recognized in the DOPE Cup competition,” said Redmon. “As a new company, we had no idea what to expect. To have won a first and second place was an honor and an affirmation to our philosophy of providing consistent, fully tested and trustworthy CBD hemp products.” The awards are especially impressive as they come just a few months after Honest Herbal’s official launch.

All of Honest Herbal’s products are pharmacist formulated from cannabinoid rich industrial hemp, making them legal in all 50 states. Honest Herbal’s in-house breeding program has produced strains of CBD flower that are high in CBD yet low in THC. The results are products with all the beneficial health and wellness properties, yet without the psychoactive elements inherent in cannabis, with which most people are familiar.

Honest Herbal offers CBD Hemp Oil Capsules available in strengths of 12.5mg. and 25mg. For pets or those who prefer a liquid form, Honest Herbal offers a 30ml CBD Hemp Extract, complete with a calibrated dropper for accurate dosing.

Honest Herbal’s CBD Muscle & Joint Cream is a transdermal formulation that is easily and quickly absorbed through the skin and is one of the most potent CBD topicals in the industry. Consumers can also take advantage of the company’s luxurious and nourishing CBD Infused Hand and Body Lotion that can be used every day.

Honest Herbal grows, processes, and produces its entire product line giving the company the unique ability to ensure the quality of its products from their inception all the way to store shelves. Wholesaler inquiries are now being accepted on the company website. More information about Honest Herbal can be found at http://www.honestherbal.com

Source: www.honestherbal.com

Gelson, an American supermarket chain, has partnered with Chef’d meal kits to offer their customers with 12 recipes, and their ingredients, as they shop. The prepared meal kits are available at Gelson’s store in Valley Village, North Hollywood California, however their partnership will expand into Gelson’s multiple locations in the future.

Fitting in with Gelson’s mission of providing their customers with high quality products, Chef’d meals are created without additives and preservatives, and supported by brands such as the James Beard Foundation, Robert Irvine, and the Atkins diet.

“This is a brand-resonant partnership for Gelson’s, which has always strived to offer only the very best, freshest produce and quality meats to our customers for more than 65 years,” says Rob McDougall, Gelson’s President and CEO. “In an era when everyone is busier than ever, we are excited to build on our long commitment to exceptional customer service by delivering even more convenience to Customers through this affiliation with Chef’d.”

Likewise, Chef’d’s CEO is just as excited about the partnership with Gelson and entering into brick-and-mortar. “Meal Kits have exploded in popularity, with the remarkable growth of Chef’d and other companies online,” explains Kyle Ransford, Chef’d’s CEO. “Still, most people do the vast majority of their food shopping in grocery stores. Gelson’s shoppers will now be able to grab ready-to-cook meals in a signature Chef’d box, right at the grocery store.”

As the meal kit trend continues to rise, more supermarkets should consider how prepped meals can benefit the industry, especially in the Canadian market.

On Monday, Whole Foods Market started offering lower prices as Amazon took to the shelves—slashing prices up to 43 per cent. The price reductions were indicated with orange signs showing the combined effort between Whole Foods and Amazon, advertising that their initial price drops are “just the beginning” and that there is “more to come.”

With the new and affordable Amazon price tag, Hass avocadoes dropped from $2.50 each to $1.49 each, Atlantic salmon and tilapia fillets saw a price decrease of 33 per cent, and New York strip steaks also took a plunge in price, dropping from $18.99 per pound to $13.99.

Along with a significant price cut to a list of organic products such as Whole Trade bananas, animal welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, and organic Fuji apples, Amazon Prime is said to be the customer rewards program for the Whole Foods Market, where members will receive more savings and additional in-store benefits.

In addition to a significant reduction in food prices, Amazon also put up a display of tech devices in select stores, specifically the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot voice-controlled devices, that were also marked down and available for purchase.

The future of grocery shopping looks affordable and convenient as Amazon continues to find ways to slash prices, offering a Whole Foods pick up station in select stores for customers using Amazon.com, while retaining the quality of the Whole Foods brand.

“We will lower Whole Foods prices without compromising product quality,” said head of Amazon Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke.

After 20 years of partnership, President’s Choice Bank and CIBC have called it quits.

Beginning on November 1st, 2017, CIBC clients who also bank with President’s Choice will changeover to CIBC’s Simplii Financial brand, one that offers no-fee daily banking via mobile, telephone, and online platforms. This will include all clients who share a checkings, savings, and/or mortgage account with President’s Choice. From November through March of 2018, in-store ATMs operated by CIBC will be removed, along with CIBC banking services.

Despite this parting, PC Financial clients may still access their normal banking methods without interruptions, nor will they face extra banking fees. Likewise, clients who are a part of any loyalty programs will not face any changes to their plans. Payment plans for PC Financial World Elite MasterCard and PC Plus loyalty programs will still be available.

Since 1963, Pusateri’s Fine Foods has been sharing gourmet products and a diversified selection of imported goods with their customers in Toronto. While the company has established themselves in the industry, known for two Food Halls in Saks Fifth Avenue located in Toronto’s Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens, they are working to expand their business partnerships across borders and into newer markets. To do so, Pusateri’s has hired on Giants & Gentlemen, a strategic and creative agency, to execute their mission of growth through rebranding initiatives and marketing strategies.

“We need to provide clear and compelling reasons to shop Pusateri’s, focusing on our points of differentiation,” explains vice-president of merchandising and marketing, Angus McOuat. “As such, we were looking to partner with a strategic and creative agency that can help us shape and develop our brand,” adds McOuat.

Metro CEO Eric La Flèche has reported that the company’s third-quarter earnings have been “satisfactory,” partly due to the food price deflation, the growth of e-commerce, meal kit businesses, and the anticipating minimum wage increase.

While the minimum wage increase is beneficial for company employees, Metro has expressed the weighty impact that this increase in wage will have over the entire company, specifically costing the food retailer anywhere between $45 – $50 million in 2018. When asked if higher wages would translate into higher prices for food, La Flèche said that the company would control the gradual increase in prices that would be a natural effect of structural costs in addition to wage increases.

With online shopping and the growing popularity of meal kit businesses, Metro is adapting with promise, as they expand their e-commerce programs to remain competitive. “We keep abreast of all trends,” La Flèche said. “It’s a small investment, with good promises of future development and we will see where it goes.”

In keeping with trends, Metro has recently acquired a large portion of MissFresh Inc., a company in Montreal that delivers recipes and ingredients to customers, similar to Blue Apron in the US. According to La Flèche, Metro will also be expanding their online products to offer prepared meal kits, along with offering online shopping to Ontario consumers in the near future.