Elizabeth Hemphill-Burns on LinkedIn: ‘Whole Paycheck’ no more? Whole Foods is ramping up value messaging. (2024)

As consumers cut back on expenditures, premium brands face an existential question: Should they shift their differentiated position to a low-price message or focus on their unique value and distinctive benefits? For example, should BMW shed its hundred-year-old image of being known for producing high-quality, meticulously crafted cars—"The Ultimate Driving Machine"—to become low price?Would that approach even work? When premium brands try to increase market share by going downmarket while retaining their reputation for quality, they often confuse customers, dilute brand meaning, and allow competitors to claim the title. Steve Jobs knew this challenge when he returned to Apple for his second stint at the helm. Apple was in bad financial shape, and Jobsfaced intense pressureto lower prices to compete with cheaper mass-market products. His response to investors: “There are some customerswhichwe chose not to serve." Many years later, Apple tried to go downmarket with a cheaper iPhone, it failed because it was antithetical to what the brand stood for. When Harley-Davidson made cheaper products, it nearly bankrupted the company and destroyed one of America's greatest brands. I empathize with Whole Foods's challenge to address the "Whole Paycheck" perception, but instead of trying to erase this clever, sticky, and indelible cultural meme, I suggest leaning into this perception and owning it in a way that turns it into a brand advantage. Target did this for a while with "Tarjay," the faux French accent meme that reminded customers their products were decidedly chic but affordably worth it, distinguishing them from other mass-merchants. Some will say food is different, but if Wegmans decided overnight to become a low-priced brand, it would erode the incredible market value they've established over many decades. Secondly, it would fail because there's too much perceptual equity in being a deliciously differentiated brand. Instead, Wegmans continually reminds its loyal customers why the brand is worth the slight premium, particularly in tough times when other sacrifices have to be made. Our society is obsessed with living longer, eating healthier and knowing where its food comes from and how itis made. Instead of trying to become just another ordinary grocery store, I wish Whole Foods reminded customers why good, healthy, sustainable food should cost slightly more than low-price options. #grocerystores #supermarkets #foodretail #food #health #organic #natural #branding #strategy #business #retail #business #sustainability #stores

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Data is very useful at telling you where things should be placed in store, how you should activate, what price points you should hit, how you should talk to your shoppers. That's just barely scratching the surface of the topic.Spotted this the other day instore. Unfortunately Frozen Peas were nowhere to be seen as the fin was in front of plant based foods and pizzas.....The moral of the story? You can have all the data in the world at your fingertips, but if the execution misses the mark then it doesn't matter what handy factoids I can throw at you on a Friday afternoon 😏 Shopper Intelligence ANZ #categorymanagement #insights #grocery #groceryretail #frozenvegetables #shopperinsights #shoppermarketing #instoreexperience #instoremarketing #category

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TAKING BACK THE STORE 🏬 Recent data shows that Americans are back to shopping more locations to get the best deals. Price is the reason. But, is it really?Or is it because stores are starting to look the same. 🤷♂️ The products, the assortments, the aisles, the department signs, and the endless rows of promotional labels. Now is the time for retailers, esp in food, to over invest 💰 , not cut back. Where are the margins going to come from? Meals. Prepared items. Hot food. Premium fruit and veggies. And, you need empowered people to SELL the food. Promoting cooking ideas, servicing orders, presenting items in a sellable manner. Winning in grocery now takes a counter intuitive approach. Investing in the experience before drastically turning aisles red, with waves of promoted items and sales.

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Is there anything grater than a grilled cheese sandwich? They’re so gouda, we’d like to eat one every day, but you really cantal, which makes us a bit bleu.Cheese puns! Yay!That’s our way of celebrating National Grilled Cheese Day, which was April 12th. We also prepared this analysis of cheese out of stocks at Walmart, Target and Kroger. Check it out to see where and when OOS rates were highest.Are you waiting to see if we’ve got any more cheesy puns?Don’t worry, we stilton have one left:Remember any cheese that isn’t yours is nacho cheese. Data Impact by NIQ. A new generation of ecommerce analytics.#ecommerce #brand #fmcg #cheese

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HERE’S THE SUNDAY SLICE: Rising Above the Crust: Texas Toast's Recipe for Growth in the Frozen Bread & Rolls CategoryAmidst the staples of the frozen aisle, Texas Toast has buttered its way to a remarkable 19.8% growth over the past year in the Frozen Bread & Rolls category. The slice of this success? A significant portion comes from existing frozen bread aficionados, who've amped up their category spend by 10.5%.📈 Feasting on New Opportunities: New buyers aren't just nibbling on the edges; they've taken a sizable bite, accounting for 58.3% of household penetration and 46.4% of the spend for Texas Toast's Frozen Bread & Rolls over the past year. But here's where it gets even more appetizing: enticing these new buyers to return for just one more purchase could rake in an additional $59.8 million. That's a lot of bread on the table.🛒 Where the Bread Rises: Where do these bread enthusiasts prefer to shop? A significant 30.4% of them first pick up Texas Toast at Walmart, with Kroger baking up a close second at 20.2%. It seems the frozen aisles of these retailers are where loyalty begins to rise.A Toast to Thoughtful Engagement: But let's slice deeper—what does this tell us about brand loyalty and shopper habits in the frozen food sector? How can we, as brand strategists and retailers, capitalize on the initial visit to cultivate a recurring shopping pattern? And in a market as vast as the bread and rolls category, how can Texas Toast continue to expand its shelf presence and consumer base?I invite you to chew over these questions:·How can brands leverage its initial shopper experience to increase the frequency of visits?·With Walmart and Kroger as the yeast to Texas Toast's growth, how can we knead this partnership to further rise in the market?No apologies on the bread puns here…Let's break bread over this discussion!Source: NumeratorLewis Brothers Bakery#TexasToast #FrozenFoods #MarketGrowth #RetailStrategy #ConsumerBehavior #ShopperEngagement #NumeratorData #FoodMarketing

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Years of food inflation has left many consumers looking for value.Many are running to value chains, like Aldi, and the Dollar channel to make their dollar stretch further.Connect with your peers to learn more about how retailer choice is impacting product selection and sales trends at a Peer Group.#peergroups #ALDI #grocery

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Retail & Food Services Company NewsWalmart#retailers #walmart #retail Fortune released its Global 500 list of the world's biggest companies by revenue, and Walmart secured the top spot for the 10th consecutive year with sales of $611.3 billion in 2022. The top 10 companies were mostly energy companies, benefitting from increased oil prices due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Sysco CorpFood distributor Sysco Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales, as inflation-induced constraints on consumers' disposable income led to reduced spending on non-essential products like custom cuts of meat and seafood. Despite improvements in the supply chain, Sysco continues to face cost pressures from raw materials such as meat, dairy, and seafood.McDonaldsMcDonald's is gearing up to experiment with a fresh restaurant concept known as CosMc, a name inspired by a character from their past TV commercials. This new concept will feature a smaller sales space, but specific menu details are yet to be disclosed. The fast-food giant plans to launch a test phase for CosMc next year. According to McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, CosMc will retain the core elements of the McDonald's brand but will have its own distinct personality. Unlike their previous focus on technology-driven concepts, such as the conveyor belt system in their Texas restaurant, this new venture seems to be a nostalgic revival of vintage mascots. Recently, McDonald's celebrated the 52nd birthday of one of their flagship mascots, Grimace, with a special menu, including a milkshake reflecting the character's iconic purple color. The offer received a positive response on social media, despite Grimace not being the most well-known McDonald's mascot.CostcoIn July, Costco Wholesale experienced a strong rebound in sales performance, surpassing disappointing results from the previous month. Net sales increased by 4.5% to $17.60 billion compared to the same period a year ago. This growth came on top of double-digit gains achieved in July 2022. For the fiscal year to date, Costco's net sales reached $214.53 billion, representing a 4.6% increase from the previous year's $205.19 billion.

📈 The top retailers favored by customers in August are Sprouts and Albertsons 🛒 . As a new emergent to the top retailers, Sprouts is well loved by consumers of recipe shopping for their wide variety of high quality products. Sprouts has now joined Albertsons as the go-to destinations for recipe shopping food enthusiasts.Private label brands O Organics and Good & Gather are becoming household staples for recipe purchasing as they retain their top brand spots this month.#monthlyinsights#monthlyupdate#topbrands#consumerinsights #topretailers

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Costco is making headlines, and it’s not just about their temptingparty plattersor bustlingfood court. The retail titan is in the spotlight for recent Costco recalls, making shoppers sit up and take notice. Get the latest on Costco recalls here.#costcomenu #costcorecalls #costcofoodcourt #costconews #costcolatestnews #newfooditems

According to WPP's BAV USA data, the private label category has increased in familiarity as well as perceptions of high quality, good value, and helpful over the past 2 years. Three of them stand out in our USA 2023 study: Costco Wholesale's Kirkland Signature, Walmart's Great Value, and Whole Foods Market's 365.Circana reported that Thanksgiving contributed US$2.8B uplift vs. average weekly sales last year, bested only by Christmas. This year, many retailers are offering Thanksgiving meal deal promotions. Some, including Target, BJ's Wholesale Club, and Winn-Dixie, put private brands front and center.Target's $25 Thanksgiving dinner: https://lnkd.in/gDVy6QZpBJ's Wholesale Club Thanksgiving promo: https://lnkd.in/gQEpBxe7Winn-Dixie's $30 Thanksgiving meal deal: https://lnkd.in/g-g5V64Q#WPPBAV #WPP #BAV #privatelabel #thanksgiving #greatvalue #kirklandsignature #wholefoods #walmart #costco #target #winndixie

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