Monday, July 15, 2019

Consumer Cross Currents Collide Grocery, Restaurant, and Convenience Stores



At the intersection of the consumer, food, food sales, food marketing, and branded food company adoption are thee cross currents according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
Those cross currents are Fresh Prepared Food, Technology including delivery hardware & software, and branded partnerships according to Johnson.  One grocery retailer that wants to garner incremental customers that ‘gets it’ according to Johnson this trial create a new electricity for H-E-B.
Recently H-E-B announced a strategic partnership with self-driving delivery With Udelv. Grocery stores have been slow to adopt new technology and H-E-B understands that at the turn of the century 1900 there were more grocery stores than restaurants and today there are 28 restaurants for every grocery store in the US. H-E-B wants is looking a customer ahead and wants to grow.
H-E-B’s test of a new grocery delivery service from a Udelv vehicle with self-driving technology  launch the pilot Autodeliv program in San Antonio later this year.
H-E-B, is going to be inviting select customers near its store in Olmos Park, TX to sign up to receive deliveries from an autonomous vehicle during the pilot test period. The retailer will deploy one autonomous delivery vehicle (ADV) from Burlingame, Calif.-based Udelv, whose ADV has climate-controlled compartments that hold multiple orders of fresh, frozen and dry goods, and can travel at city street and highway speeds.
The Udelv trial is part of the 400-store regional retailer’s efforts to integrate more technology-based services into its playbook, which includes its wholly owned subsidiary Favor, an on-demand delivery service; H-E-B Curbside; H-E-B Home Delivery, which is expected to be at more than 200 locations by year’s end; and H-E-B Go, a mobile solution that allows people to scan and pay for their items with their phones.
“At H-E-B, we continue to evaluate and utilize innovative technologies in all parts of our business,” Paul Tepfenhart, SVP of omnichannel and emerging technologies for Central Market and H-E-B, said in a release. Consumers are dynamic not static and retailer must be as well.  What are you doing to drive customer adoption and new electricity?
According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”
Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, plant based  foods,  sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.
All food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.
Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.
Battle for Share of Stomach




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