Trader Joe's exterior feature

Trader Joe’s on Why It’s Just Not That Into Ecommerce

| Mike O'Brien

Trader Joe’s, the distinctive small-scale-yet-nationwide grocery chain that feels more like a Starbuck’s without the pricey coffee and wifi, has thus far resisted the market pressure to follow the rest of its industry brethren into ecommerce, and explained its rationale in a podcast episode. Hint: it has to do with fulfillment and supply chain costs hitting prices, and maintaining the experience.

grocery lady scanning phone in aisle feature

How Grocery Can Survive Uberization

| Madeline Aufseeser

Perhaps the biggest competitive advantages delivery services have over traditional grocery is sourcing and convenience. So, what can traditional grocers do to stop their lunch being eaten? Continue to innovate your channels with products, services and tools that help customers get the most from their in-store experiences.

Sephora logo feature

Sephora Launches Unlimited Same-Day Delivery Subscription

| Mike O'Brien

Beauty retailer Sephora is upping its convenience game, launching an unlimited same-day delivery subscription for $49 per year, through its website or the Sephora app, a service not offered by main rival Ulta Beauty, which charges $9.95 per delivery without the app option. The program has no minimum and there is a 30-day free trial.

curbside pickup sign feature

Curbside Pickup Can Now Include Impulse Purchases

| Mike O'Brien

A new tool allows retailers to offer impulse, add-on products to a curbside pickup order, in similar fashion to a physical checkout line, creating an opportunity to recapture lost purchases as BOPIS adoption continues to grow. The tool, called Curb Up, is a collaboration between Canadian firms Bold Commerce and ecommerce agency Knit.

omnichannel store associate feature

Omnichannel Optimization: Automate Store Operations

| Gary Stonell

As the role of the store shifts to meet the needs of omnichannel shoppers, retailers must also evolve to ensure efficient and productive task execution. Make the most out of your omnichannel strategy by automating store operations with digital management processes, exceeding expectations and improving communications.

ecommerce BOPIS illustration

The Fifth Wave of Ecommerce

| Frank Garcia

The challenge being laid today is to understand that in-store fulfillment is a workaround, not a scalable solution, for retailers penetrating further into ecommerce. If your physical shoppers have a bad experience because of technological processes you’ve enabled, you have failed them in the overall customer journey.

BOPA store illustration feature

BOPA a Growing Option for Consumers

| Mike O'Brien

Nearly one in five American consumers prefer the more convenient option of buy online, pickup anywhere or BOPA vs. showing up at a retailer’s stores in an area, if it’s offered at checkout, according to a new study from Via.Delivery. The study was based on thousands of ecommerce transactions in Q4 2021.

e-grocery bin

E-Grocery Performance Drops for Conventional Grocers

| Mike O'Brien

Conventional grocers saw a nearly 7% drop in e-grocery sales on a same-store basis during the 12 weeks ending Sept. 28, 2021, according to a new report from Brick Meets Click, due to a 3.1% decrease in orders combined with AOV dropping nearly 4% as the pandemic effect lessened.

Via.delivery map feature

Startup Via.Delivery Brings BOPIS to SMBs in the U.S.

| Mike O'Brien

Via.Delivery, a startup platform offering the power of buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) to smaller retail and ecommerce businesses, has expanded beyond its Russian roots with a launch here that features 21,000+ pickup locations at pharmacies, convenience marts and grocery stores.