North America

Surviving the Brave New World of Food Retailing: A Roadmap to Relevance for the Future

Disruptive forces are forever changing the world of retail. Today’s shoppers—armed with new technologies and shifting personal needs and aspirations—are seeking entirely new solutions and customer experience from their stores. As a result, traditional strengths, such as location or product variety, are declining in importance, while experiences and connections are rising. The very definitions of […]

Untangling the Social Web: Insights for Users, Brands and Retailers

Social networking is no longer defined by arbitrary status updates posted by millennials. It has incredible scope and power that demands attention from users, brands and retailers. Social media represents the most popular online activity worldwide and has altered the way we connect, share and build relationships with people and communities around the globe. The North America Council studied this […]

Eating In: Growing Sales by Helping Customers Eat at Home More

As consumers increasingly choose to eat at home instead of a restaurant due to growing health concerns, retailers must develop ways to make the process convenient by helping them shop for and prepare meals. These food industry trends present food retailers with a new opportunity to earn a greater share of consumers’ food dollars. If […]

Connecting the Dots Between Food & Health: Expanding the Market for Retail Grocery

As food industry trends continue to focus on health and wellness, retailers need to understand how these trends will affect their business. This report by the North America Council delivers a strategic planning model for navigating the future of health and wellness in food retailing. Every retailer who uses this tool will come away with not only […]

Getting to Great: Mapping Management Practices That Drive Performance

Why do similar stores produce such different results? The answer often points to the success of the store’s management and recruiting abilities. However, not all employees are the same, and most stores feature a mixture of leadership skills across the board. The North America Council report focuses on the actions of these employees and how […]

The World According to Shoppers

The supermarket’s share of the total grocery business has declined broadly in recent years as consumers spend less at the grocery store and more in other types of stores. The strengths and weaknesses of new competitors – supercenters, warehouse clubs, health supermarkets – are well understood in terms of price, variety, quality and service. However, […]

Grow With America: Best Practices in Ethnic Marketing and Merchandising

The ethnic composition of the American marketplace is changing. Today, nearly one-third of the U.S. population is represented by Hispanics, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, and these groups are projected to account for half of the American market by 2040. Retailers who compete effectively for these customers will be in a position to profit from this growth. […]

New Ideas for Retaining Store-Level Employees

By 2000, the annual cost of employee turnover in the supermarket industry had exceeded the entire industry’s annual profit by 40 percent. Replacing employees was not only an inefficient use of time, it was also highly costly. This report found that the supermarket industry’s turnover rate had a major effect on the stages of business […]

Building a Meal Solution Delivery System: Understanding Supply-Side Costs and Strategies for Supermarket Foodservice

Meal solutions provide an innovative way for food retailers to reach consumers on a different level. In 1998, the North America Council studied this new area of supermarket foodservice, focusing specifically on the development of foodservice departments and their profitable operation. The purpose of this report was to understand the costs associated with delivering restaurant-quality […]

Where to Look for Incremental Sales Gains: The Retail Problem of Out-Of-Stock Merchandise

In 1996, the existence, magnitude and pervasiveness of the industry’s out-of-stock problem were undeniable. Consumers who couldn’t find what they were looking for either postponed their purchases or took their business elsewhere. It was time for retailers to accept their own responsibility for the problem. The North America Council commissioned this market research to quantify […]