Bill Bishop, Chief Architect, points to the some of the results of Hema, Alibaba's showcase of the new business opportunities that emerges from online-offline integration in food retail and suggests that US retailers could achieve similar results by reimagining their stores and systems.  Image credit: Alizila Video

What Alibaba's new Hema supermarkets mean for US grocery retailers

Barnaby Montgomery is a leader in reinventing the grocery store and serves as the co-founder and CEO of Yummy.com. Today we wanted to catch up with him to get an idea of what he's been working on recently in terms of reinventing the grocery store, with a focus on adding features that appeal to today's grocery shoppers.

Yummy.com: Barnaby Montgomery talks with Bill Bishop

2017 and beyond: Walmart and Kroger both released their investor presentations recently. It’s a rare opportunity for grocery retailers to look at the business plans of the two biggest players in the market and consider what they mean for the future of their own businesses.

Kroger vs. Walmart 2017 investor presentations: Different strategies but together a big impact

In this short interview, Bill Bolton and Bill Bishop answer 4 questions designed to give you a flavor of what to expect from a Brick Meets Click Strategic Marketing Briefing.

Brick Meets Click Strategic Market Briefing Interview Feb 6 2018

Although brick and mortar retailers will offer many ways to receive online grocery orders going forward, expect that in 2019 they will increasingly attempt to motivate more customers to use their pickup service because it makes economic and strategic sense.  Dave Bishop, Partner at Brick Meets Click, explains four reasons why this is likely to happen.

Grocery pickup to play a greater role in omnichannel strategy: What to expect in 2019 (#1)

In the second of our 3-part series on grocery industry developments you may not be expecting in 2019, we highlight the increasing importance of product attributes now that online search is the way many customers do their browsing and item selection – whether they ultimately shop in-store or online.

Product attributes become the key to unlocking sales growth: What to expect in 2019 (#2)

The growth of smaller stores will accelerate business model innovation in the grocery industry. Successful new stores will be fundamentally different and built to be economically viable in serving specific trip missions. If you keep your eyes open for these innovations in smaller stores, you'll see where grocery retailing is headed.

Small store format growth will accelerate new business model innovation: What to expect in 2019 (#3)

Amazon’s new grocery chain is the first step in building that last mile distribution system in metropolitan markets across the US. While Walmart is competing with Amazon for grocery, Amazon’s growing in grocery by taking business from a more vulnerable competitor – that is the traditional supermarkets. Amazon will leverage the advantage of low cost, second use real estate/facilities to bleed off the supermarket sales from retailers who have not adequately prepared to defend themselves.

Why Amazon's New Grocery Store is a Game Changer & Supermarkets are the Target

Walmart's two recent strategic shifts have important implications for supermarkets as they compete with the company for grocery business in 2020 and beyond: First, Walmart's leadership has expanded the definition of its stores by introducing new services that leverage its proximity to market, and second, it's also placing new emphasis on generating profits, not just sales

Get ready for Walmart's new focus on stores & generating profits in 2020

Last year, Aldi made a subtle but significant shift in pricing strategy – using Aldi Savers to move from pure EDLP to hybrid EDLP/high-low pricing– and this will likely accelerate its growth. Historically, Aldi's growth has been constrained by the relatively small share of consumers who are willing to regularly shop the hard discounter to get the "most value for money," but Savers has the potential to expand that customer base.

Aldi's New Pricing Strategy

Brick Meets Click is a strategic advisory firm with unparalleled experience, expertise, and perspective on the retail grocery industry. We work with organizations to find and evaluate the right path forward in today’s integrated physical/digital food retail business.

Our co-founder Bill Bishop spent 30+ years at Willard Bishop guiding grocery retailers through the last major wave of marketplace disruption.

In 2011, he and co-founder Steve Bishop shifted focus to concentrate on developing leading-edge thought leadership and guidance on the transformation of food distribution and marketing in the digital age.