I recently attended the National Grocers Association (NGA) tradeshow and conference in Las Vegas. Notable for me were two conference sessions on e-commerce. Micro Fulfillment Centers (MFC’s) The first covered micro fulfillment centers (MFC’s) – small, largely automated vertical warehouses, provided by AutoStore. These MFC’s pick and pack online grocery orders for online shoppers. Whether for click-and-collect, or delivery. 6 times faster […]
News/Blog
Thought leadership pieces and industry insights from MSource Idea's founder, Lionel Binnie.
Kroger to Roll Out More Ocado Automated Customer Fulfillment Warehouses
Grocery giant Kroger is opening an Ocado automated fulfillment warehouse (customer fulfillment center or CFC) for home delivery in the Northeast soon. They have no stores in the Northeast, so this is an e-commerce only move for Kroger. They already operate a CFC in central Florida, with more planned in Florida, California and the South. These operations can deliver to a 90-mile radius and can […]
Retailers Own Two Assets: Consumer Mind-Share and Shelf Space
There are two things a retailer has to offer brands; mind-share and shelf-space. Online retailers like Amazon and more offline retailers like Kroger offer the same things to brands; Mind-share – they want to be first-in-mind when a shopper has a shopping need. And then they have shelf space. Shelf space for online retailers is basically […]
Instacart is Another Ad Channel
A recent Wall Street Journal article explains that as COVID-19 worries fade, delivery services like Instacart, with revenues declining from the 2020 ‘stay-at-home’ peak, are turning to ad sales to boost revenue. So when you visit Instacart’s website you’ll be served ads from various food brands seeking your attention. Which is competing with ad dollars […]
What Types of Retail We’ll Want Post-Covid
Wait, who’s this guy with an attitude? Read on, we’ll tell – promise. There are so many trying to predict the future of retail post- Covid. We all want to know what the future will look like and we’re trying to think it through. How much will have changed. What types of retail, retail […]
Selling Products and Services to Colleges and Universities
Why You Should Sell to the Higher Education Market Colleges and Universities, also known as ‘Higher Education’, (I’ll just call them Colleges, here) form a large and stable group of institutional customers that buy, like, LOTS of products and services. It’s a sector many types of companies should consider targeting. COVID-19 has had a large impact […]
How Businesses Can Help Colleges and Universities Respond to COVID-19
This is changing daily, but as I write this, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 53% of colleges are planning on re-opening this fall with on campus classes. While 32% will offer a hybrid of online and in-person classes and 11% will offer on-line only. The rest are still deciding. How Some Colleges are […]
How to Open a Pop-Up Store
OK, so you’re ready to open a Pop-Up store. Or at least to plan it out. Check out my post on what Pop-Up stores are, and why to do them. This article covers how to do them. Location, Location, Location It’s a retail industry cliché, but for a physical store, it’s all about the right […]
The 3 Main Reasons to Open a Pop-Up Store
As shopping returns to pretty close to ‘normal’, post COVID-19, the Pop-Up concept may be more relevant than ever. In an era of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands, this strategy deserves a closer look. This post explains why. What is a Pop-Up shop? A Pop-Up shop is a small, short-term retail format, usually placed in a high-visibility location, like […]
A Quick-Guide to the Healthcare Foodservice Industry
So, you’ve thought about selling your food or beverage product to the healthcare industry. Driving past your local mega-hospital, maybe you’ve thought ‘Hey, those are big buildings with lots of people in them. I wonder if they would buy my new food product?’ Or, ‘What do all the doctors, nurses, and medical technicians, not to mention […]
