[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/#Article","articleBody":"This weekend, while sprinting through our local grocery store with my 6-year-old and 9-year-old whining and trying to surreptitiously drop Lucky Charms and Chocolate Krispies into our cart (Teehee! Unless, of course, you\u2019re an exhausted working mom), I wished, just once, the CEO of whatever grocery store I\u2019m in that\u2019s convenient could actually follow me around for a week.\nIf that happened, maybe, just maybe, these fearless leaders would realize why in Gods name they are in business.\nIts not just to distribute stuff efficiently, although that\u2019s part of it. Supply chain is hard \u2013 and that part \u2013 they seem to do relatively well (although when you take food waste into consideratio nmaybe not?).\nThe part that they are definitely, absolutely failing at miserably is this: problem solving\nI\u2019m not sure if they\u2019ve noticed or not, but their core customer has taken on a new role or two in the past half-century. Today,women make up the majority of professional workers in the US.\nYep. Weve got stuff going on as I mentioned inmy post last week. Fueling our families with healthy food theyll actually eat three times a day is merely one of many things on our plate (or is it three things on our plate, every day?). Regardless, the anticipatory challenge of figuring out what we need to have on hand so that we can do that is massive.\nWhy aren\u2019t you helping us try to solve that problem?\nIt is really hard to figure out what (relatively healthy) meals your people will eat. And even more difficultto manage a household\u2019sfood inventory to make the aforementioned possible.But on top of board meeting prep work, stupid office politics, work travel, hockey, music, homework, pants that don\u2019t fit, working around holidays schools give but businesses don\u2019t, making sure prescriptions are filled and dentist appointments are made, ensuring the car is inspected, and lunches are packed\u2026in the spirit ofRodney Dangerfield, it\u2019s like doing aTriple Lindy...every bloody day\nHint No. 1: you are not in business to earn slotting fees from manufacturers \nWhy do you care more about stocking your selves with crap that makes every mom a \u201cNo Ogre\u201d (until she\u2019s too darn exhausted to say no anymore)? The slotting fees you earn from food manufacturers may feel good right now, but beware, its exactly what makes Blue Apron seem so appealing \u2013 minus that pesky landfill issue.\nHint No. 2: you are not in business to sell purchase data to manufacturers who want to sell stuff we don\u2019t want.\nWhy do you use loyalty data to give shoppers more choice (not less) via tone-deaf competitive coupons? Why aren\u2019t you using loyalty data to help your overstretched core customers solve their inventory management and planning problem more effectively? The grocery retailer that figures out how to do this will have the undying loyalty of millions of working moms.\nHint No. 3: You are in business to meet the needs of your buyers with relevant products.\nPlease. Please. Please. Personally, I am so very tired of working around your collective blind spot. I\u2019m guessing my fellow working moms are, too.#ProblemSolveAlready #YouHaveTheDataYouNeedToDoIt #WhatAreYouWaitingFor #MaybeYouNeedSomeFemaleCLevelExecs?\nAre you giving B2B buyers the B2C experience they crave? We can help. Learn more HERE.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/sarah-welch-thumb-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Sarah Welch","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahbuttonedup","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sarah-welch-46943b"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/sarah-welch\/"},"dateModified":"2021-08-13T22:38:06+00:00","datePublished":"2016-02-24T19:25:59+00:00","headline":"It\u2019s high time grocery stores had an existential crisis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/GroceryCrisis_HB-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/","name":"It\u2019s high time grocery stores had an existential crisis","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2016","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"02","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/\/02\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"24","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/\/02\/\/24\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"It\u2019s high time grocery stores had an existential crisis","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/02\/24\/grocery-stores-customer-engagement\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]