Randy Crooks

Discover the unstoppable demand for variety in alcohol beverages! 🍹🍸 Gen Z demand is driving changes in flavor, format, and packaging innovation. Learn about the growth opportunities in this robust market in the latest Circana report.

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Costco is building out an ad network built on its trove of loyalty membership data, using its 74.5 million household members’ shopping habits and past purchases to power targeted advertising on and off its website. The wholesale retailer is still testing such capabilities, and it’s fielding offers from potential ad-tech vendors, but the move signals that the third-largest retailer in the US could become a formidable player in the already deeply fragmented retail media space, which is estimated to reach $166 billion by 2025, and responsible for 20% of all digital media spend this year, according to eMarketer. #retailmedia #costco #wholesaleclubs

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#InTheClubWithGina edition 23: Dear, gentle readers... happy Pride Month! 🌈 Not something you'll see widely represented in clubs, which are this month far more preoccupied with getting members grilling and throwing pool parties for dads and grads at the moment, but of personal importance to me. And perhaps we'll see more representation in at least one club. Sam's Club announced plans to open its My Member's Mark Community (sans the "My" now) to all of its members in the next phase of the initiative. The move demonstrates Sam's awareness of the unique advantages provided by the club model, enabling it to gather direct feedback, tailor, and potentially even perfect its private label products. https://lnkd.in/gc9RKxmk In other news, Sam's Chief Membership and Marketing Officer of two years, Ciara Anfield, resigned from her post. After quarter on quarter of record membership gains, keep an eye out for who will be filling her shoes. Jack Neff https://lnkd.in/gATjd-8t And Costco is reportedly dropping year-round bookselling in 2025 in a shrewd move to save employees time on the floor. The center of a club is often filled with items that require a more hands-on approach than the pallets on the shelf, begging the question: will we see more pallets in the middle, or will apparel and other such categories fall the way of books? It could be that such items will become online specialties, given the club's success with general merchandise via ecommerce, but only time will tell. Elizabeth A. Harris Alexandra Alter https://lnkd.in/gPuEJP3r #retail #costco #samsclub #privatelabel

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#InTheClubWithGina edition 24: All three clubs offered insight into their ongoing and upcoming strategies this past week. Costco AVP of Retail Media Mark Williamson (and Sam's Club veteran) spoke to Marketing Brew about the club's RMN ambitions, while Costco Auto Program GM of Strategic Partnerships Jay Maxwell chatted with CNBC (also featured: Kantar's own amazing Julie Craig). Ryan Barwick https://lnkd.in/gPZZZ4vU Michael Wayland https://lnkd.in/gVh6CAxb Building out programs that bring in additional revenue is going to continue to be a priority for Costco, even as sales climb month after month. Why? So they can keep driving lower costs for members - and avoid that infamous fee hike that comes up every earnings call. At Walmart's Annual Shareholder Meeting, Sam's CEO Chris Nicholas made some revealing remarks, as well: "We need to make sure every single item earns its right to be on the floor. And for those that don't want to bring innovation or don't want to get to the right price point for our member, we will fight every day for that. And we think Member's Mark, we are building the quality of this thing and it's creating the ability for us to have even higher quality conversation with our supplier partners about what the bar looks like now." The message is clear. Sam's sees Member's Mark as a leverage point. Brands will need to innovate while maintaining value to win against the private label. Finally, BJ's expanded its same-day delivery with Roadie to include larger items like outdoor furniture, grills, and TVs just ahead of BBQ season in an attempt to better compete with similar services offered by its peers. Like Costco and Sam's, it includes an upfront fee and is limited to specific regions, but there are a few other caveats: restrictions on eligible products, and a 20 item limit on orders up to $750. It's a step forward, but BJ's will have to do more to make up for the drawbacks. https://lnkd.in/gTmEdvi4 #retail #costco #samsclub #bjs

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Varo's creative waitlist strategy! In March Varo Bank announced a NEW Varo Line of Credit product that will launch this summer and the online bank is encouraging interested customers (via email) to get in line on a "priority list" and improve their position by engaging with Varo. 👇 ⭐The Varo Line of Credit is a short-term installment loan (3-12 months) from $600-$2000 with a one-time fee based on the amount borrowed and no interest. Customers can improve their waitlist position with the following actions: 1️⃣ Use your Varo Bank Account 2️⃣ Increase your Direct Deposit amounts 3️⃣ Spend more with your Varo Debit Card 4️⃣ Spend more with you Varo Believe Card 5️⃣ Borrow and pay on time with Varo Advance 6️⃣ Pay recurring bills with Varo 💡Unique. I've seen (and posted on) many a waitlist and I can't recall a waitlist for a line of credit but why not take a strategy that has been popular for launching cards and banking products and apply it here? 💡💡Engaging. Waitlist gamification isn't new for fintechs but what stands out is the extent to which Varo is encouraging customers to engage across a wide range of activities in order to improve their position on the list. Varo will then prioritize its most engaged customers with the new Line of Credit. 💡💡💡 Timing. With many Americans stressed out about their finances and consumer confidence waning the timing couldn't be better for Varo to offer extended access to credit with a transparent cost. #emailmarketing #waitlist #lineofcredit #fintech #marketing #advertising

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Check your pension allocation! A recent study uncovered that 2 million tech workers could have gained an estimated $5.1 billion in returns if their employers had divested their retirement plan holdings from fossil fuels ten years ago. The research highlights the significant impact of investment decisions on employee retirement savings. Dive into the full article for more insights: https://lnkd.in/ek2zS7Xx

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Key high-level insights around data strategy, from Forrester:  https://lnkd.in/g4vNQuEK #datastrategy #forrester #dataanalytics #data #databaseddecisionmaking #datainsights #businessinsights

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We’re forecasting Walmart to slightly outpace the U.S. retail market, entirely driven by eCommerce. eCommerce is expected to account for 70% (!) of Walmart’s dollar growth this year, up from 56% in 2023. Two key action items for suppliers: 1️⃣ For starters, you need to know the breakdown of growth for your own brand. This is way more impactful than fixating on digital penetration alone. (And btw, you’ll need Luminate Charter to see this granular level of detail.) 2️⃣ Then, you need to align your strategy for growth. Sure, eCommerce may still only account for a small percentage of your sales, but likely the large majority of the growth. Investments need to be right sized accordingly and you need a deep understanding of the digital levers available to you. Our 2Q quarterly business review on Walmart shares more details on our forecasts and the omnichannel tactics needed for success – spanning Walmart Connect, Luminate, 3P marketplace, measurement, and more. The QBR will hit Stratably Premium members’ inboxes later this morning. If you want in on the action, sign up at stratably.com/join or DM me to learn about how we can help you win with your most important retail accounts, in the fastest-growing channel – digital.

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🍹✨ Exciting Discovery at Target! ✨🍹 Yesterday's Target run turned into a delightful surprise! While perusing the aisles, I stumbled upon a product sampler featuring a new Ready-to-Drink (RTD) launch right at the store entrance. Being a cocktail enthusiast, I couldn't resist trying something new. Imagine my amazement when I found a Moscow mule RTD! 🤯 The creativity of companies these days knows no bounds, and this innovative flavor combination certainly caught my attention. Did you know that 44% of shoppers prioritize convenient location when choosing their beverages? That statistic certainly rang true for me yesterday. The convenience of finding such intriguing options right at Target made my decision-making process a breeze. Cheers to convenience and creativity in beverage choices! 🥂 Have you stumbled upon any surprising finds for the upcoming summer lately? #TargetRun #BeverageInnovation #MoscowMuleRTD #ConvenienceMatters 🎯🍸

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Context is essential to the core of brand and customer experience. Join our webinar on June 26th to see how we at Ipsos and our clients integrate context into all parts of the brand.

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For those looking for a super cost effective way of getting customer analytics, actionable competitive insights and improved media targeting, you should check out Pogo/ it’s one of the best kept secrets and the #5 ranked loyalty program for consumers of 300 measured (complement to retail programs). It’s such a brilliant consumer concept with basket-level competitive data based on their quid pro quo to pay customers for their spending detail. https://lnkd.in/gduMgNrD

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Another reading from the monthly retail sales report. I've probably looked at this report 100+ times in the past few years, but just recently realized how unrealistic Nonstore and Restaurant projections have been coming in. Nonstore Retailers are mostly comprised of eComm-like retailers today. Case in point, Amazon falls under this setting. Additionally, there are certain aspects of some businesses also considered nonstore - those sales can be submitted in a separate survey from the same business. The survey is literally just that - about 4 questions. What's the tax id, how many locations, what are the sales (and is that actual or an estimate), then an open-ended response section. The survey goes out to about 4800 businesses monthly. I put a link to one in the comments because its almost hard to believe. I think its important to put that in perspective (this is a survey of business owners' responses, not actual data) because Online and Restaurants have historically been two of the most challenging channels to track. Now these figures aren't inflation adjusted, so there's a little skew there. One could also make the "Restaurants are close to the trend line" comments...ok, I'll give you that. But doesn't Nonstore look a bit excessive? Don't get me wrong, it's clear eComm has been growing, but it's also clear it was slowing down before the end of last year. More, this projects Nonstore retailers generate MORE dollars overall than restaurants, grocery stores, and gen merch stores (Walmart and Target included in there). That's really what drove my interest here. This line item has been showing massive gains since I've started looking at the report. It has always outpaced the other sectors, and now given its size, is having a significant influence on the larger projections. Imagine this sector has (inadvertently) been over projected, skewing the monthly reads. The impact would be significant. Maybe survey takers haven't been filling the forms out right between store/nonstore. Maybe they've been overstating their eComm businesses. Maybe more Nonstore retailers are getting sampled than before. Maybe none of those... I don't know if there's an issue...it just seems like something's off. Oh well...guess I'll just wait and see how today's reading impacts the market. 🙃 #retailsales #consumerbehavior

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In just a few days 750+ leaders in loyalty will be here in Chicago for Customer Relationship Management Conference (CRMC) . @JayWeinberg and I are interested in exploring with you the value of a program audit vs. a program re-fresh. Ascendant Loyalty Marketing - contact us via our page or via the CRMC mobile app! > Premise: If the program is somewhat mature, or has operational challenges, or the MarTech stack is not performing up to expectations - we believe you should start with an audit to uncover the problems, constraints and gaps that must be addressed BEFORE you even think about a re-fresh or re-launch of your program. > Premise: If your program is slowing down with respect to member engagement or enrollment is not tracking with your financial model, or the value proposition needs a boost, or members have revealed themselves to be distinctively different than the tier/benefit structure you currently have in place, then a re-fresh may be indeed be in order. We recently met with a company that wanted an audit, but indeed a re-fresh that created a closer connection to brand positioning and a sharper focus on experiential rewards + recognition was the ultimate objective. Our Loyalty Leaders process/method does both - but in the right order for all the right reasons. Let's visit next week over a beverage or dinner Monday night and talk about what you aspire to achieve in 2024 leading into 2025. Our firm stands ready to help you achieve sustained incremental revenue from valued customers/guests!

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Look who I bumped into enroute to #Phoenix for NielsenIQ annual #C360 conference for retailers and manufacturers. Looks like Denver is a popular hub for all of us United Airlines 1K travellers! Don’t judge that Jessie Mazur is ready for business and I am dressed casual. Been almost 6 hours flying plus layovers and it is 12noon local time…. #NIQandGfK #TheFullView #MovingMeasurementForward #NIQ #GFK #nielseniq #retailanalytics #retailinsights #cpg #cpgindustry #retail #groceryretail #convenience #beverageindustry #quickcommerce #collaboration #future #business #manufacturing #collaboration #connectedcollaboration #media #investments #onlineadvertising #sales #retail #growth #grocery #retailing #technology #sustainability #techanddurables #generalmerch #computing #electronics #devices #IoT #PrivateLabel #ownedBrands #telco #AI #GenAI #AskArthur

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As a consumer insights professional, you have to accept you will never understand all of your consumers' behaviors all of the time. For example, there is NEVER ANY REASON TO REACH OVER THE SNEEZE GUARD AT CHIPOTLE. EVER! Even if you are Barack Obama, I can assure you that the worker knows what "pico" or "no corn" or "yes, I know guac is extra" means without your grubby hands reaching into the food area. There is no data or research or analysis that will ever make this understandable or acceptable. #ConsumerInsights #MRX #MarketResearch #Chipotle

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As the landscape for financial solutions evolves, it’s crucial for #CPGbrands to find reliable and flexible funding options that align with their growth trajectories. With the recent news of Ampla facing some challenges, we want you to know, if your CPG brand is navigating through these changes and looking for funding, Kickfurther is here for you. At Kickfurther, we understand the unique challenges faced by growing CPG brands. And we offer an innovative financing solution that puts you in control of your brand with flexible payment options and funding when you need it. Reach out to us today to see how we can help. #kickfurther

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Bluecore’s first-ever Benchmarks Report is live. It’s well done and you need to take a look! Why? Because if you were tasked with building a benchmark report for retailers about retail performance, this is what you would build! It’s customer-centric, quantifies the quantity and quality of retail customers by retail vertical, and highlights metrics you strive to improve daily - onsite identification, new customer acquisition, retention, and reactivation, order frequency, and average order value. See? I told you this is what you would build! You can read the full report here: https://bluecre.co/3w0ylrT

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