Grocery Is Your Business

How a dynamic rebrand of Weight Watchers in both name (to WW) and a focus on community, impact, and wellness is reimagining a brand into the future. Jon Mandell, SVP, Membership Marketing and Global Ecommerce of WW (formerly Weight Watchers) joins Rob Sanchez, Marc Raco, and guest host Joe Yakuel (Agency Within).To hear more from speakers like Jon and Joe, check out CommerceNext on July 31st & August 1st in NYC.

In this episode:

• What the WW rebrand means for the company, and how a focus on overall health and wellness along with partnerships with DJ Khaled and Kevin Smith is pivoting the brand towards a younger generation
• How WW is helping members make healthy choices with meals through the Freestyle plan and showing how to build healthy meals and by offering smarter snacks
• John’s experiences with WW as a member before joining the company
• The challenges of conveying the value of the products and goods WW sells to members without it coming off like a sell or a necessity to being a member of the program
• The extensive look in the mirror that was a part of the WW rebrand, and the changes made both to the program and the product offerings to reflect the changes in what accounts to wellness and health in 2019
• The tools that WW has at its disposal to get feedback to improve the program; studios led by WW coaches, and Connect, a closed social group within the WW app mean to support and uplift members
• Ways WW is looking to move into the food delivery and meal kit realms through partnerships with brick and mortar chains to carry meal kits and brands like Blue Apron, to further WW’s ability to help people who want to take control of their wellness
• Finding a balance between utilizing scientific studies to prove the benefits of the WW and cutting through the marketing noise without making the claims seem inflated
• Why the universality of the message of a sustainable dieting program that works makes targeting marketing less of a concern
• WW’s barcode scanning app functionality and how finding broad partnerships with grocers most WW members have access to is essential to maintaining their engagement with the app
• Other incentives attached to the WW app, such as “wins” and other ways to build up points that are social in nature and not strictly tied to dieting
• Plus, we get to know some of John’s early inspirations that laid the foundation for his focus on growth and expansion at WW, and what kind of food he wishes was under 5 points

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How Thrive Market's moves to attract health-focused and trendy members while being ahead of the curve has led to an active community and a product offering that leans toward the health-conscious alternative goods...Sunil Kaki, SVP of Marketing for Thrive Market, joins Rob Sanchez, Marc Raco, and guest host Joe Yakuel (Agency Within).To hear more from speakers like Sunil and Joe, check out CommerceNext on July 31st & August 1st in NYC.

In this episode:

• Thrive Market’s conceptual evolution from a groupon-style model to a membership model more in line with Costco where membership unlocks low cost, non-GMO food goods delivered to members’ homes
• The way Thrive utilizes social media groups, surveys, and internal purchase data to refine the catalog to make sure that the decisions to make certain products private label are going to be top sellers
• How Thrive’s moves to attract health-focused and trendy members while being ahead of the curve has led to an active community and a product offering that leans toward the health-conscious alternative goods such as coconut oils/milks/etc. and charcoal toothpaste
• The downsides of trying to be ahead of the trend, and how that can backfire either in a product not selling or selling too well and affecting the availability of raw goods
• Thrive’s value for customers who are looking for foods that adhere to specific dietary lifestyles (keto, vegan, etc.) and how utilizing social media metrics and influencers has focused Thrive’s marketing focus to bring in people who are engaged in specific diets
• How Thrive has innovated its fulfillment and distribution to help profit margins as the brand’s scale has grown over time
• Thrive’s giveback pledge to various charitable causes, how this slice of the profit margins factors into the company’s finances, and why this is a central aspect of the company’s DNA
• The savings guarantee, where Thrive will refund membership fees if customers aren’t using or seeing value in their membership and refund them the difference from their membership fees, and the goodwill that Thrive builds through its brand identity
• How Thrive’s focus on being fair and sharing data with vendors and partner brands has established a healthy and positive community on the business side where other brands have failed by focusing just on ensuring the lowest prices for the customer
• What Sunil thinks is the future for the grocery industry, and why there should be more a focus on storytelling and direct marketing with consumers
• Plus, Sunil talks about some causes he believed in in his youth back in India and how his early experiences in the US prepped him to Thrive’s core values, his favorite products from Thrive, as well as his best and worst experiences as a consumer

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More than ever, retailers are challenged to effectively compete and differentiate. Aisle Ahead is the first to provide grocery retailers with an e-commerce and shopping trip planning platform that’s customized in its entirety, allowing each retailer to do exactly that. The platform cultivates consumer connections and empowers the grocery shopping experiences by understanding each shopper and their intent, from simply planning a shopping trip to online ordering—along with extending capabilities that enable grocers, brands, and smart kitchen manufacturers to uniquely connect with consumers and influence decisions through content. At Grocery Shop in Las Vegas, Rob Sanchez and Charles Beckwith sat down with Aisle Ahead CEO Steve Siopsis and Director of Marketing Jordan Kooijman.

In this episode

• Steve and Jordan talk about why Aisle Ahead’s e-commerce solutions let retailers maintain their own identity and to facilitate delivery and other services
• The issues with most white label services and why Aisle Ahead stands out
• What Big Oven is, and how it helps customers find new recipes to try and develop profiles to help target content for what those clients want
• How the acquisition of Big Oven changed the nature of the company and helped complete the circle from assisting customers in finding recipes and bringing them to the point of purchase
• How technology has changed the way groceries sell and why content and personalization matters more now than ever
• The ways the meal kit movement has made grocers need to focus on the whole cooking and shopping experience, and create a need to engage on a whole new level
• The challenging logistics of in-store fulfillment in grocery stores and how Aisle Ahead aims to solve these issues and make this a reality
• They way media influences customer’s cooking habits and how Big Oven is tapping into this
• The gameification of social media and how Big Oven plans to use that to drive engagement
• How selling through experiences and offering unique services through Aisle Ahead can help grocery stores differentiate and gain new customers

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A nearly three decades old big-name company in the grocery space has only had recruiting as a function for the last five years. With 20 new openings to deliver in the next few months and a shortage of full stack developers, how does a company like Whole Foods solve its recruiting and retention goals and growth?

Rob Sanchez sat down with Jen Davis, Global Technology Recruiting Director, on-location at HR Retail 2019 in Austin TX. Coming up you’ll hear how Whole Foods strives to tap into communities to find the right talent, put a focus on diversity of thought, add new technology to the process, handle data, and structure training for optimal employee performance and retention.

• Testing, learning
• Around since 1980, recruiting a 5 year old function
• The objective of 20-net new openings to deliver in other next 6 months
• A shortage of full-stack developers
• Tapping into communities to tap into talent
• Project-oriented training vs. classroom
• The importance of diversity of thought
• Tools in the HR space - video interviewing
• The on-boarding process
• Structure in training for regular check-ins
• Handling data, documents, communication

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Electronic Data Interchange (or EDI) allows business information to exist in a standardized format, allowing one company to send information to another company electronically and to become trading partners.

Haitham Ghadiry, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TrueCommerce joins Rob Sanchez and Charles Beckwith on location at Groceryshop in Las Vegas about the most complete way to connect your business across the supply chain - in a way that is more connected, more supported, and more prepared for what’s next.

• Haitham’s work with TrueCommerce, and how they help suppliers connect to the channels they need in order to do business
• How TrueCommerce helps retailers and suppliers with managing essential stock items, inventory, SKU numbers, shipping labels, etc, and organizes this information in ways that save time and money
• Why the current consumer client necessitates a company like TrueCommerce who helps retailers streamline the process of doing business in every direction
• Amazon’s entry into the grocery business, what this means for the industry, and why Haitham welcomes this potential shakeup
• The Endless Aisle Initiative and other trends in the industry that will help manufacturers and retailers work more efficiently
• The high demands of the Endless Aisle Initiative, and why a solid infrastructure is necessary before considering it
• Why retailers should have their supply chain teams and their marketing teams work closely together to maintain an efficient and accurate customer experience
• Advice for sales professionals engaging in B2B and B2C sales
• Some tips on how to reassess yourself as a leader in a busy and fast paced industry

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Susie Fogelson is the founder of F&Co, a consulting company focused on how understanding the food-connected audience and food culture insights can help a brand find a purpose and share their products through storytelling and experiences. Learn about the food-connected consumer, the increasing focus on multi-sensory engagement, the growth of meal kits, and how brick and mortar stores can engage with these trends.

This episode was recorded on location at Groceryshop in Los Vegas, NV.

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Michelle Farabaugh is the Chief Marketing Officer of Harry & David, America's premier choice in gourmet food gifting and entertaining for 85 years and part of the 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. family of brands. Learn how vertical integration, in-house marketing, experiential events, and a focus on emotional connection with consumers can keep a legacy brand thriving.

This interview was recorded on location at eTail West in Palm Springs, CA.

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