Buoyed by pandemic-related shopping shifts, the outlook for retail sales of beer, wine and alcohol is bright.
There are plenty of reasons to toast this new year after this last one. The outlook for retail sales of beer, wine and alcohol, a category affected by the dramatic market shifts of 2020, seems rather spirited.
For one thing, the normalcy of dining out in bars and restaurants and gathering at large public events isnât on the short-term horizon. âWe donât sell spirits at any of our stores, but we expect the increase in beerand wine sales to continue in 2021, at least for as long as COVID restrictions are in place,â agrees Colin Heap, manager of beer and wine for The Giant Co., based in Carlisle, Pa. âOur customers are buying more to-go, which corresponds with a decline in alcohol sales at bars and restaurants.â
The Fresh Market said it rolled out the Friendliest Curbside Experience in America program to all of its 159 stores in 22 states as of Dec. 12. Since then, the number of curbside orders has “grown significantly,” with an average guest rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, according to the retailer. Wait times have decreased further, and order fill rates have “substantially improved,” the chain said.
“We’re committed to creating and curating the very best and most delicious food for our guests every day,” Brian Johnson, senior vice president of operations at The Fresh Market, said in a statement. “Along with the 100% satisfaction guarantee on every item, we have added special touches, such as bringing you a bottle of water on a hot day, or a banana or clementine for your children. Our personal shoppers are in constant contact with you while fulfilling your order and also write personalized thank you notes to our guests with recipe suggestions, products they think you’d
Goldman Sachs veteran to succeed departing Sagar Sanghvi at online grocery giant
Amid industry buzz of an impending initial public offering, Instacart has named Goldman Sachs veteran Nick Giovanni to succeed Sagar Sanghvi as chief financial officer.
Plans call for Giovanni to take the CFO reins on Jan. 27, San Francisco-based Instacart said yesterday. Sanghvi, a former associate at investment bank KKR & Co., has served as Instacart’s CFO since August 2019 and, after a transition period, is reportedly leaving the company to return to investing.
Giovanni (left) will oversee finance, accounting and corporate development at Instacart and report directly to founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta. The company emphasized his deal-making experience in over 20 years at investment bank Goldman Sachs, where he advised clients on hundreds of financing, strategic and investing transactions. Those included some of the largest financial transactions and public offerings of the last two decades, f
Managing Editor Although overall satisfaction with supermarkets improved from earlier in the pandemic, supermarket operators should keep investing both in their stores and online programs to remain relevant and attract new customers.
Supermarkets have apparently rebounded from earlier 2020 scores on core experience factors and overall satisfaction, according to the fall 2020 installment of The Retail Feedback Group’s (RFG) “U.S. Online & In-Store Grocery Shopping Study.” The second installment of this report (the first was in April) provides key insights, collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, from both online and in-store supermarket shoppers.
Compared with April’s report, almost all of the core experience factors for supermarkets improved, with the biggest increases seen on a five-point scale, where five is highest, in variety/selection (4.25, up from 4.00) and value for money (4.10, up from 3.93). Overall satisfaction went from 4.08 to 4.23.