General Merchandise

NEW YORK — The Emerson Group last month hosted its 10th Annual Retail Industry Day in a packed room, with hundreds of merchants eager to discover how to better position their products for tomorrow’s ever-evolving consumer.

They weren’t disappointed.

PLANO, Texas — As Walmart looks to centralize its merchandising activity planning process and establish standard operating procedures for in-store service providers, it has named sales and marketing company Crossmark as one of its preferred service providers. With the selection, Crossmark is one of five companies that can execute merchandising activity on behalf of suppliers in nearly 5,000 U.S. Walmart locations.

Consumers are increasingly weighing the health consequences of all of their purchasing decisions, including products for their four-legged family members.

From food and treats to toys and grooming products, shoppers are seeking items for their pets that offer the same healthy attributes as the products they buy for themselves.

When it comes to tobacco sales, it is all about the angle you are looking from.

For those who remain optimistic about the category, they can point to individual unit sales of nearly $250 billion annually and price points that can hover around $10 a pack. They also can say that while the number of users is down dramatically over the last 20 years, the most loyal cigarette smokers continue to purchase the product at a steady rate and, surveys find, will continue to do so for years to come.

CHICAGO — IRI and Ahold Delhaize Licensing on Tuesday announced they have entered into a long-term agreement for IRI to serve as the primary partner and analytics platform of record for the brands of Ahold USA and Delhaize America.

PHILADELPHIA — The stark reality that reverberated with attendees of the Emerson Group's 10th annual Retail Industry Day was simple — within a short period the entire ecosystem of how consumers seek, source and acquire products will change. And that change will accelerate thanks in large part to the coming of age of a generation of consumers who have never experienced a world without Wi-Fi.

CINCINNATI — The supermarket shopping experience at Kroger is about to undergo a significant digitally-driven transformation even as the grocery store operator seeks to exit the c-store and gas arena.

The digital transformation is being called Restock Kroger and is expected to redefine the food and grocery customer experience in America, the company stated.

PHILADELPHIA — Yesterday we learned how digital is transforming the platform of commerce from value to efficiency, where people no longer make purchase decisions based on price but rather on how much time they save.

Today, we learn how digital is disrupting everything else marketers and merchandisers hold dear.