The world of retail is ever-changing, and retailers continually have to innovate and adapt to the changing times and consumer. According to Barrington, Ill.-based Willard Bishop’s “The Future of Food Retailing, 2015,” report, sales of consumables in the mass merchandising channel have declined. “The Mass format experienced a slight decline this year of 1.2 percent to $47.9 billion and a 6.3 percent decline in store count to a little over 3,000 stores,” the report states. With a decline in consumable sales, innovation will become essential.
Susan Viamari, vice president of thought leadership at Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI), notes that while beverage dollar sales as a whole grew
3 percent during the past year in grocery, dollar and club stores, in the mass merchandiser channel, it dropped 11.2 percent.