Retail Consulting

Bed Bath Enters Tough Territory With Loyalty Program The $29 annual membership test program offers 20 percent discounts on all orders Posted on October 13, 2016 by Allison Zisko NEW YORK—Bed Bath & Beyond’s new fee-based loyalty test program draws the specialty retailer into an increasingly crowded arena that has had mixed results with the strategy. Bed Bath & Beyond’s new annual $29 membership program offers 20 percent discounts on all orders across all of its retail platforms, according to published reports. The program is believed to be in test mode, and it is unclear whether the new fee-based program would lead to the elimination of its popular 20 percent off coupons, which are individually applied to one item. Withdrawing discounts once they are in the market is risky, noted retail analyst Steve Goldberg, president of The Grayson Company. “Altering buying patterns is always a challenge,” he told HFN. Discounts with expiration dates must also be carefully [...]

The Future of Retail and Brands is Truly Exciting!! Each year, the Wharton Graduate Retail Conference draws upon the best and brightest from the worlds of retail and brand to share their experiences and insights with Graduate students who truly represent the potential of our retail and consumer businesses. This year, Steve Goldberg, President of TGC, had the privilege to moderate a panel focused on customer loyalty through innovation. The conference also featured extraordinary leaders and entrepreneurs from retail and brands who shed light on the fundamental issues surrounding our consumer world today.  Discussion topics included breakthrough technology, the concept of connecting with customers through “authentic experiences”, and the process of inventing and reinventing businesses; all of which reveal important leadership lessons of how to succeed in business in today’s hypercompetitive, multi-channel marketplace. We left the conference optimistic that the future of our brand and retail leadership is very bright indeed. So [...]

Kevin was asked to comment on the spate of middle-market retail closures in 2015: "Being average in the middle is death," said Kevin Mullaney, president of retail consultancy the Grayson Co. "The high end and the low end—those two businesses are thriving. If you're in the middle, you'd better have a darn good reason for being there based on product and freshness." Check out the rest of the article at Crain's New York.

Many retailers check the box on omni-channel once they have retail stores and an e-commerce site. But a true omni-channel strategy encompasses so much more than those two channels. By The Grayson Company's estimation, there are at least 27 different channels of distribution applicable to consumer goods companies today. While not all of the 27 channels are appropriate for each company, leveraging more than two or three channels certainly can create significant advantages as customers continue to seek product however, whenever and wherever they want it. When two companies go to battle for consumers' dollars, who will win? The advantage is almost certainly with the one that makes itself available in more ways than its competitors.