The grocery retailing industry was already undergoing a slow transformation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Although only 3% to 4% of U.S. grocery sales were online in 2019, retailers had been investing heavily in e-commerce capabilities for a few years. As online grocery offerings increased, shoppers started ordering groceries online and choosing between curbside pickup
As I write this at the start of July, the U.K. is still in the grip of partial lockdown. Although everything but nightclubs and indoor entertainment is open, social distancing measures and masks are still in place, limiting numbers and making it both uncomfortable and uninspiring to shop. The much vaunted requirement for “experiential” retail
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A recent CVS Health study looked into the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic but also highlighted the resilience of patients, providers and the health care system, and the growing interest in new ways to engage with health care to achieve a more individualized experience. The 2021 Health Care Insights Study (formerly
SYDNEY, Australia — As the northern hemisphere dreams about reopening and restoring their pandemic-ravaged economies, an encouraging slow recovery is being played out at the other end of the world. Australia’s success (and New Zealand’s) in suppressing COVID-19, apart from the isolated flare-up and occasional lockdown, has produced a bounce back in business and household
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As the one-year mark into pandemic living has officially passed, Meijer has revealed some of the most surprising shopping trends from the height of the shutdown to the ongoing changes in home and work lifestyles across the Midwest. While home delivery and pickup services doubled at Meijer stores over the last
The COVID-19 pandemic has been bad for America and bad for many American businesses, but the end finally appears to be in sight. President Biden has said all adults will be eligible for vaccination no later than May 1, and this month he signed a $1.9 billion COVID-19 relief bill that should give the economy
NEW YORK – Household grocery spending in the United States increased 14% in the year since the start of the health crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a consumer survey from NCSolutions (NCS), which finds that nearly half of Americans are eating healthier and cooking more. Nearly all say they are cleaning and
Editors note: This is an abridged version of an article that ran in Nicholas Hall’s CHC Insight North America, a bimonthly publication that covers consumer health care. When Bob Dylan released “The Times, They Are A-Changin” in October 1963 he could have been talking about the 2020 consumer health world in North America. The velocity
Much has been made of shoppers’ changing behavior during the holiday selling season. Driven by fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift away from brick-and-mortar stores toward e-commerce has accelerated significantly. Adobe Analytics reports that online sales set records on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, rising some 22% on the first two days and
Tis the season for predictions about just how much consumers will spend on holiday gifts, food and decorations. So far the surveys mostly suggest that consumer spending will tick up, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, although how people will shop and what they will buy will be different this year. One change is that this year’s
The world has changed drastically in the past few months. COVID-19 has brought unprecedented disruption, and it has also turbocharged rapid innovation. Perhaps most importantly, on a human level, it has been an enormous call to action for a trait one might not think about nearly enough in the world of “business as usual”: the
NEW YORK — With votes from this week’s presidential election still being counted and COVID-19 cases approaching the 10 million mark, a survey recently conducted by Reputation Leaders found six in 10 Americans reported both their health and finances were impacted by COVID-19. A survey of 1000 U.S. adults nationally found 47% of Americans had self-isolated