Supermarket Perimeter - December 2020 - 17

are fulﬁlled, e.g., micro-fulﬁllment center vs. directly from the store, " he
said. " While ecommerce in theory allows for the endless aisle and ability
to expand assortment, this hasn't played out yet for today's online fresh
shoppers. This could change as more households shop online. "
Other factors to consider, he said, include the number of trips a
household makes to their stores and the number of outlets shopped,
which are down, while basket sizes are up. Purchases are more planned
and impulse sales are down signiﬁcantly.
" Consumers have more deﬁned shopping missions today and
that will have an impact on variety, " he said. " As far as a longer-term
outlook goes, online shopping will continue to grow, and more routine
purchases will shift online and more inventory will be centralized. Fresh,
to a lesser extent. This ultimately will require grocers to rethink center
store space and the overall shopping experience. This could lead to
expanded fresh space and ultimately more fresh variety as fresh plays
an even greater role. It will all depend on foot traffic and a retailer's
ability to re-invent the in-store shopping experience. "

State of the bakery
Hale sizes up the state of the baking industry by leveraging Nielsen data
and providing his perspectives, with points including the following:
Food Retail: Supermarkets and value-focused retailers have been
driving the most growth over the past 52 weeks, up 11.9% and 7.8%,
respectively.
Economy: The economy remains challenging, and there is greater
inﬂationary pressure from food at home. If the economy worsens,
many shoppers will likely cook more at home and seek more savings
strategies.
Grocery: The grocery department has dominated year-to-date bread
and baked good sales, accounting for $40.8 billion of the total $55.8
billion in this segment across the store -as the fresh bakery department
continues to suffer.
Categories: The pandemic has reminded consumers of the beneﬁts
of the commercial bread aisle, but refrigerated and frozen bread and
baked goods are growing faster.
Restaurants: The restaurant business is likely to encounter
challenges for at least another six months, with mixed impacts on the
quick-serve sector and severe implications for upscale segments.
Demand: Food retailers and manufacturers are already preparing for
the possibility of another COVID surge, including stockpiling groceries
to be ready for rising demand.
Nielsen research found 29% of consumers are worse off ﬁnancially
compared to last year, and only 37% are secure in their jobs.
" This explains why so many observers are now talking about a
K-shaped economic recovery, " Hale said, which suggests different
impacts by consumer groups - in particular, a haves and have-nots
scenario.
" The haves will be okay, so premium products will probably be good, "
Hale said. " For those struggling to spend, the value retail players have a
chance to ﬁll demand. "
Adding to the concern is the potential for COVID-19 spikes as the year
progresses.
" You need a plan that addresses the continued fallout from COVID-19
and the likely K-shaped recession recovery, " he said.

Menu management
Since the launch of contactless ordering in 2018, GoTab has
set a new standard in contactless menu management for
operators, allowing them to actively edit menus in real-time,
86ing food via the Kitchen Display Systems, and easily
control digital menu displays.
GoTab's technology allows operators to create a master menu, control how the digital menu is displayed, use
GoTags to facilitate food ﬁltering options, and gives them
the ability to seamlessly create sub-menus for delivery/
takeout, in-room ordering, etc. A new feature launching
just in time for the holiday season is ﬁxed duration menus,
which operators can leverage to promote and offer special
food offerings for a set window of time (i.e. Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.).
With GoTab, scheduled orders are organized on operators'
KDS and displayed with timers. GoTab's KDS will display
scheduled orders and indicate their lead time so staff knows
when to start preparing an order. They can easily handle
86 ingredients or menu items, which will automatically
(and in real-time) update all of the published menus. It will
also notify guests and allow them to communicate with the
kitchen via two-way SMS text communications. GoTab's
KDS keeps guests informed and allows the kitchen to
communicate with customers. It also means operators can
respond to guest feedback in real time, helping them clarify
orders or update customers on their order status quickly
and efficiently.
With GoTab's virtual deployment, operators are able to
quickly set up takeout and delivery. Native GoTab features
provide an efficient new model for operators to effectively
serve their customers. They include: geofencing of delivery
areas through Google Maps API, support for unlimited
delivery addresses on customer proﬁles, delivery address
veriﬁcation through Google Maps API, route optimization
for drivers by time or distance, and printed packing slip
generator.

Supermarket Perimeter - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Supermarket Perimeter - December 2020