Loyalty360 Reads: December 3, 2019

Mobile
Nearly 40 percent of online Black Friday purchases were made with phones
Did you get your Black Friday shopping done while you were waiting in line for coffee? You weren’t the only one. Adobe shopping data indicates that 39 percent of online Black Friday purchases were made with smartphones. That is a sizeable jump compared to 2018, when just over 33 percent turned to the devices in their pockets. People were willing to splurge, too. Shoppers spent about $2.9 billion using their phones versus 'just' $2.1 billion a year earlier. It was also a banner year for online Black Friday shopping. There was a record $7.4 billion in internet-based sales versus $6.2 billion last year, and people were more comfortable spending for expensive items with an average order of $168.
 
Innovation
Kroger to offer in-store living produce farms
Kroger and Infarm, a Berlin-based urban farming network, announced a first-of-its-kind partnership in the United States that will bring modular living produce farms to Kroger’s QFC stores in Washington state. Using hydroponic technology, the produce will grow on site at the participating QFC stores, removing the need for extended transportation and storage and producing a more eco-conscious product. The farms are designed to scale and will provide shoppers the freshest and most sustainable living produce options available. “Kroger believes that everyone deserves to have access to fresh, affordable and delicious food, no matter who you are, how you shop or what you like to eat,” said Suzy Monford, Kroger's group vice president of fresh.
 
Coca-Cola replaces plastic wrap with new paperboard technology
Coca-Cola is introducing KeelClip - minimalist paperboard packaging - to replace plastic wrap on its can multipacks across Europe. Coca-Cola, alongside European bottling partners Coca-Cola HBC and Coca-Cola European Partners, will introduce the technology beginning next year. By the end of 2021, all of Coca-Cola HBC markets will have transitioned to the materials; while Coca-Cola European Partners will start its rollout in the Netherlands next year. AB InBev’s UK division has already announced it will adopt the technology in March 2020, ultimately rolling it out to all its products including Budweiser, Stella Artois and Bud Light. Coca-Cola will be the first in the non-alcoholic RTD industry to use the new packaging.
 
The Vitamin Shoppe Brings Data-Driven Product Sampling to Innovation Stores
As part of The Vitamin Shoppe’s launch of its Innovation stores, the retailer has sought to reach one of its primary goals: to help “demystify” the wellness space and re-establish the direction of its brick-and-mortar footprint. In addition to incorporating on-demand digital product guides and access to an “Only Me” personalized supplement service, The Vitamin Shoppe has implemented an interactive digital kiosk from Vengo designed to engage consumers and trial new products, enabling the retailer to offer an in-store product sampling option.
 
Restaurants
California will ban latex gloves in restaurants starting Jan. 1
California on Jan. 1 will be banning latex gloves in restaurants and other foodservice locations, joining a growing number of states that are barring the products because of allergies. Ohio barred rubber latex gloves in March, joining Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Oregon and Rhode Island in enacting bans in foodservice. The California bill noted that foodservice workers can wear alternatives to latex gloves that including those made from nitrile, vinyl and polyethylene.
 

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