We have a very simple goal, to make retail great
We have a very simple goal, to make retail great.
Great for customers. Great for our clients. Great for everybody.
We have a very simple goal, to make retail great.
How will we do it?
We’ll do it by solving your retail problems.
Even the ones you don’t yet know you have.
We’ll do this by visiting a lot of stores, taking thousands of photos and analysing our findings. Then we’ll share these with insights, analysis and perspectives on what we’ve seen and experienced.
We’ll be your unusually honest friend on the ground.
From the retail trenches to global expert
It all started when I worked as a paper boy, helping out at my local paper shop.
Back in the day, being a paper boy was a pretty standard entry to the world of work. But for me, it was also an introduction to the world of retail.
Helping in the shop after I’d finished my round, I was taught that the way you arrange things can make a difference to what customers buy, which in turn affects your sales and profit. I was fascinated and, as it turned out, now hooked on retail.
From here I went on to join the team at Sainsbury’s.
From 5am starts, working on checkouts and filling shelves, potato and bread racks, I got a great grounding and understanding of what’s important in retail. Soon I was leading a team, ensuring displays were well presented, stock replenished, offers clearly marked and my team trained, motivated and empowered to do a great job.
All to achieve one goal.
To make life better and easier for the customer while they were in store.
Of course, this in turn led to better sales, the occasional bonus and jobs all round. Everyone’s a winner.
In 2009 I wrote a blog entitled UK Retailers.
Following is a whistlestop tour of what happened next:
Start of the blog
Our blog starts charting the rise of Tesco ‘top stocking’ shelves.
Store of the future
Things liven up when we start our ‘store of the future’ project at Morrison’s
New store developments
2013 we’re commenting on new Sainsbury’s and Tesco store developments in the blog. We’re on our way!
Increasingly followed
Our following grows. People want to know more about what we do.
Retail advisory consultants
We become retail advisory consultants, visiting stores, taking photos, giving our clients feedback on what we've seen.
Staying true to our roots
Online shopping explodes, but our heads aren’t turned by this shiny new world. We stay true to our retail roots and physical stores.
Global clients
We visit stores around the world helping clients in a range of industries with one common theme, retail.
Today
Today Grocery Insight is a small, perfectly formed team of retail specialists with a common goal, to improve retail around the world.
How we see things others don’t
Our background and first-hand experience in retail means we know what to look for when we visit.
We visit on a wet Tuesday afternoon, not the first Saturday after a new store opens.We go at 5am when teams are busy, and at the end of the day when they’re tired and shelves are depleted.
We’re unknown and our visits are unannounced, something near impossible for a CEO to achieve.
We look at packaging, shelves, aisles, layouts and flow. The store as a whole and in detail. We see what’s being prioritised – own label over brands.
We notice store standards and recognise when challenges in a category could indicate a problem in the supply chain.
Our experience means we can judge when we’re seeing something that may be the symptom of a bigger problem.
We take photos. A lot of photos. Sharp, clear, in-focus photos.
Showing packaging, signage, stock levels… whatever customers see.
We look for what’s being done well and what isn’t.
We share insights and our perspective.
Giving you the benefit of our years of experience, we add our perspective to our photos and reports – there’s often a story behind what we’ve seen.
And possibly most importantly of all – we’re independent.
We have no boss to please, no shareholders to appease.
We do this because we care about retail and can say it how it is. Making great retail is our only agenda.
The importance of visiting stores
There’s nothing more important in retail than your customer, so it’s vital that you see, experience and understand what they see and experience.
