Category: Ask The Experts

New Research Reveals Effective Retention Strategies

Mike McNamee has spent more than a decade helping retailers grow through data-driven insights. As senior director of account management at Upside, he partners with grocers nationwide to maximize profitability and build stronger customer relationships through personalized, margin-bound promotions. That mission is reflected in Upside’s new “Winning the Uncommitted Customer” report, built on more than […]

Beyond The Bite: Evolving The Sweet Snacking Category

The Shelby Report recently sat down with Monty Pooley, president and CEO, and Chris Tirone, chief marketing and innovation officer of JTM Foods LLC, to discuss the company’s role in the evolving sweet snack category. What pivotal moments in JTM’s history positioned it to become a leader in the sweet snacking category? Pooley: Our journey […]

If This Happened In Your Store Today, Could You Stop It?

Your store is busy. A cart loaded with merchandise rolls past checkout – calm, confident, no hesitation. Gone. What used to be rare is now disturbingly routine for many grocers. Pushout Theft on the Rise Pushout theft – when unpaid merchandise is wheeled straight out the front doors – is one of the fastest-growing loss […]

Coming Soon To A DC Near You: Fully Automated, AI Assisted Banana Ripening

  When Thermal Tech pioneered the TarpLess ripening room system back in the mid 1990s, it changed the way bananas are handled at retail distribution centers (DC’s), allowing truckloads of palletized fruit to be uniformly ripened to a predictable color with precision control for the very first time. The resulting increase in ripening efficiency and […]

How To Turn Grocery E-Commerce Into A Competitive Advantage

The grocery industry is undergoing a major digital shift. More than 90 percent of customers now buy both online and in-store, and online sales of consumer packaged goods are growing nearly five times faster than in-store sales. According to FMI/NIQ projections, U.S. online grocery sales will reach $388 billion by 2027 — outpacing previous forecasts […]

Independent Grocers Show Resilience: Key Takeaways From The 2025 FMS/NGA U.S. Independent Grocers Financial Study

The 2025 FMS/NGA Financial Study highlights how independent grocers responded to economic uncertainty, rising costs and shifting consumer spending. Robert Graybill, president and CEO of FMS Solutions, brings decades of expertise in grocery financial performance. With the release of the 2025 U.S. Independent Grocers Financial Study – developed in partnership with the National Grocers Association, […]

Navigating Bakery Trends

The Shelby Report recently chatted with Charlie Wood, VP of sales and marketing at Bake’n Joy Foods, to learn more about the trends and opportunities in the bakery category. What top factors are impacting the bakery category? Grocers, and the bakery industry at large, are facing a variety of challenges this year but two that […]