December 5, 2023 • 28 mins
Did you know that self-checkouts lead to 16 times more losses for retailers compared to traditional cashiers? Get ready for an eye-opening conversation as we scrutinize the rising backlash against self-checkouts across UK supermarkets, including Booths' decision to remove them altogether due to a deluge of consumer complaints. Join us as we explore a petition urging Tesco to halt the replacement of human cashiers with machines - it's already garnered over 243,000 signatures!
We also lay bare the intriguing world of dynamic pricing, a trend that is rapidly reshaping the retail industry. Tune in to hear how AI is stepping in to personalize prices for individual customers – does it sound like science fiction? Well, it's real and happening right now! Additionally, we celebrate the appointment of Dr. Ruth, the honorary ambassador for loneliness in New York, and salute her transformative work around sex and relationships. To round off, we have a special nugget for holiday lovers, as we announce a unique contest by Truly, which is all set to make one lucky winner's festive season shine brighter than ever. So, sit back, relax, and let us take you on an informative journey through the cutting-edge developments in the retail industry and beyond.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Phil (00:05):
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE.
The demise of the self-checkoutand why the link between fast-
food location and health.
Surge pricing in thesupermarket.
On #food not phones.
Dr Ruth is just what we needtoday, is she?
And on the bullseye holiday PRpromotions are here, from Pop
(00:27):
Torts to Hard Seltzers.
Let's get started.
So, Sally, lots of controversyabout self-checkouts.
We actually did a segment withInside Edition a few months ago,
had over 3,000 comments fromviewers about it and basically
what we hear is shoppers hate itand they hate it for a bunch of
(00:50):
reasons the depersonalizationof it, the fact that they'd like
to talk to cashiers, as well assome people actually getting
arrested because inadvertentlythey didn't scan a package of
Reese's Pieces.
So lots of stuff going on.
And in fact, in England there'sa supermarket chain called
(01:12):
Booths and what they've done isthey've decided to take
self-checkout out.
Quoting from their pressrelease.
We believe, colleagues, servingcustomers delivers a better
customer experience andtherefore we've taken the
decision to removeself-checkouts in the majority
of our stores.
Our customers, they said, havetold us this over time that the
(01:35):
self-scanned machines that we'vegotten in our stores they can
be slow, they can be unreliableand they're obviously impersonal
.
They go on to say that we liketo talk to people and we're
really proud of that.
We're moving largely to a placewhere our customers are served
by people, by human beings.
In addition, in London, Change.
(01:58):
org has put up a petition thatnow has more than 243,000
signatures, calling for Tesco,the large supermarket giant
there to stop the replacement ofpeople by machines.
And then just late last week,on Thursday, a new study came
out from Grubongo, which is acheckout-free technology
(02:22):
provider, and what they found ischeckout systems have 16 times
more shrink than traditionalcash years.
The shrink now totals 3.5% ofsales.
And when you take a look atwhat they did and it's really
fascinating this experience theyanalyzed over 5,000 retail
(02:45):
transactions, comparing theitems shoppers picked up during
their shopping trip with thetransaction data to see what was
actually purchased, and whatthey found is 6.7% of
self-checkout transactions hadat least some amount of partial
shrink or loss, as compared to0.32% with the cashier.
(03:07):
According to FMI, an FMI reportthat came out earlier this year
, self-checkout accounts now forjust under 30% of total
transactions and that again, fmisays, has a shrink rate of 3.5%
.
So self-checkouts basically athing of the past.
(03:29):
What do you think?
Sally (03:32):
I have a lot of thoughts on this particular topic, Phil,
but first I want to applaudBooth's because I'm with them.
I am with them that I want thatpersonal interaction with a
cashier.
They also talk about how it canbe difficult sometimes for
(03:53):
older people to handle theself-checkouts or people with
disabilities.
But also when you are talkingabout a store like theirs, where
they sell a lot of loose items,like a lot of produce items,
some people have a lot ofdifficulty distinguishing what
they're looking up.
Is this organic?
Is it not organic?
Because there can be a bigprice difference so it's
(04:15):
difficult to accurately ring upthese items.
And then there is.
I'm not surprised that theInside Edition episode that you
were on got over almost 400,000views and over 3,000 comments,
because a lot of people areconcerned about the fact that
(04:36):
they may be wrongly accused ofshoplifting because they just
thought something scanned orforgot to scan something.
In fact, yesterday, Phil, I wasin my Kroger.
I know I talk about going to myKroger a lot and self-checkout.
There are a lot ofself-checkout stands there and I
had this big bag of dog foodunderneath at the bottom of the
cart.
(04:57):
I did ring it up, butimmediately when I started to
leave the checkout, I was askedto show my receipt, particularly
for the dog food, and then, asI was going out of the store, I
was stopped by a security guardto once again prove that I had
paid for this dog food.
Had I just forgot to ring it upbecause I'm usually kind of in
(05:18):
a hurry and scatter-brained atthe supermarket then I guess I
could have potentially beenarrested, and that would have
been a really bad shopping tripat Kroger.
Phil (05:29):
Yes, and you know to your point.
Those two incidences wherepeople approached you really put
a negative spin on that wholeshopping experience.
Another survey that came outfrom Lending Tree finds that 15%
of people say they havepurposely taken an item during
(05:50):
self-checkout and 60% feltremorseful.
44% plan to steal productsagain from the self-checkout.
I mean we've got a real problem.
And McKinsey's study found thatshrink has risen between 5% and
15% of revenues forready-to-eat and ready-to-heat
(06:13):
products.
So people are stealing foodsthat are already prepared.
We haven't seen that before.
We've seen razor blades andthose expensive items, but I've
never seen prepared foodssomebody stealing meatloaf and
mashed potatoes before and it'sa major problem.
(06:35):
I mean, at Target, BrianCornell said that they're going
to lose $500 million this yearabout theft, not only at the
self-checkout, but that'severything from the organized
crime that's coming into theirstores to employee theft, all of
that.
So what we're doing is we'restarting to see more of these
(06:56):
retailers putting in theseplexiglass doors.
It's amazing to me and I thinkthat what we really need to do
is basically talk about the factthat people don't like this,
and if, in fact, we're going tomake that shopping experience
(07:17):
better, we've got to get back tocashiers.
So there's a new study from USC,their Information Science
Institute, and what they did isthey set out to ascertain
whether smartphone mobilitybasically them tracking your
smartphone where you're goingcould provide a way to measure
(07:38):
people's dynamic foodenvironments at scale.
And what's so interesting aboutthis is that basically, what
they're seeing is a connectionbetween how many fast food
restaurants there are to asyou're going through your car
with your mobile device.
I'll get to that in a second.
(07:59):
But what they also point out,which I think is really
important in the last decade orso, they say over $1 billion has
been invested in public healthinterventions in home food
environments.
This could mean building agrocery store in a food desert.
It could be limited access tonutrition or stocking in the
(08:21):
corner stores in thatneighborhood with fresh food and
vegetables, but they go on tosay that there's been no
measurable impact in increasingpeople's healthy food purchases
or health outcomes for thatbillion dollars.
So what they're attempting todo with this data is really
(08:42):
identify what are those impactsthat people have, those triggers
, if you would, that people havein order to eat less healthy.
So basically, they've said thatyour home neighborhood matters
when it comes to risk of dietrelated disease, as well as your
(09:03):
commute, and that the mostsurprising result, they said, is
that mobility data works likean honest signal visits to fast
food outlets were a betterpredictor of individuals obesity
and diabetes than theirself-reported fast food intake.
What do you think Big Brotheris watching us through our cell
(09:23):
phones?
Sally (09:25):
That is a whole other topic, but first let's talk
about what the upsides to thistype of data are.
As you mentioned, Phil, we'vebeen talking about food deserts
now for several years, andincentives have been created by
some cities and counties toattract supermarkets or produce
(09:47):
markets to open up in theseareas where people are lacking
access to fresh and healthy food.
And, yes, the research isshowing that it's had very
little impact on people's diets.
What was so interesting to meabout this particular study is
that they took the surveys fromthe LA Health Department that
(10:12):
they conducted covering do youhave obesity, do you have
diabetes that data, and theyused that along with this
mobility data and were able tolook at, like you said, what
they were driving by and whatwas triggering them to not just
(10:34):
in their home neighborhood, butback and forth to work, what
fast food outlets were availablethere and what were the
triggers in that.
Now, this is interestingresearch because when we ask
people what they're eating, wefind a lot of times that they
don't remember or they don'twant to be honest about their
(10:55):
life they're in Paris.
Phil (10:59):
Everybody's eating healthy foods, yeah.
Sally (11:02):
Yeah, so this could be really great data for public
policies to determine what areas, what neighborhoods where we
need to focus, how we need tohelp people have more access to
better food or learn how todevelop better diet habits.
Phil (11:22):
So I'm all for using data properly.
Let me start off there.
What I am concerned about isthat what we find is because of
this technology, that, yes, wecan be tracked.
We can be tracked in a negativeway.
And you know we've talked aboutthis forever that once we start
(11:46):
tracking this data, is there athird party that they can then
interfere and tell us adifferent direction to drive
home, so that we're not passingall these food fast fooderies,
so that you know we do eathealthier.
What is that line?
And you know I'm concerned thatwe don't have enough guardrails
(12:10):
in place to protect the averagehuman being from what's going
on with our cell phones and whenwe go.
And in talking about that, youknow it leads us to our next
story about surge pricing.
And surge pricing is a thing.
It's a thing not only in Europebut here in the US.
(12:32):
But I want to take a step backand talk about pricing in
general.
And in fact I had gone toschool in Philadelphia, to
Drexel, and Drexel's primarydepartment store at that time
was Wanamakers.
And Actually John Wanamaker,who was a leader in many things,
including advertising andpromotion, actually
(12:53):
revolutionized retail back in1861 because he was the first
one that actually added pricetags to the goods that he was
selling.
Until before that, people wouldgo into the store and either
haggle with the shopkeeper overit or the shopkeeper would would
(13:15):
look at you and say, hey, youknow, here's a sophisticated
woman, I'm gonna give her ahigher price or a lower price
based on what you looked at.
They reserve prices, sometimesfor their best customers or, you
know, sized up, who they couldrip off if you would.
So Wanamaker changed that withfixed pricing and you know Tim
(13:39):
Adams wrote this story aboutseven years ago in the Guardian
in the UK about this and alsopointed out that once they had
fixed pricing, it was the firsttime that people came into
stores without the obligation,as they would in a restaurant,
(14:01):
to buy anything Before the fixedpricing.
You know, if you went to astore it was expected you would
buy.
So that really changed thewhole dynamic.
Let's fast forward to today withdynamic pricing.
We we haven't seen it as muchin supermarkets, but if you look
at Expedia, you look at, youknow, going on a train or a
(14:24):
plane, that's all dynamic prices.
Or shopping on Amazon and a lotof the data points that are
there.
Custom make a price for you,even Uber you know we've talked
about Uber before.
When they're busy, you know thethe price goes up.
And the question is that now, aswe're getting into the
supermarket and the supermarketdata is able to collect
(14:47):
Information about what we'vebought before, the brands that
we've bought, are we buying moreupscale foods?
Is that going to generate thekind of information to allow
them to customize your pricingin a positive or in a negative
way?
And what's spurring this on is,in England, france, japan and
(15:14):
some other in Australia, whatthey have, and especially since
the pandemic, they have what'scalled yellow stickers, and
these yellow stickers signifyprices that are lower, prices
that have been decreased, andnow what they're saying is
that's going to go away, atleast in England, because of
(15:36):
this whole technology of dynamicpricing.
So is this use of artificialintelligence really cheating and
rewarding a whole bunch ofcustomers that aren't even
realizing that this is going onbehind the scenes?
Sally (15:57):
Yes, and I'm so glad you shared with me the story about
John Wanamaker.
I really appreciate hisphilosophy about price tags and
him saying that if everyone wasequal before God, then everyone
would be equal before price.
Yes, and as you mentioned in thelast story, Phil, about data
(16:19):
being put to good use, one areawhere this is put to good use
for supermarkets in particular,is if we are using dynamic
pricing to lower prices onproducts that are getting close
to their sell-by or expirationdate, then what studies are
(16:40):
showing, what research isshowing, is that these
supermarkets are not onlywasting less, but they're making
more of a profit because theyare selling these foods that
would end up in the waste binotherwise.
So that is the upside of thisdata.
The downside of this to me isthat it opens up people who are
(17:02):
vulnerable to discrimination andinequities to be targets.
Let's say, phil.
Let's say, Phil, that I make alower income, but I just happen
to splurge on something once ina while.
Then maybe the data that hasbeen gathered on me shows that
(17:26):
something tells a differentstory, that I can afford higher
prices when maybe I can't.
So I'm not sure that this isfair.
Phil (17:38):
I think you're right that it's not fair, that there is
discrimination, both on apositive and a negative side of
this, and if you take a lookagain back to the point where we
need better governance of this,we need better guardrails for
this.
Just because the technologyexists doesn't mean it's a good
(18:02):
thing.
For example, Facebook has about100 data points on every one of
their users two, three billionusers and that includes the
value of your home, your regularoutings, your disposable income
.
Also, there's brokerage firms,financial firms that sell data
(18:24):
to retailers, that provide morethan 1500 data points on an
individual.
If you recall, a few years ago,Orbitz, the travel site, came
under a lot of criticism whenthey found that users of Apple
Macs are prepared to pay 20 to30% more for hotel rooms than
(18:47):
users of other computers.
So, based on the kind ofcomputer you use, that's the
price that's being served up,and I wish that we were going
back to John Wanamaker'ssituation where every price was
the same.
And also because of the mobiletracking.
(19:07):
When I go into a store storesthat are very sophisticated as
it relates to technology couldthen identify that it's me, and
when I walk up to the shelf, myphone is talking to their shelf
tag and says Phil is here andlet's change the price Again.
Whether it's positive ornegative in my mind doesn't make
(19:31):
a difference.
The fact that they're targetingprices towards me gets very
scary to me.
Sally (19:39):
Agreed, and all the more reason for us to maybe put our
phones down.
Phil (19:46):
Right, exactly, especially Food Not Phones.
I've been talking about FoodNot Phones.
This week we're going to talkabout Dr Ruth.
You probably remember Dr Ruth.
Haven't heard about her for along time.
Dr Ruth really changed TV withher show about sex that had come
(20:07):
out I don't know, 30 years ago,maybe 40 years ago over a radio
show, then evolved into a TVshow.
But the good news is that shehas now been appointed the
honorary ambassador forloneliness in New York by the
governor there.
It's the first time that thisposition has been created in the
(20:31):
nation.
The hope is that it's aiming tohelp New Yorkers with social
isolation associated withphysical and mental health
issues, including cardiovasculardisease, depression, earlier
death that, according to the USCenters for Disease Control and
Prevention, as we've talkedabout you know, probably 100
(20:53):
times at this point.
Our Surgeon General Murthy, hasdescribed the prevalence of
loneliness and isolation as anational epidemic.
The question is do we thinkthat Dr Ruth can pull this off?
Can she help people that arelonely?
Can she get the word out thereto all generations, and will
(21:19):
this have an impact?
Sally (21:21):
It will be great to see what happens.
I absolutely love Dr Ruth.
It's hard not to love her.
I learned so many great thingsabout her recently, one being
that at 10 years old, she wassent away to Switzerland so that
she could be safe, because herparents were taken by the
Gestapo and her parents did endup dying in the Holocaust.
(21:42):
She then became a sniper forthe Israeli army at 16 years old
and then she moved to New YorkCity and became a therapist, and
it's just such an incrediblestory and she has really, really
educated a lot of people inmaking human connections.
She's a great person, I think,for the job here.
(22:03):
But what's even better is whatthe governor is doing in New
York.
Last year signed an executiveorder to create the state's
first ever master plan for aging, to ensure older New Yorkers
can live healthy, fulfillinglives while aging with dignity
and independence.
And, Phil, what these studiesare showing us is that it's
(22:28):
oftentimes the older people thatwe are seeing that are living
with loneliness and isolationthat need someone to reach out
to them, to provide communityfor them, to help them with that
human connection, so that theycan live more fulfilling lives
and ultimately experience lessdisease and not premature death.
Phil (22:52):
And what I love about Dr Ruth is that she really is one
of these iconic figures thatspans the generations.
That you might say that Dr Ruthonly appeals to older Americans
.
I don't think so.
I think, because of her nature,because of her character and
(23:13):
caricature, if you would shereally appeals to everybody.
So I applaud what New York isdoing, and what the governor
said is there was a 2020 studyby the National Academies of
Sciences, engineering andMedicine that found more than
one third of adults, to yourpoint, age 45 and older
(23:36):
experienced loneliness.
One fourth of adults 65 orolder are considered socially
isolated.
So if anybody can do it, DrRuth can, and my hope is that
it's so successful that you know, hey, we have the Biden
administration calling on her tohelp nationally as well.
Wouldn't that be cool?
(23:56):
So thanks, ali.
On the bull's eye, theChristmas trees are being
decorated, most lights are beingput up and blow up.
Reindeer's are popping up onlawns throughout the nation, so
it's no wonder that our brandsare starting to get in the act
with their holiday promotions.
Now, the holiday season,especially Christmas, has a rich
(24:19):
history intertwined withfood-related promotions and
traditions that have evolved,frankly, over centuries.
Coming back the tradition ofholiday feasting dates back to
ancient winter solsticecelebrations In pre-Christian
times.
Festivals like Saturnalia inancient Rome and Yule in the
(24:40):
Norse tradition involved lavishmeals.
With the advent of Christianity, these practices were
incorporated into Christmascelebrations.
In medieval Europe, Christmaswas a grand affair.
The wealthy hosted extravagantfeasts featuring exotic meats
like peacock and boar.
These banquets were not justabout food, but also about
(25:03):
demonstrating their power andtheir wealth.
Meanwhile, the church oftenprovided more modest feasts for
the poor.
The Victorian era broughtsignificant changes.
The publication of CharlesDickens' Christmas Carol back in
1843, which depicted the joyousChristmas feast at the
Cratchits home, popularized theidea of Christmas as a time for
(25:26):
family gatherings that arecentered around a lavish meal.
Now, this era also saw theintroduction of now traditional
foods, including Christmaspudding and minced pies.
Let's zoom forward to the 20thcentury, where we see the
commercialization of Christmasevery day.
Companies are beginning torecognize the potential of the
(25:48):
holiday season for marketing.
During the World Wars, however,food shortages led to more
frugal celebrations andemphasized the value of family
and togetherness overextravagance.
Holiday food promotions are amajor part of the season's
commercial landscape, from thosedreaded pumpkin spice lattes
(26:10):
and, for that matter, pumpkinspice everything.
These foods herald the start ofthe season to special Christmas
menus and restaurants and makeno mistake about it, these
promotions are a significantbusiness.
Pop Tarts and food brandscompete to offer the most
enticing festive products andpromotion.
Witness the inaugural 2023Poptarts Bowl, which airs live
(26:35):
on ESPN on December 28.
Pop Tarts Agents of Crazy Goodis their newest holiday campaign
, where animated Pop Tarts areready to challenge expectations
for where it can show up next.
The Poptarts Bowl mascot is inreal life, a manifestation that
(26:57):
runs around the stadiuminteracting with fans and when
the final whistle blows, ittransforms into a game-winning
snack for the victors.
The winning team celebrates bytaking a bite of the giant
pastry mascot, according to thecompany.
Wonder what the cost of that is?
A promotion that I really dolike is from Truly Hard-Seltzer,
(27:20):
whose promotion Keep It Lightcovers the utility bills for
festive holiday lightenthusiasts.
Through Truly Keep It Lightholiday edition contest, one
grand prize winner will berewarded with what the brand
calls an epic, energy efficientholiday lighting display upgrade
(27:41):
that uses the latest and moststate-of-the-art LED and solar
technology.
The display ensures their house, apartment or living room is
the brightest and most efficienton the block through a custom
build installed by their team ofcertified holiday lighting
experts who specialize inkeeping it light.
In addition, 100 fans willscore $350, paid to them through
(28:06):
Venmo, to cover the cost oftheir holiday utility bills,
their decor and evensolar-powered lights to help cut
future costs.
This is a smart and timely idea.
So if, in fact, you want to beinto the holiday season, do
something that's meaningfulversus having a pop-tart running
(28:26):
around a sports field.
Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you back here nextweek.
Sally (28:32):
Be sure to visit SupermarketG uru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis, issues and trends.
Also, join us back here nextTuesday at 2:30 pm Eastern for
more.
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE.
The demise of the self-checkoutand why the link between fast-
food location and health.
Surge pricing in thesupermarket.
On #food not phones.
Dr Ruth is just what we needtoday, is she?
And on the bullseye holiday PRpromotions are here, from Pop
(00:27):
Torts to Hard Seltzers.
Let's get started.
So, Sally, lots of controversyabout self-checkouts.
We actually did a segment withInside Edition a few months ago,
had over 3,000 comments fromviewers about it and basically
what we hear is shoppers hate itand they hate it for a bunch of
(00:50):
reasons the depersonalizationof it, the fact that they'd like
to talk to cashiers, as well assome people actually getting
arrested because inadvertentlythey didn't scan a package of
Reese's Pieces.
So lots of stuff going on.
And in fact, in England there'sa supermarket chain called
(01:12):
Booths and what they've done isthey've decided to take
self-checkout out.
Quoting from their pressrelease.
We believe, colleagues, servingcustomers delivers a better
customer experience andtherefore we've taken the
decision to removeself-checkouts in the majority
of our stores.
Our customers, they said, havetold us this over time that the
(01:35):
self-scanned machines that we'vegotten in our stores they can
be slow, they can be unreliableand they're obviously impersonal
.
They go on to say that we liketo talk to people and we're
really proud of that.
We're moving largely to a placewhere our customers are served
by people, by human beings.
In addition, in London, Change.
(01:58):
org has put up a petition thatnow has more than 243,000
signatures, calling for Tesco,the large supermarket giant
there to stop the replacement ofpeople by machines.
And then just late last week,on Thursday, a new study came
out from Grubongo, which is acheckout-free technology
(02:22):
provider, and what they found ischeckout systems have 16 times
more shrink than traditionalcash years.
The shrink now totals 3.5% ofsales.
And when you take a look atwhat they did and it's really
fascinating this experience theyanalyzed over 5,000 retail
(02:45):
transactions, comparing theitems shoppers picked up during
their shopping trip with thetransaction data to see what was
actually purchased, and whatthey found is 6.7% of
self-checkout transactions hadat least some amount of partial
shrink or loss, as compared to0.32% with the cashier.
(03:07):
According to FMI, an FMI reportthat came out earlier this year
, self-checkout accounts now forjust under 30% of total
transactions and that again, fmisays, has a shrink rate of 3.5%
.
So self-checkouts basically athing of the past.
(03:29):
What do you think?
Sally (03:32):
I have a lot of thoughts on this particular topic, Phil,
but first I want to applaudBooth's because I'm with them.
I am with them that I want thatpersonal interaction with a
cashier.
They also talk about how it canbe difficult sometimes for
(03:53):
older people to handle theself-checkouts or people with
disabilities.
But also when you are talkingabout a store like theirs, where
they sell a lot of loose items,like a lot of produce items,
some people have a lot ofdifficulty distinguishing what
they're looking up.
Is this organic?
Is it not organic?
Because there can be a bigprice difference so it's
(04:15):
difficult to accurately ring upthese items.
And then there is.
I'm not surprised that theInside Edition episode that you
were on got over almost 400,000views and over 3,000 comments,
because a lot of people areconcerned about the fact that
(04:36):
they may be wrongly accused ofshoplifting because they just
thought something scanned orforgot to scan something.
In fact, yesterday, Phil, I wasin my Kroger.
I know I talk about going to myKroger a lot and self-checkout.
There are a lot ofself-checkout stands there and I
had this big bag of dog foodunderneath at the bottom of the
cart.
(04:57):
I did ring it up, butimmediately when I started to
leave the checkout, I was askedto show my receipt, particularly
for the dog food, and then, asI was going out of the store, I
was stopped by a security guardto once again prove that I had
paid for this dog food.
Had I just forgot to ring it upbecause I'm usually kind of in
(05:18):
a hurry and scatter-brained atthe supermarket then I guess I
could have potentially beenarrested, and that would have
been a really bad shopping tripat Kroger.
Phil (05:29):
Yes, and you know to your point.
Those two incidences wherepeople approached you really put
a negative spin on that wholeshopping experience.
Another survey that came outfrom Lending Tree finds that 15%
of people say they havepurposely taken an item during
(05:50):
self-checkout and 60% feltremorseful.
44% plan to steal productsagain from the self-checkout.
I mean we've got a real problem.
And McKinsey's study found thatshrink has risen between 5% and
15% of revenues forready-to-eat and ready-to-heat
(06:13):
products.
So people are stealing foodsthat are already prepared.
We haven't seen that before.
We've seen razor blades andthose expensive items, but I've
never seen prepared foodssomebody stealing meatloaf and
mashed potatoes before and it'sa major problem.
(06:35):
I mean, at Target, BrianCornell said that they're going
to lose $500 million this yearabout theft, not only at the
self-checkout, but that'severything from the organized
crime that's coming into theirstores to employee theft, all of
that.
So what we're doing is we'restarting to see more of these
(06:56):
retailers putting in theseplexiglass doors.
It's amazing to me and I thinkthat what we really need to do
is basically talk about the factthat people don't like this,
and if, in fact, we're going tomake that shopping experience
(07:17):
better, we've got to get back tocashiers.
So there's a new study from USC,their Information Science
Institute, and what they did isthey set out to ascertain
whether smartphone mobilitybasically them tracking your
smartphone where you're goingcould provide a way to measure
(07:38):
people's dynamic foodenvironments at scale.
And what's so interesting aboutthis is that basically, what
they're seeing is a connectionbetween how many fast food
restaurants there are to asyou're going through your car
with your mobile device.
I'll get to that in a second.
(07:59):
But what they also point out,which I think is really
important in the last decade orso, they say over $1 billion has
been invested in public healthinterventions in home food
environments.
This could mean building agrocery store in a food desert.
It could be limited access tonutrition or stocking in the
(08:21):
corner stores in thatneighborhood with fresh food and
vegetables, but they go on tosay that there's been no
measurable impact in increasingpeople's healthy food purchases
or health outcomes for thatbillion dollars.
So what they're attempting todo with this data is really
(08:42):
identify what are those impactsthat people have, those triggers
, if you would, that people havein order to eat less healthy.
So basically, they've said thatyour home neighborhood matters
when it comes to risk of dietrelated disease, as well as your
(09:03):
commute, and that the mostsurprising result, they said, is
that mobility data works likean honest signal visits to fast
food outlets were a betterpredictor of individuals obesity
and diabetes than theirself-reported fast food intake.
What do you think Big Brotheris watching us through our cell
(09:23):
phones?
Sally (09:25):
That is a whole other topic, but first let's talk
about what the upsides to thistype of data are.
As you mentioned, Phil, we'vebeen talking about food deserts
now for several years, andincentives have been created by
some cities and counties toattract supermarkets or produce
(09:47):
markets to open up in theseareas where people are lacking
access to fresh and healthy food.
And, yes, the research isshowing that it's had very
little impact on people's diets.
What was so interesting to meabout this particular study is
that they took the surveys fromthe LA Health Department that
(10:12):
they conducted covering do youhave obesity, do you have
diabetes that data, and theyused that along with this
mobility data and were able tolook at, like you said, what
they were driving by and whatwas triggering them to not just
(10:34):
in their home neighborhood, butback and forth to work, what
fast food outlets were availablethere and what were the
triggers in that.
Now, this is interestingresearch because when we ask
people what they're eating, wefind a lot of times that they
don't remember or they don'twant to be honest about their
(10:55):
life they're in Paris.
Phil (10:59):
Everybody's eating healthy foods, yeah.
Sally (11:02):
Yeah, so this could be really great data for public
policies to determine what areas, what neighborhoods where we
need to focus, how we need tohelp people have more access to
better food or learn how todevelop better diet habits.
Phil (11:22):
So I'm all for using data properly.
Let me start off there.
What I am concerned about isthat what we find is because of
this technology, that, yes, wecan be tracked.
We can be tracked in a negativeway.
And you know we've talked aboutthis forever that once we start
(11:46):
tracking this data, is there athird party that they can then
interfere and tell us adifferent direction to drive
home, so that we're not passingall these food fast fooderies,
so that you know we do eathealthier.
What is that line?
And you know I'm concerned thatwe don't have enough guardrails
(12:10):
in place to protect the averagehuman being from what's going
on with our cell phones and whenwe go.
And in talking about that, youknow it leads us to our next
story about surge pricing.
And surge pricing is a thing.
It's a thing not only in Europebut here in the US.
(12:32):
But I want to take a step backand talk about pricing in
general.
And in fact I had gone toschool in Philadelphia, to
Drexel, and Drexel's primarydepartment store at that time
was Wanamakers.
And Actually John Wanamaker,who was a leader in many things,
including advertising andpromotion, actually
(12:53):
revolutionized retail back in1861 because he was the first
one that actually added pricetags to the goods that he was
selling.
Until before that, people wouldgo into the store and either
haggle with the shopkeeper overit or the shopkeeper would would
(13:15):
look at you and say, hey, youknow, here's a sophisticated
woman, I'm gonna give her ahigher price or a lower price
based on what you looked at.
They reserve prices, sometimesfor their best customers or, you
know, sized up, who they couldrip off if you would.
So Wanamaker changed that withfixed pricing and you know Tim
(13:39):
Adams wrote this story aboutseven years ago in the Guardian
in the UK about this and alsopointed out that once they had
fixed pricing, it was the firsttime that people came into
stores without the obligation,as they would in a restaurant,
(14:01):
to buy anything Before the fixedpricing.
You know, if you went to astore it was expected you would
buy.
So that really changed thewhole dynamic.
Let's fast forward to today withdynamic pricing.
We we haven't seen it as muchin supermarkets, but if you look
at Expedia, you look at, youknow, going on a train or a
(14:24):
plane, that's all dynamic prices.
Or shopping on Amazon and a lotof the data points that are
there.
Custom make a price for you,even Uber you know we've talked
about Uber before.
When they're busy, you know thethe price goes up.
And the question is that now, aswe're getting into the
supermarket and the supermarketdata is able to collect
(14:47):
Information about what we'vebought before, the brands that
we've bought, are we buying moreupscale foods?
Is that going to generate thekind of information to allow
them to customize your pricingin a positive or in a negative
way?
And what's spurring this on is,in England, france, japan and
(15:14):
some other in Australia, whatthey have, and especially since
the pandemic, they have what'scalled yellow stickers, and
these yellow stickers signifyprices that are lower, prices
that have been decreased, andnow what they're saying is
that's going to go away, atleast in England, because of
(15:36):
this whole technology of dynamicpricing.
So is this use of artificialintelligence really cheating and
rewarding a whole bunch ofcustomers that aren't even
realizing that this is going onbehind the scenes?
Sally (15:57):
Yes, and I'm so glad you shared with me the story about
John Wanamaker.
I really appreciate hisphilosophy about price tags and
him saying that if everyone wasequal before God, then everyone
would be equal before price.
Yes, and as you mentioned in thelast story, Phil, about data
(16:19):
being put to good use, one areawhere this is put to good use
for supermarkets in particular,is if we are using dynamic
pricing to lower prices onproducts that are getting close
to their sell-by or expirationdate, then what studies are
(16:40):
showing, what research isshowing, is that these
supermarkets are not onlywasting less, but they're making
more of a profit because theyare selling these foods that
would end up in the waste binotherwise.
So that is the upside of thisdata.
The downside of this to me isthat it opens up people who are
(17:02):
vulnerable to discrimination andinequities to be targets.
Let's say, phil.
Let's say, Phil, that I make alower income, but I just happen
to splurge on something once ina while.
Then maybe the data that hasbeen gathered on me shows that
(17:26):
something tells a differentstory, that I can afford higher
prices when maybe I can't.
So I'm not sure that this isfair.
Phil (17:38):
I think you're right that it's not fair, that there is
discrimination, both on apositive and a negative side of
this, and if you take a lookagain back to the point where we
need better governance of this,we need better guardrails for
this.
Just because the technologyexists doesn't mean it's a good
(18:02):
thing.
For example, Facebook has about100 data points on every one of
their users two, three billionusers and that includes the
value of your home, your regularoutings, your disposable income
.
Also, there's brokerage firms,financial firms that sell data
(18:24):
to retailers, that provide morethan 1500 data points on an
individual.
If you recall, a few years ago,Orbitz, the travel site, came
under a lot of criticism whenthey found that users of Apple
Macs are prepared to pay 20 to30% more for hotel rooms than
(18:47):
users of other computers.
So, based on the kind ofcomputer you use, that's the
price that's being served up,and I wish that we were going
back to John Wanamaker'ssituation where every price was
the same.
And also because of the mobiletracking.
(19:07):
When I go into a store storesthat are very sophisticated as
it relates to technology couldthen identify that it's me, and
when I walk up to the shelf, myphone is talking to their shelf
tag and says Phil is here andlet's change the price Again.
Whether it's positive ornegative in my mind doesn't make
(19:31):
a difference.
The fact that they're targetingprices towards me gets very
scary to me.
Sally (19:39):
Agreed, and all the more reason for us to maybe put our
phones down.
Phil (19:46):
Right, exactly, especially Food Not Phones.
I've been talking about FoodNot Phones.
This week we're going to talkabout Dr Ruth.
You probably remember Dr Ruth.
Haven't heard about her for along time.
Dr Ruth really changed TV withher show about sex that had come
(20:07):
out I don't know, 30 years ago,maybe 40 years ago over a radio
show, then evolved into a TVshow.
But the good news is that shehas now been appointed the
honorary ambassador forloneliness in New York by the
governor there.
It's the first time that thisposition has been created in the
(20:31):
nation.
The hope is that it's aiming tohelp New Yorkers with social
isolation associated withphysical and mental health
issues, including cardiovasculardisease, depression, earlier
death that, according to the USCenters for Disease Control and
Prevention, as we've talkedabout you know, probably 100
(20:53):
times at this point.
Our Surgeon General Murthy, hasdescribed the prevalence of
loneliness and isolation as anational epidemic.
The question is do we thinkthat Dr Ruth can pull this off?
Can she help people that arelonely?
Can she get the word out thereto all generations, and will
(21:19):
this have an impact?
Sally (21:21):
It will be great to see what happens.
I absolutely love Dr Ruth.
It's hard not to love her.
I learned so many great thingsabout her recently, one being
that at 10 years old, she wassent away to Switzerland so that
she could be safe, because herparents were taken by the
Gestapo and her parents did endup dying in the Holocaust.
(21:42):
She then became a sniper forthe Israeli army at 16 years old
and then she moved to New YorkCity and became a therapist, and
it's just such an incrediblestory and she has really, really
educated a lot of people inmaking human connections.
She's a great person, I think,for the job here.
(22:03):
But what's even better is whatthe governor is doing in New
York.
Last year signed an executiveorder to create the state's
first ever master plan for aging, to ensure older New Yorkers
can live healthy, fulfillinglives while aging with dignity
and independence.
And, Phil, what these studiesare showing us is that it's
(22:28):
oftentimes the older people thatwe are seeing that are living
with loneliness and isolationthat need someone to reach out
to them, to provide communityfor them, to help them with that
human connection, so that theycan live more fulfilling lives
and ultimately experience lessdisease and not premature death.
Phil (22:52):
And what I love about Dr Ruth is that she really is one
of these iconic figures thatspans the generations.
That you might say that Dr Ruthonly appeals to older Americans
.
I don't think so.
I think, because of her nature,because of her character and
(23:13):
caricature, if you would shereally appeals to everybody.
So I applaud what New York isdoing, and what the governor
said is there was a 2020 studyby the National Academies of
Sciences, engineering andMedicine that found more than
one third of adults, to yourpoint, age 45 and older
(23:36):
experienced loneliness.
One fourth of adults 65 orolder are considered socially
isolated.
So if anybody can do it, DrRuth can, and my hope is that
it's so successful that you know, hey, we have the Biden
administration calling on her tohelp nationally as well.
Wouldn't that be cool?
(23:56):
So thanks, ali.
On the bull's eye, theChristmas trees are being
decorated, most lights are beingput up and blow up.
Reindeer's are popping up onlawns throughout the nation, so
it's no wonder that our brandsare starting to get in the act
with their holiday promotions.
Now, the holiday season,especially Christmas, has a rich
(24:19):
history intertwined withfood-related promotions and
traditions that have evolved,frankly, over centuries.
Coming back the tradition ofholiday feasting dates back to
ancient winter solsticecelebrations In pre-Christian
times.
Festivals like Saturnalia inancient Rome and Yule in the
(24:40):
Norse tradition involved lavishmeals.
With the advent of Christianity, these practices were
incorporated into Christmascelebrations.
In medieval Europe, Christmaswas a grand affair.
The wealthy hosted extravagantfeasts featuring exotic meats
like peacock and boar.
These banquets were not justabout food, but also about
(25:03):
demonstrating their power andtheir wealth.
Meanwhile, the church oftenprovided more modest feasts for
the poor.
The Victorian era broughtsignificant changes.
The publication of CharlesDickens' Christmas Carol back in
1843, which depicted the joyousChristmas feast at the
Cratchits home, popularized theidea of Christmas as a time for
(25:26):
family gatherings that arecentered around a lavish meal.
Now, this era also saw theintroduction of now traditional
foods, including Christmaspudding and minced pies.
Let's zoom forward to the 20thcentury, where we see the
commercialization of Christmasevery day.
Companies are beginning torecognize the potential of the
(25:48):
holiday season for marketing.
During the World Wars, however,food shortages led to more
frugal celebrations andemphasized the value of family
and togetherness overextravagance.
Holiday food promotions are amajor part of the season's
commercial landscape, from thosedreaded pumpkin spice lattes
(26:10):
and, for that matter, pumpkinspice everything.
These foods herald the start ofthe season to special Christmas
menus and restaurants and makeno mistake about it, these
promotions are a significantbusiness.
Pop Tarts and food brandscompete to offer the most
enticing festive products andpromotion.
Witness the inaugural 2023Poptarts Bowl, which airs live
(26:35):
on ESPN on December 28.
Pop Tarts Agents of Crazy Goodis their newest holiday campaign
, where animated Pop Tarts areready to challenge expectations
for where it can show up next.
The Poptarts Bowl mascot is inreal life, a manifestation that
(26:57):
runs around the stadiuminteracting with fans and when
the final whistle blows, ittransforms into a game-winning
snack for the victors.
The winning team celebrates bytaking a bite of the giant
pastry mascot, according to thecompany.
Wonder what the cost of that is?
A promotion that I really dolike is from Truly Hard-Seltzer,
(27:20):
whose promotion Keep It Lightcovers the utility bills for
festive holiday lightenthusiasts.
Through Truly Keep It Lightholiday edition contest, one
grand prize winner will berewarded with what the brand
calls an epic, energy efficientholiday lighting display upgrade
(27:41):
that uses the latest and moststate-of-the-art LED and solar
technology.
The display ensures their house, apartment or living room is
the brightest and most efficienton the block through a custom
build installed by their team ofcertified holiday lighting
experts who specialize inkeeping it light.
In addition, 100 fans willscore $350, paid to them through
(28:06):
Venmo, to cover the cost oftheir holiday utility bills,
their decor and evensolar-powered lights to help cut
future costs.
This is a smart and timely idea.
So if, in fact, you want to beinto the holiday season, do
something that's meaningfulversus having a pop-tart running
(28:26):
around a sports field.
Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you back here nextweek.
Sally (28:32):
Be sure to visit SupermarketG uru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis, issues and trends.
Also, join us back here nextTuesday at 2:30 pm Eastern for
more.
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