The RL Research Report

The news sounds bleak if you listen to the latest on store closings and how the in-store experience is dying, with many citing a disconnect in shopper experience. However, that view would be wrong, according to Market Track's most recent Shopper Insight Survey.

With all of the new technology available to consumers enabling online shopping, how do you continue to drive store traffic and purchases? Brands and retailers need to consider the role trip drivers play in their overall strategy.

It's not hard to remember a time where grocers competed with other grocers, consumers made weekly trips to the store, and they could only find out what was on sale by checking out the circular. Those days are forever gone, as now grocers compete with everyone from drug to dollar to e-tailers.

Food-at-home prices in 2016 are predicted to reflect a 0.25 percent to 1.25 percent decline, according to the USDA Economic Research Service, making the past year the first time since 1967 that retail food prices reflected annual deflation.

It's not hard to remember a time where grocers competed with other grocers, consumers made weekly trips to the store, and they could only find out what was on sale by checking out the circular. Those days are forever gone, as now grocers compete with everyone from drug to dollar to e-tailers.

How's private label trending? Depends on what category you examine. The average food category has seen a 5 percent increase in private label feature ad share compared to 2015.

The holidays are fast approaching, and shifting consumer behaviors are driving innovation and change in retail.

While not everyone in the world of consumer packaged goods retailing has jumped on the digital bandwagon, a large number clearly have and intend to dig deeper here in the near future, according to the results from the latest exclusive Retail Leader survey.

While they might not dominate assortment or function as primary sales drivers at most retailers, better-for-you (BFY) foods and beverages, including natural, organic, low-in and free-from products, do play an important strategic role for many retailers, according to results from the latest exclusiv

Workforce turnover is a real problem for most retailers, according to the latest exclusive

Retailers are generally satisfied with the degree of cooperation they get from their suppliers, according to the latest exclusive Retail Leader survey. Almost all (92.2 percent) characterized cooperation with suppliers as good or excellent, and none said it was poor.

Social media has taken hold in CPG retailing, according to the latest exclusive Retail Leader survey. Almost 87 percent of our retailer respondents have at least a Facebook page, and 71.5 percent have at least one employee working full-time on social media.