A new Food Marketing Institute Financial and Business Review Survey found that 60 percent of food retailers saw higher customer counts and 46 percent saw stronger transaction sizes in fiscal 2012 versus 2012.
Food retailers are optimistic in 2013, with 58 percent expecting business conditions to improve and 64 percent anticipating that consumers' average shopping basket will grow. Food retailers' confidence in the business environment and their financial performance paralleled slow, steady improvements across key economic indicators, including gross domestic product, unemployment rates and the consumer confidence index.
Conducted by 210 Analytics LLC, the food retailing survey provides a financial review of fiscal 2012, a business environment and operational review for 2012-13, and shrink metrics and reporting. The survey addressed issues of food retail staffing, salaries and benefits, health care costs and reform, and operational shrink.
Key findings include:
• Staffing: The majority of survey respondents are adding or maintaining corporate and store associate levels after several years of staff reductions.
• Salaries and benefits: Nearly two-thirds of respondents raised hourly pay in 2012, and 74 percent gave raises for salaried associates. Retailers maintained the industry average on most benefits, with employee training being the most-likely area of higher budget allocations.
• Health care costs and reform: Due to costs rising year-over-year for the majority of retailers, 77 percent of respondents said they needed to pass along part of the cost increases to employees. In regard to the impact of health care reform legislation, 88 percent said health care costs will increase in 2013, and 96 percent believed it will further raise costs in 2014.
• Operational Shrink: Best-of-class retailers averaged 1.2 percent total store shrink and the average among all respondents was 2.9 percent. Better tracking, analysis and reporting were the top ways that retailers said they were able to lower shrink.
