The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
United Natural Foods, Inc.’s disclosure on Wednesday that the cyberattack it suffered last month would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales could have sent investors heading for the exits.
Instead, the grocery distributor’s share price surged that day by more than 12% and moved up further on Thursday to its highest level since the attack as traders celebrated the company’s new projection that, despite the incident, revenue for the year would actually be higher than it had previously expected. UNFI had more good news, assuring stakeholders on Wednesday that insurance would cover the expenses it incurred in response to the online intrusion and adding that it believes most of the financial fallout stemming from the incident would be contained to its current quarter.
Of course, Wall Street’s jovial response to UNFI’s latest announcements hardly paints a full picture about the breadth of the cyberattack’s effect on the company and its customers — not to mention the sobering warning the attack sent that the grocery industry at large is vulnerable to online criminals.
Many grocers that depend on UNFI — including independent retailers — had to go to extraordinary lengths to obtain products when the distributor’s systems went offline. Retailers also faced the task of explaining to shoppers why some items were suddenly unavailable, not to mention the possibility that consumers who turned elsewhere might never come back. The question now is whether UNFI’s customers will set aside memories of the cyberattack as quickly as investors have.
In case you missed it
A top Prime Day buy: protein shakes
While apparel, household essentials and home goods were the star categories, about 14% of Amazon Prime Day shoppers bought groceries — 1 percentage point higher than last year, according to Numerator’s Amazon Prime Day Tracker. Premier protein shakes were the most purchased item while paper plates under the Amazon Basics brand grabbed the No. 5 spot, Numerator found.
Two-thirds of Prime Day shoppers were highly satisfied with Amazon’s deals, and over half said they compared prices with other retailers before placing their orders, Numerator found.
New York City greenlights boost to grocery delivery workers’ pay
The New York City Council on Monday approved legislation that increases pay for workers, including nearly 20,000 grocery delivery couriers, ABC7 reported. The new legislation requires third-party apps like DoorDash, Uber and Instacart to pay workers $21.44 an hour.
Instacart decried the move, telling ABC7 that the legislation “would jeopardize a lifeline thousands of New Yorkers rely on.”
Lidl launches weekend-only LTOs
The discounter announced in a Thursday email that it is kicking off a weekly promotion for six items only from Fridays through Sundays.
“We’re carefully curating these offers to give our customers exactly what they want: unrivaled savings when they shop with us the most,” Pete Poutre, chief buying officer at Lidl US, said in the announcement.
The weekend promotion adds to Lidl’s recently refreshed savings lineup, which also includes deals on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Impulse find
We all scream for ice cream!
This coming Sunday is National Ice Cream Day and Stop & Shop is looking to scoop up some sales. The Ahold Delhaize banner announced this week that it plans to dish out a free 1.5-quart container of Stop & Shop brand ice cream to shoppers who check in at an in-store kiosk from Friday through Sunday.
The kiosks, which Stop & Shop finished rolling out to all of its stores earlier this year, allow customers to activate digital coupons from the weekly flyer and personalized deals without a smartphone or computer.
The grocer’s private label ice cream comes in 15 flavors, including the ever-popular vanilla and chocolate as well as mint chocolate chip, coffee and Neapolitan, the announcement noted.
Sounds like a sweet way to reward shopper loyalty!
