In a year dominated by election coverage and inflation, Advantage Solutions managed to break through with some news of its own. Looking back on our most-read stories, readers were intrigued by our people, our company\u2019s transformation and in hot retail topics like self-checkout and product sampling.<\/p>\n
As we head into 2025, here are the five most-read stories of the past year, based on our traffic metrics:<\/p>\n
Judging by media headlines last year questioning whether \u201cself-checkout is dead,\u201d you might think the technology is on the verge of being eliminated.<\/p>\n
The truth is far more complicated, according to our report from March, based on data from the 2024 Advantage Shopper Outlook survey. Not only is it not dying, self-checkout is thriving, particularly among consumers who\u2019ve come to appreciate the convenience, the relative privacy and the suitability for their lifestyle that it offers.<\/p>\n
Concerns raised by some retailers are valid. Theft and loss can be more acute in unstaffed lanes, and unintentional errors are more common when fewer folks are around to ask for help, which forces harried shoppers to troubleshoot on their own. <\/p>\n
But the pros may outweigh the cons. For retailers, self-checkout provides a critical labor solution, as the availability of quality hourly workers continues to be tight. Self-service lanes allow retailers to reduce front-end hourly labor needs, allowing them to redeploy those workers into aisles or stock rooms. <\/p>\n
Andy Keenan, executive vice president at Advantage, believes the advantages offered by self-checkout will eventually overcome any hesitation on the part of retailers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe notion that we\u2019re going to pivot away from technology that helps offset labor needs and will ultimately continue to improve customer experience because of some challenges is far-fetched,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to continue to embrace the technology and realize that it may always be imperfect, but it will always be evolving. The noise that, \u2018Oh, self-checkout might not be working,\u2019 that\u2019s just a moment in time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read the article<\/a><\/p>\n Even in a year as polarizing and divisive as 2024, one thing Americans can all agree on is that we love our pets. Pet ownership and spending reached record levels this year, and Advantage experiential services is there to connect pet parents with brands and retailers, supporting a growing number of pet product manufacturers by finding creative and innovative ways to get their products into the hands of shoppers.<\/p>\n Since consumers are not physically trying the product themselves, Advantage helps brands with the additional layer of educating consumers properly about the sample to the point where they feel comfortable giving it to their pet \u2014 and buying it again.<\/p>\n Read the article<\/a><\/p>\n After the challenge of the pandemic, product sampling was back in a big way in 2024 \u2014 and that was evident at the Natural Products Expo West conference in Anaheim in March, where the biggest draw was all the samples. Manufacturers in every corner of the convention hall floor were offering everything from chips made from chicken skin to caffeinated birthday cake-flavored energy bars to 100 kinds of yogurt. Interest in sampling also extended to the speaker sessions, where a standing-room-only crowd gathered to hear insights from the Advantage experiential services team on the power of sampling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe importance of sampling to brand building, consumer trial, awareness, purchase and conversion can\u2019t be overstated,\u201d said Andrea Young, chief operating officer for experiential services at Advantage Solutions.<\/p>\n The data bear that out. A retailer study conducted on behalf of Advantage shows that 98% of shoppers in a warehouse store try a sample on a typical shopping trip. What\u2019s more, 91% of them credit sampling and demo with influencing their buying decision. <\/p>\n \u201cOur sampling programs help consumers discover products, understand their value propositions, and in the end, can impact the way they live their lives,\u201d said Amy Lang, president, global operations for Club Demonstration Services, an Advantage Solutions company. \u201cThat may sound big or grandiose, but we see it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the article<\/a><\/p>\n In September, Advantage Solutions made news when it unveiled a reimagined brand designed to reflect its transition into a unified retail solutions company positioned at the center of retailers, brands and shoppers.<\/p>\n While keeping its trusted name, Advantage launched its new visual identity and messaging framework to reflect its industry leadership, and to convey the full suite of omnicommerce solutions it provides to brands and retailers to shape the way people shop, wherever they shop. <\/p>\n Advantage\u2019s refreshed brand is a visual manifestation of the business simplification and unification plan implemented by CEO Dave Peacock and his executive team, who have transformed the organization from a holding company of disparate businesses and agencies into a single unified enterprise providing a full suite of interconnected solutions. This repositioning signals Advantage\u2019s stake in long-term retail industry growth<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n4. How to sample products for pets<\/h2>\n
3. Sampling was the story at Expo West<\/h2>\n
2. Shaping a fresh chapter at Advantage<\/h2>\n