IMPACT INSIGHTS
We’ve walked in your shoes, served in your roles, and been a part of the industry for over 21 years.
Join us as we share company and industry news, trends, and insights.
DID YOU KNOW?
While we’re proud to be a US company, Impact 21 has served retailers across the US and around the globe, even as far as Kuwait.
Impact 21 Welcomes Donna Perkins to the Team
Donna Perkins brings extensive knowledge and expertise to Impact 21 in Data Standards, Accounting, Retail Automation, POS, ERP, and Pricebook. Her engagements result in high-payoff deliverables that impact both top and bottom lines. She delivers strong leadership with...
Is 2022 Finally the Year for Electronic Shelf Labels?
Supply chain disruptions, new shopping patterns, and a labor shortage may collectively become the final catalyst for ESLs Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) have been around for 30 years. Yet they are still a rare site on retail shelves. For most fast-moving consumer...
Consumer Payments – The Challenge and the Opportunity
Has your payments portfolio kept pace with the changes in customer shopping patterns and preferences? Are your co-brand credit cards, private label credit/debit cards, and gift cards optimized for highest value? Are your payment options integrated with your customer...
Strategic Pricing
Recent challenges have retailers looking for solutions to plug the profit hole. The right pricing strategies can be the answer to optimizing your category portfolio and protecting your in-store margin. Learn which pricing strategies can reshape your value proposition.
Areas of Focus for the New Year
This article, authored by Impact 21's Tom Newbould, originally appeared in the January 2022 edition of CSP Magazine "The wild ride we’ve been on these past two years has brought many changes, forcing everyone from single-store convenience-store operators to major...
Starbucks and Amazon Go Pair Up to Expand Cashierless Experience
Impact 21 Tests The Just Walk Out Technology Firsthand Starbucks and Amazon have launched a new store concept that combines physical and digital retail experiences. They are collaborating to open three locations, built with the order-ahead feature on the Starbucks app...
Your Brand Strategy Journey
Your brand brings your company to life. Brand strategy creates a distinct, consumer- and employee-facing identity. It guides workplace culture, decisions, internal & external communication, priorities, and how to go to market. 1. Brand Soul Encapsulates the...
Thinking Acquisition? Think Impact 21
Impact 21 brings a disciplined approach to acquisitions. Our steps are straightforward and methodical. Our plans are comprehensive and proven. We know that successful acquisitions drive deal economics to the bottom line while mitigating risks and disruption to...
Impact’s Insights from NACS 2021
The Impact 21 team shares insights and experiences from the 2021 NACS Show. Despite the pandemic, convenience retailers have seen record growth and profits. Given we were first responders per se by being open during the pandemic, we sold many new products that we...
Brian Roadarmel Undertakes New Role as Senior Principal Consultant for Impact 21
Roadarmel brings a robust skillset to Impact 21. His background in accounting and finance, as well as his operational success in the convenience, hospitality, food service, and retail industries, has equipped him to effectively lead strategic initiatives for Impact 21...
Impact 21 Appoints Joe Letner as Its Newest Business Analyst to Support Client Loss Prevention and Logistics Analytics Projects
Letner’s background in the retail, convenience, and fuel industries helps Impact 21 clients improve profitability and mitigate risk from inventory investments and daily operations. Lexington, KY, October 14, 2021 – Impact 21, a retail consulting, analytics, and...
Impact 21 Welcomes Aaron Simpson to the Team
Simpson brings his 20 years as a marketing executive in the convenience and consumer packaged goods industries to the Impact 21 team. Throughout his diverse career, Simpson has led his teams to greater sales, profitability, and growth. Lexington, KY, September 1, 2021...
Catch Lesley Saitta on the Next Women in Loyalty™ Episode
The Wise Marketer Group, a global customer engagement and loyalty media and publication company, announced its Women in Loyalty™ video series in April 2021. This series features distinguished female executives in today’s digital customer marketing space. As the Impact...
Build Customer Loyalty Through Inventory Management
Strong Inventory Management meets customer demand and improves customer experience. The true value of a sale goes much further than just the price a customer pays. With increasing competition, technological advancements, and the changing retail landscape, retailers...
Looking Through a New Lens at Category Management – Webinar Recap
Well-designed food programs can drive significant sales, profits, and loyalty. However, many programs fail to achieve industry benchmarks as the root causes of profitability can be difficult to identify. 5 Pillars of Foodservice ProfitabilityMenu Optimization...
Are You Really Making Money in Food?
Well-designed food programs can drive significant sales, profits, and loyalty. However, many programs fail to achieve industry benchmarks as the root causes of profitability can be difficult to identify. 5 Pillars of Foodservice ProfitabilityMenu Optimization...
Webinar: Looking Through a New Lens at Convenience Category Management
Explore insights, solutions, and best practices of an effective category management strategy. An effective category management strategy can help you: Increase sales Reduce out-of-stocks Deliver new and exciting products But what makes a category management strategy...
Impact 21 Adds Pete Chrystal and Matt Dicke to the Team
Chrystal and Dicke bring vast knowledge and proficiency in Loss Prevention and Security, Customer-focused Problem Resolution, Market Research and Analysis, Project Management, and Business Development Impact 21, a retail consulting, analytics, and services company,...
CSP Magazine – What Is the Future of Gas Stations?
Or why you may not recognize c-stores in 20 years. This article, authored by Impact 21's Tom Newbould, originally appeared in the March 2021 edition of CSP Magazine. After more than 30 years working in the convenience-store and travel-center industry, I am often...
Solving the Labor Equation for Next Generation Retail
Labor. It’s a major, common theme across retail and one of the top obstacles for retailers for the next three years.¹ Workforce management and labor optimization will increasingly be a focus for retailers across all retail channels. With rising wages and plenty of...
Your Heart Health and COVID
Learn more about the importance of taking care of our hearts. With COVID-19 ever-present in our thoughts, we have invited key presenters to provide us with valuable information about the impact that COVID can have on our Heart Health: from the effects on those with...
Impact 21 Announces Key Leadership Changes to Drive Growth
Biggs takes on the role of CEO, while Saitta shifts her attention to global efforts as the new Impact 21 Chair. Gallo and Burchfield add additional support and expertise as the new Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer respectively. Impact 21, a retail...
CSP Magazine – 5 Retail Evolutions Driven by the Pandemic
Curbside pickup is an option every c-store operator should consider. This article, authored by Impact 21's Tom Newbould, originally appeared in the January 2021 edition of CSP Magazine. How have convenience store customers' needs changed in the pandemic world? And...
Staying Power
Learn how an intangible force brings tangible results to your business “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” —Earl Nightingale Often when working with leaders and leadership teams, I share what I think is critical in executing a strategy....
Impact 21 to Present at SIGMA 2020
Join Impact 21 and other industry leaders and experts at the 2020 SIGMA Virtual Annual Conference on November 9-13! Impact 21’s Loyalty Experts, Bill Hanifin and Jeannie Amerson, will be conducting a session on 2020 Loyalty Program Trends: Engaging Customers in a New...
Jeannie Amerson to Co-Present at Vantage Point 2020
Jeannie Amerson was invited to speak as a panelist at Vantage Point 2020 on October 29, 2020, at 11:00 AM EST. The virtual event is one of a four-part series that aims to bring the retail community together for a meaningful conversation. During each session, the...
Solving the Curbside & Delivery Puzzle
While in-store pickup, curbside and delivery were already growing rapidly, pandemic restrictions forced companies to accelerate adoption. Getting a solution in place took precedence over a well-defined strategy. Even plans that were in place pre-COVID have likely...
Patti Safford Awarded as One of the Top Women in Convenience
Impact 21 is honored and blessed to announce that our beloved colleague and friend, Patti Safford, was nominated and selected as a Top Women in Convenience this year. The 7th annual Top Women in Convenience awards celebrate 52 honorees whose accomplishments may well...
Simon Kish Joins Impact 21 as New Principal Consultant
Simon Kish joins Impact 21 as New Principal Consultant Lexington, KY, September 24, 2020 - Impact 21, a retail consulting, analytics, and services company, welcomes Simon Kish to the team as a Principal Consultant. In this role, Kish will be instrumental in helping...
Impact 21 Welcomes Tom Newbould as New Senior Principal Consultant
Tom Newbould joins Impact 21 as New Senior Principal Consultant Newbould has joined Impact 21, bringing a depth of knowledge, expertise, and a successful track record in Retail and Fuels Marketing, Category Management, Merchandising, Operations, and...
Go To Market Strategy
The Impact 21 Go to Market Strategy helps suppliers, solution providers, or potential investors who are looking to enter and/or optimize their penetration and footprint into any of the industries or markets we serve. We focus on the current and future...
Impact 21’s Patti Safford Honored by Network of Executive Women Heart Health Session
A Network of Executive Women (NEW) virtual educational session was created in honor of Impact 21's Patti Safford. Lisa Biggs, President of Impact 21, paid tribute to Patti during the program, sharing Patti's story and her impact on all of our lives and so many in our...
Impact 21 CIO Gabe Olives Appointed to Conexxus Board of Advisors
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Gabe Olives to the Conexxus Board of Advisors in June 2020. Conexxus is a non-profit, member-driven technology organization dedicated to the development and implementation of standards, technologies innovation, and...
Impact 21 Names Eric Hinkle as its Newest Principal Consultant
Impact 21 Names Eric Hinkle as Principal Consultant to Help Clients Deploy Business-Facing Solutions and Drive Store Automation Hinkle fills new role at Impact 21 and brings extensive knowledge and expertise in retail automation, supply chain/eB2B, Pricebook, Systems...
Category Management
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT • DATA ANALYSIS • LEARNING Impact 21 provides comprehensive category management (Cat Man) services through the combination of program development, data analysis, and hands-on learning. Learn how category management can improve your customer...
NACS Magazine – Category Management in a Post-Pandemic World
Embrace relevant lessons of the past to forecast and swiftly evolve to meet new demands ahead. This article originally appeared in the July 2020 edition of NACS Magazine. As we navigate the current recession (which economists say...
NACS Magazine – Cleaning Solutions
Cleaning Solutions COVID-19 is impacting how c-stores achieve clean — and what it means if they don’t. Impact 21’s Liza Salaria shares her insights with NACS Magazine. ~Courtesy of NACS Magazine BY JERRY SOVERINSKYThe beginning of any meaningful discussion of c-store...
Evolving Your Brand in a Dynamic Market
The current retail landscape is awash with rapidly changing consumer, competitive, and technological trends, creating limitless opportunities for retailers. However, this unprecedented pace can be tough to keep up with, let alone be progressive. Layer in some...
Why Should You Audit and Refresh Your Customer Loyalty Program?
In Pursuit of Customer-Centricity Many retailers have proclaimed to their stakeholders that customer-centricity is their number one goal. We don’t imagine this – we’ve read it in 10K reports and press releases, listened to it in presentations, and heard it in...
NACS Daily – Loyalty Tools Can Aid in Crisis Management
Connect with customers via email and loyalty apps to inform, build trust and entertain. ~ Courtesy of NACS Daily MagazineImpact 21's Jeannie Amerson shares her insights with NACS Daily Magazine. While convenience and fuel retailers are focused on managing the...
Remote Work Strategy – Part 3: Systems Testing & Deployment
We’ve got the leadership, governance, approach, and environment set up for our remote teams. Let’s address the technology side of this new, universal remote workplace in final piece of our three-part series. Software Integration In a remote work environment, software...
Remote Work Strategy – Part 2: Environment & Approach
Now that we’ve addressed the need for a strategy and workplan in positioning your company to keep systems and operations up and running, let’s look at the approach and tools that will enable success in Part 2 of this three-part series. If you do not already have...
NACS Daily – Retailers Plan for Tomorrow
Modeling tools can help c-stores gauge their business now and in a post-coronavirus future. ~Courtesy of NACS Daily MagazineImpact 21's Liza Salaria shares her insights with NACS Daily Magazine. Convenience retailers across the country are all hands-on deck in support...
Business During COVID-19
To our Clients, Partners and Industry Colleagues: First and foremost, we want to offer our sincere gratitude and thanks to all the healthcare, retail and other essential frontline people, who are working tirelessly to support all our communities. We are humbled by...
Remote Work Strategy – Part 1: Leadership & Governance
Remote work environments have become more and more a part of our fabric. As a growing trend over the past few years, companies and individuals have become more adaptable to remote meetings or inclusion of team members from other geographic locations. However, a true...
NACS Daily – Advice for Hiring Furloughed Workers
Convenience retailers can tap into a wider talent pool by partnering with other sectors on short-term hires ~Courtesy of NACS Daily MagazineImpact 21's Rob Gallo shares his insights with NACS Daily Magazine. For convenience retailers looking to hire additional...
In Loving Memory of Patti Safford
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the loss of our beloved friend and colleague Patti Safford. Patti passed away unexpectedly on Monday afternoon, January 13, 2020. It is such a difficult loss, not only because Patti was such a highly valued team member and titan...
The Simple Reasons Customers Avoid Loyalty Programs
By Matthew Stern Source: Forbes Despite all the offers and perks, a significant number of customers turn their noses up at loyalty programs. A full 38 percent of consumers are not interested in joining due to their lack of perceived value, according to a study...