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What Retailers Can Learn From H-E-B's Coronavirus Strategy

H-E-B was months ahead of its peers.
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Francis Scialabba

· less than 3 min read

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

The coronavirus outbreak sent Mercury into retrograde three months early at most grocery stores...except for Texas’s H-E-B.

On Twitter, customers enthuse that H-E-B “has the ’rona in check.” H-E-B shelves are well-stocked. Stores don’t have a Hunger Games atmosphere. H-E-B even has enough food in its warehouses to donate 500,000 meals to Texas food banks.

How did H-E-B sidestep the initial chaos other chains faced? The short answer, per Texas Monthly: constant vigilance.

H-E-B’s pandemic plans have been braising since 2005, when the H5N1 virus became a threat in China. Its emergency response team began refining those plans for 2020 as soon as Wuhan’s coronavirus outbreak escalated.

  • H-E-B reached out to Chinese retailers starting in January, then to Italian retailers and suppliers in recent weeks.
  • They weren’t talking sugar cookie recipes. H-E-B was learning which products consumers would want stocked at what points during the pandemic’s curve and how it could support staff.

With intel from international retailers, H-E-B could be proactive instead of reactive. Like other grocers, H-E-B has mandated social distancing in stores and reduced hours to restock shelves—but those moves were levers it was prepared to pull.

As for frontline workers...extended sick leave, pay increases, and an employee hotline were baked into emergency plans.

  • H-E-B also has a chief medical officer and medical board to monitor employee health.
  • Workers at its San Antonio HQ have access to a private store for essentials, since it’s difficult for them to shop in-store during the updated hours.

But the company admits it couldn’t predict every COVID-19 shopping trend: “We did not see runs on toilet paper as one of the first things to go out of stock,” H-E-B president Craig Boyan told Texas Monthly.

My takeaway: It may feel too early to think about the next crisis. But when it comes, retailers should follow H-E-B’s lead by preparing far ahead and for the worst.

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.