SPINS Analysis Confirms: Products at Fresh Thyme Market with ELi Codes® on their shelf tags outperformed their respective categories by more than 3X!

Based on SPINS retail sales data for Fresh Thyme Market, products merchandised with Smart Shelf Tags™ outperformed their respective categories by more than 3X!

Smart Shelf Tags also support retailers by providing an effective and inexpensive way for suppliers to train their retailer’s in-store associates to help make them more knowledgeable and passionate about the products they sell.

Smart Shelf Tags demonstrate how important shopper education and engagement truly are at retail. This study confirmed that retail items equipped with Smart Shelf Tags dramatically outgrew their categories.

The comprehensive analysis was based on retail sales of items at Fresh Thyme Market for the twelve-months ending 10/3/2021 by comparing unit growth of items displaying Smart Shelf Tags to items that do not. By focusing on unit movement and growth compared to their respective categories, influences such as price fluctuations and seasonality were minimized.

Are you outperforming your categories? Click here to attend an upcoming webinar to learn how!

SPINS and Cornerstone for Natural Partner to Enhance
ELI Codes™ and Smart Shelf Tags™

Powered by SPINS Product Intelligence, retailers and suppliers can now dynamically upgrade Smart Shelf Tags to help consumers discover products that fulfill their needs

TAMPA, October 15 2021 — SPINS, a leading wellness-focused data, analytics and technology provider in the U.S., and Cornerstone for Natural, the industry’s premier business, accounting, and consumer engagement software provider, have partnered to enhance Cornerstone’s ELI Code™ and Smart Shelf Tag™ solutions.

Smart Shelf Tags are retail shelf tags equipped with patented ELI Codes, that when scanned by a smartphone, display rich and exciting digital content such as videos, PDFs, web content, images, and product content & attributes to engage and educate in-store shoppers. Smart Shelf Tags also support retailers by providing an effective and inexpensive way for suppliers to train their retailer’s in-store associates to help make them more knowledgeable and passionate about the products they sell.

Cornerstone will incorporate SPINS Product Intelligence data to its solution to help retailers easily implement Smart Shelf Tags for their private label products and to equip suppliers with a cost-effective solution to add advanced product content to their ELI Codes.

“SPINS is excited to be partnering with Cornerstone on this innovative solution,” says Jay Lovelace, Chief Commercial Officer at SPINS. “Retailers know their success comes from differentiation, and that’s what their passionate customers are looking for. Smart Shelf Tags help retailers predict and provide dynamic product assortments that meets their shopper’s dietary needs, health goals, and so much more.”

“We are thrilled to have SPINS as a partner moving forward,” says Dave Boos, Cornerstone’s CEO. “Together we will be bringing the most important information to consumers about products on the shelves of marketplaces all over the US. A better-informed shopper can make better decisions about which products are best for themselves and their families and pets. The information ELI Smart Shelf Tags present in stores will continually provide shoppers the most up-to-date information about each product in order to help us all enjoy a happier and healthier life.”

About SPINS
SPINS is a leading provider of retail consumer insights, analytics and consulting for the Health and Wellness industry, we strive to transform raw data into intelligent and actionable business solutions. Our mission is to maximize the value of information for growing the industry. We carry out our mission by providing information, insight and a common language for the industry with which to understand and analyze consumer, retail and broad marketplace dynamics.

About Cornerstone for Natural
Cornerstone is a leading provider of SAP Business One solution ERP software that helps to better run and manage every aspect of business; from sales, e-commerce, CRM, manufacturing, distribution, accounting, barcoding/QR codes, and much more. Cornerstone for Natural™ (www.CornerstoneForNatural.com), a division of Cornerstone Consulting, Inc., is the natural product industry’s premier provider of Business Management Software solutions. Their ELI Code Technology helps its clients communicate rich product content easily and accurately and their modular Business Management Software systems help their clients be more efficient, productive and profitable by connecting, integrating, tracking and reporting on all aspects of their business operations. Cornerstone for Natural created Smart Shelf Tags to help retailers and suppliers better communicate product benefits, engage shoppers, and retail in-store shoppers.

Lotus Light and Cornerstone for Natural partnered to help bring Touch-Less Aisle Browsing™ to the Natural, Organic, and Specialty Products Industry.

(Silver Lake, WI) July 29, 2020 – Lotus Light, a prominent national distributor of natural health and wellness products to the natural products industry, will use its resources to make retailers and suppliers aware of this extraordinary solution. They will also stock and distribute Touch-Less Aisle Tags™ supplied by their vendors at no cost to customers who are buying those lines through Lotus Light when customers include the tags on their order.

“Touch-Less Aisle Browsing is a brilliant way to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and to help keep our retailers, their families and their customers safe,” said Santosh Krinsky, Lotus Light’s President and CEO. “After learning about Touch-Less Aisle Browsing, we knew we need to do everything we could to help get this technology into the hands of our retailers immediately.”

Cornerstone for Natural, the natural product industry’s leading ERP integrator, created Touch-Less Aisle Browsing™ to reduce the number of times a consumer has to handle a product in the aisle to determine whether or not they want to purchase it. Touch-Less Aisle Browsing is accomplished by using enhanced shelf tags (shelf talkers) equipped with an ELI Code® that when scanned by a smartphone, will display important product content to help the shopper evaluate the product without having to pick it up, turn it over and read the packaging.

“We are humbled by Lotus Light’s excitement, involvement and leadership in this project,” said David Williams, Cornerstone’s EVP of Business Development. “It was clear that Lotus Light, along with its leadership team, genuinely want to help their retailers and their consumers. They offered assistance immediately and without asking for anything in return.”

To learn more about Touch-Less Aisle Browsing visit: https://cornerstonefornatural.com/touch-less3/

Lotus Light Media Contact: Santosh Krinsky, President
lotuslight@lotuspress.com / (262) 889-8501 Ext 108

Cornerstone for Natural Media Contact: David Williams, EVP Business Development
David.Williams@Cornerstone1.com / (813) 321-1300

Lotus Light (www.LotusLight.com) distributes over 15,000 natural products to stores nationwide, representing over 400 high quality products manufacturers. Lotus Light was founded in 1981 and is a majority woman-owned, family business.

Cornerstone for Natural™ (www.CornerstoneForNatural.com), a division of Cornerstone Consulting, Inc., is the natural product industry’s premier provider of Business Management Software solutions. Their ELI Code Technology helps its clients communicate rich product content easily and accurately and their modular Business Management Software systems help their clients be more efficient, productive and profitable by connecting, integrating, tracking and reporting on all aspects of their business operations.

Cornerstone for Natural Launches In-Store Touch-Less Aisle Tags™ to reduce the Spread of COVID-19 at Retail.

(Tampa, FL – July 16, 2020) Touch-Less Aisle Tags slow the spread of COVID-19 within a retail store by reducing the number of times shoppers need to handle products before purchasing them.

To help our natural, organic, and specialty product retails protect their customers and employees against the spread of COVID-19 in their stores, Cornerstone for Natural™ launched the industry’s first In-Store Touch-Less Aisle Browsing™ solution.

Consumer reaction to this solution has been overwhelmingly positive. Shoppers appreciate retailers taking additional and novel approaches to keeping them safe.

Every time a shopper handles a retail item to read the label, they run the risk of spreading COVID-19 to the next item they touch, and so on. Touch-Less Aisle Tags display important product information on shoppers’ smartphones allowing them to view ingredients, nutritional information, images, and more all without requiring the shoppers to unnecessarily handle the item – until they are ready to purchase it.

Touch-Less Aisle Tags™ also make it easier for shoppers to read the labels and identify ingredients they want to avoid whether it be diet-specific, or allergy related.

Cornerstone has already created Touch-Less Aisle Tags™ for over 100,000 items in the marketplace.

• With more shoppers looking to natural, organic, and specialty products to help them through the COVID-19 crisis, Touch-Less Aisle Tags™ are timely and necessary.

• With so many products being out-of-stock, consumers are flocking to products and brands with which they are not familiar.

• With consumers focused on underlying health concerns that could make COVID-19 even more serious, consumers are focusing their attention on healthier lifestyles.

With fears of visiting doctor offices, emergency rooms, and pharmacies, consumers are gravitating to health-focused retailers for additional ways to stay healthy.

To view a 3 ½-minute overview presentation, please visit: www.CornerstoneForNatural.com/touch-less3

For more information about Touch-Less Aisle Tags, please visit: www.CornerstoneForNatural.com/touch-less

Media Contact: David Williams / EVP of Business Development at Cornerstone for Natural / David.Williams@Cornerstone1.com / (813) 321-1300

UPDATED: Free ELI Codes During COVID-19 Pandemic – Billing Suspended

Cornerstone Continues to Offer Free Product-Based Enhanced QR Codes During COVID-19 Pandemic to Help Natural Product Industry Suppliers with Social Distance Business and Travel Bans and Suspends Billing for All Existing ELI Code Clients.

Originally announced on March 17, 2020 – Cornerstone for Natural™ is providing Natural Product suppliers free access to its ELI Code technology platform, including its enhanced services, to help them easily communicate product information with their retailers, distributors and brokers in the face of COVID-19. Existing ELI Code client billings have been suspended during the crisis.

ELI Codes™ are enhanced QR codes assigned to products within the Natural, Organic, and Specialty Industry, based on UPC number, that when scanned by a smartphone, displays valuable product content such as images, nutritional information, ingredients, allergens, certifications, weights and dimensions, and more! Through its partnership with IX-ONE, Cornerstone has built nearly 100,000 ELI Codes to date.

“When we first announced the free enhanced ELI codes and suspended billing a few weeks ago; we were inundated with requests and kind gestures,” added David Williams, Cornerstone’s EVP of Business Development. “We’ve redeployed our staff to help us process the requests we are receiving each day and hope additional requests will continue to come in.”

Suppliers within the Natural, Organic and Specialty Products industry rely on face-to-face events to promote their products to retailers, distributors, and brokers. From trade shows to meetings; in-person events are frequently used to create buzz, convey benefits, and entice purchasing. However, given the country’s paralysis from COVID-19, in-person meetings are not happening. Web-based presentation and video conferencing technology is helpful, but not effective for quick dissemination of product information to multiple partners simultaneously.

To help our friends and colleagues within the industry, Cornerstone has taken the extraordinary step of making its entire ELI Code technology platform available to our supplier community to help them easily share their exciting and essential product content with their trading partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. ELI Codes can be added to sell sheets, catalogs, or virtually any collateral. ELI Codes are smaller than a postage stamp but hold limitless amounts of valuable content. Best of all, trading partners will only need their smartphone to unlock all of that rich content.

In addition to the content included within the standard ELI Code solution, Cornerstone will also include two additional customized content links.

“We really wanted to step up and help,” says David Boos, CEO of Cornerstone Consulting, Inc., Cornerstone for Natural’s parent company. “Especially in light of the postponement of Expo West and the need for social distancing. I’m thrilled we are in a position to help.”

Click on the video below for a brief overview and explanation.

Our ELI Code Technology helps our clients communicate rich product content easily and accurately. ELI Codes are enhanced QR codes assigned to retail products within the natural product sector and pre-populated with verified content.

Our modular Business Management Software systems integrate the main functional areas of an organization’s business processes into a unified system. We help our clients be more efficient, productive and profitable by connecting, integrating, tracking and reporting on all aspects of their business operations. Our on-premise and cloud-based solutions are tailored specifically to meet the needs and the priorities of the discerning and passionate clients we serve.

Cornerstone for Natural™ specializes in small, medium and large organizations within the natural product space.

For more information visit http://www.CornerstoneForNatural.com

Free ELI Codes During COVID-19 Pandemic

Cornerstone Offers Free Product-Based Enhanced QR Codes During COVID-19 Pandemic to Help Natural Product Industry Suppliers Deal with Social Distance Business and Travel Bans

Cornerstone for Natural™ is providing Natural Product suppliers free access to its ELI Code technology platform to help them easily communicate product information with their retailers, distributors and brokers in the face of COVID-19.

ELI Codes™ are enhanced QR codes assigned to products within the Natural, Organic, and Specialty Industry, based on UPC number, that when scanned by a smartphone, displays valuable product content such as images, nutritional information, ingredients, allergens, certifications, weights and dimensions, and more! Through its partnership with IX-ONE, Cornerstone has built nearly 100,000 ELI Codes to date.

Many suppliers within the Natural, Organic and Specialty Products industry rely on face-to-face events to promote their products to retailers, distributors, and brokers. From trade shows to meetings; in-person events are frequently used to create buzz, convey benefits, and entice purchasing. However, given the country’s fear from COVID-19, in-person meetings are not happening. Web-based presentation and video conferencing technology is helpful, but not effective for quick dissemination of product information to multiple partners simultaneously.

To help our friends and colleagues within the industry, Cornerstone has taken the extraordinary step of making its entire ELI Code technology platform available to our supplier community to help them easily share their exciting and essential product content with their trading partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. ELI Codes can be added to sell sheets, catalogs, or virtually any collateral. ELI Codes are smaller than a postage stamp but hold limitless amounts of valuable content. Best of all, trading partners will only need their smartphone to unlock all of that rich content.

In addition to the content included within the standard ELI Code solution, Cornerstone will also include two additional content links for free.

“We really wanted to step up and help,” says David Boos, CEO of Cornerstone Consulting, Inc., Cornerstone for Natural’s parent company. “Especially in light of the postponement of Expo West and the need for social distancing. I’m thrilled we are in a position to help. For any suppliers currently paying for ELI Codes today, we are suspending all billing until the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.”

“Communicating rich product content, especially when you are not face-to-face with your trading partners is important – especially right now,” added David Williams, Cornerstone’s EVP of Business Development. “We recognize that our solution will be in more demand now than ever before, but we made the decision to give it away for the duration on the COVID-19 outbreak because we felt it was the right thing to do.”

To learn more and take advantage of this special feature please visit: www.CornerstoneForNatural.com/COVID-19-FREE

www.CornerstoneForNatural.com
(813) 321-1300

Cornerstone for Natural™ specializes in small, medium and large organizations within the natural product space.

For more information visit http://www.CornerstoneForNatural.com

What’s Really Holding You Back?

You have a great product, an excellent team, great customers – yet, despite all that, you’re not getting ‘there’. You’re not thriving like you should be. It takes weeks (sometimes, months) to close out your reporting periods (by then it’s too late to correct your course). There is rampant inefficiency within your organizations. Entire departments are being run on spreadsheets and one-off systems. Worse yet, you lack the timely, reliable and relevant analytics you need to make good decisions.

Is it unreasonable to expect efficiency, connectivity and actionable information? Definitely not! While it’s easy to chalk it up to “it is what it is,” it doesn’t have to be this way.

There is an old saying, “If you don’t have the time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” That same logic applies here too! As leaders, we’ll spend tens of thousands on manufacturing equipment, forklifts, refrigerators, freezers, trucks, staff, tradeshows, and travel; yet we run our businesses on outdated, non-integrated, sub-par software. It makes no sense.

It’s just that Business Management Software isn’t sexy.

When is the last time someone tweeted about how their new ERP system allowed them to increase sales, reduce costs and better service their customers? Why not? Because it’s not sexy.

Despite its mind-blowing efficiency, no one gets excited about integrating their business functions into one unified solution. Even with the dramatic cost reduction, no one is pumped up about reducing the double entry their staff is doing every day. While it ensures growth, no one jumps for joy when they hear about real-time financial reporting and business analytics.

Call me crazy, but if running efficiently, knowing what’s happening in your business in real time, and decreasing costs isn’t sexy; then I don’t know what sexy is!

You owe it to yourself and your staff.

Want to see a brief video that helps explain all of this? Click here!

Want to chat? Fill out the form below or give us a call.

by David Williams | www.LinkedIn.com/in/RetailDave | (813) 321-1300

IX-ONE and Cornerstone Partnership

The Data Council Announces IX-ONE Content-Rich QR Code-based ELI Codes® through its Partnership with Cornerstone Consulting.

ELI Technology’s® patent pending QR Code platform provides users with access to rich product content directly from the IX-ONE Exchange.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. (PRWEB) AUGUST 28, 2019

The Data Council (TDC) is excited to announce its partnership with Cornerstone Consulting, Inc. to provide content rich, QR Code-based ELI Codes® for all member items captured within the IX-ONE exchange.

ELI Codes® are enhanced QR Codes, built on a patented technology platform that is highly configurable, responsive, and easy to use. Each member-based item captured within the IX-ONE network will be issued an ELI Code® which will be stored within the IX-ONE platform. Supplier, broker, retailer, and distributor members will be able to download the ELI Codes® and use them to easily, effectively, and accurately communicate product content. As product information is updated within IX-ONE, it will automatically be updated within the ELI® network – ensuring ELI Codes® are always up-to-date.

IX-ONE members now have the added value and use of these ELI Codes® included with their membership at no additional cost. Suppliers will also have options to enhance their ELI Codes® with additional content such as videos.

“We are very pleased to offer this exciting and innovative value-added service for our members at no additional cost or effort to them,” says Troy Benscoter, The Data Council’s EVP of Business Development. “IX-ONE is the industry’s leading solution for product data and images and ELI Technology® is the leader in QR-Code based product content and marketing solutions. Working together will be very synergistic to us and extremely valuable to our members.”

“As the clear leader in the space, The Data Council’s IX-ONE has revolutionized product content capture and sharing,” added, David Boos, President of Cornerstone Consulting. “Through our partnership with The Data Council to deliver our innovative ELI Codes® for their member-items, we will be helping to enhance their product content initiatives while offering a tremendous benefit to their members.”

Both The Data Council and Cornerstone Consulting will be attending New Hope’s Natural Products Expo East, September 11-14 in Baltimore MD, to meet with IX-ONE members and formally introduce this service.

[Click HERE to Sign Up to Meet With Cornerstone At Expo East]

About Cornerstone for Natural
Cornerstone for Natural™, a division of Cornerstone Consulting, Inc., is the natural product industry’s premier provider of Business Management Software solutions. Our modular software systems integrate the main functional areas of an organization’s business processes into a unified system. We help our clients be more efficient, productive and profitable by connecting, integrating, tracking and reporting on all aspects of their business operations. Cornerstone for Natural™ specializes in small, medium and large organizations within the natural product space. Our on-premise and cloud-based solutions are tailored specifically to meet the needs and the priorities of the discerning and passionate clients we serve. For more information visit http://www.CornerstoneForNatural.com

About IX-ONE
The Data Council is a division of Advantage Solutions, a leading provider of customizable and technology-enabled sales and marketing solutions. The Data Council’s IX-ONE platform is the industry’s choice for product data and images. Launched in collaboration with industry-leading retailers, distributors, brokers and associations, we combine rich packaging data and images with a robust member base to revolutionize the exchange of product information across the industry. Learn more at http://www.TheDataCouncil.com.

Click HERE to view the Press Release on PR Web®

Should We Just Agree to Disagree?

A wise man, while defending his position in a disagreement with the company’s CEO, once said, “If no one is comfortable disagreeing, there’s a pretty good chance that decision is wrong. If we’re willing to object and disagree until we can all reach alignment, our odds of being right go up dramatically.” That wise man was, well, me.

OK fine… maybe I’m not all that wise (just ask my wife), but I am a big fan of decisions based on data. Don’t get me wrong, intuition and experience are essential — arguably, critical! However, without good, reliable, timely data, we’re doomed to hoping and guessing.

In order to utilize data, we first need to dig into what information would be useful in decision-making. That’s why it’s important to encourage a culture of respectful disagreement. That doesn’t mean someone needs to object to everything, just because they can; it does mean that when someone feels there is a different perspective that needs to be explored, they should feel comfortable voicing it.

So many managers profess to “not being micro-managers,” but instead micro-manage by not providing an environment where disagreements are welcome. Those same managers seldom take responsibility when a plan goes bad.

Take it a step further and ask for an opposing view or perspective. Have someone play the role of Devil’s Advocate once in a while. If no one can, you’re likely heading in the right direction. Better yet, if someone comes up with an alternative, discuss it and make your decision with the opposing view in mind.

But, in all cases, unless you’re trying to decide on where to have lunch, make sure you’re leveraging all the data available to you (even picking a restaurant will be better if you reference the menu, hours and maybe even current traffic conditions).

If you don’t feel you have the COMPREHENSIVE, RELIABLE, and TIMELY data you need to make good decisions — talk to me. If you don’t know what data you’re missing – talk to me. Your Business Management Software should be providing you all that data in real-time. If it’s not, you need to address it – now (and I’d love to hear the opposing view on that).

Years ago, Business Management Software (previously called ERP) was expensive and difficult to implement – not anymore. Remember how difficult it used to be to program a VCR, activate a new cell phone, edit a video? Times have changed.

We help natural product suppliers and distributors from startups to very mature, large businesses. Visit www.CornerstoneForNatural.com to see what you’re missing.

by David Williams | www.LinkedIn.com/in/RetailDave | (813) 321-1300

Stop Telling Me How Busy You Are!

Call any business contact and ask them how they’re doing, and you almost always hear the same thing: “I’m good, but b-u-s-y.” Our culture has gone so far as to come up with phrases around the concept…“Busy, busy, busy,” “busy as hell,” “busier than a one-handed paper hanger,” “so busy, I haven’t been to the restroom all morning.” The list goes on… and I’ve been guilty of this for years.

Why do we insist on telling people how busy we are? Why is being busy seen as a sign of success?

The truth is, it isn’t.

“Busy” is a sign of something, but it’s not success. It’s a sign of poor planning, poor time management, poor staffing, bad culture, or inefficiency.

We’re focusing on all the wrong things. We’re not busy; we’re wasting time.

Do you feel like you’re always busy? Ask yourself why. Odds are, with some introspective insight, you’ll identify the culprit. After all, leaders of multinational conglomerates can find some flexibility in their schedules… and so should you.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, as if you are the glue holding everything together in your business, maybe you’re not as efficient as you once thought. If that’s the case, maybe we can help. Visit us at www.CornerstoneForNatural.com and learn how we help our clients Simplify Their Lives, Sell More Products and Have More Fun. (Unless, of course, you just like being busy!)

And even if you are busy, stop telling everybody! Not only are you bragging about being inefficient, you’re also telling them you don’t have time for them. They’ll feel put-off by you, and you’ll both lose.

I get it… sometimes you really don’t have time for someone. That’s fine. You can tell them you are walking into a meeting, or needing to handle a call, or working on a short deadline. But, when you begin every call by telling everyone how busy you are, you train callers to not call you. Business is built on relationships; don’t teach yours to leave you alone.

Then again, if you’re just trying to get some knucklehead off the phone because you just don’t want to talk to them; then stick with, “busy, busy, busy.” Or, better yet, send that call to voicemail.

by David Williams | www.LinkedIn.com/in/RetailDave | (813) 321-1300