When I began dreaming about building a company to help retail brands improve communication and store execution, I knew that when I found ‘my people’ the sales would follow. I came from retail, where I held communications and operations roles, and I knew that there were many folks who also believed in the potential of their people and the magic of the store experience. To find these people, I looked for tell-tale clues. 

These people know that effective communication is what enables people to do their best work. They engage their colleagues at all levels and believe in providing ‘the why’ and the context behind what is being communicated so their teams are engaged, inspired, and empowered to execute their work. There are so many asks in retail that giving the context helps people better understand what the top priorities are and how their work supports the overall organization’s objectives. They believe in being in-service to stores and meeting the needs of their associates, who are the best ambassadors of the brand.

Retail Zipline has been in business for five years and I can say, without a doubt, that it’s still so inspiring to know that there are so many people that are aligned with our mission, values and principles of communication. And one, in particular, is Hy-Vee.

In the midst of COVID-19, we signed Hy-Vee to be our first grocery partner. While many people that read the announcement in the grocery trade pubs probably wondered how they could juggle a new technology initiative during their busiest time in history, those that have worked with Zipline before, know how easy it is to get up and running and how quickly it can drive execution. 

Industry experts have called Hy-Vee “the most proactive, thoughtful chain out there.” Hy-Vee selected Zipline because they wanted a better way to communicate with their 85,000 employees. With changing health and safety guidelines, they didn’t want to take any chances during such a critical time. As CEO Randy Edeker said in an interview, he wants to “make sure we do all the right things so there’s zero regrets after this is done.” 

So in April, when stores were jammed with shoppers and HQ was figuring out how to comply with new state-by-state regulations for essential businesses, Hy-Vee continued to innovate and take on new challenges. In addition to becoming a Zipline customer, the more than 265 store grocery chain stepped up to help their community. With local food banks running low on supplies, they mobilized and asked customers to donate towards the cause and committed to match the donations up to $500,000 through May 31st.

Employee-first, community-focused and ready to innovate. These are my people. 

To commemorate the new partnership, Retail Zipline made a commitment to support Hy-Vee’s food bank campaign. For every new Hy-Vee platform user that signed up before May 31, Retail Zipline would donate $1, up to $25,000, to the campaign. Hy-Vee would also match Retail Zipline’s contribution dollar for dollar to help support food banks feeding those in need during this national pandemic. 

We are excited to announce that we have reached that milestone.

Now, with a proven communication and task management platform that will help them be more successful and tools to ensure their safety while at work, Hy-Vee associates are ready to flourish. We can’t wait to cheer them on and continue to enable them with tools to help them be their best. We also look forward to working with our HQ business partners who are excited to help provide input and feedback as we build solutions to improve the experience of retail’s superstars everywhere.