How Efficiency And Earned Wage Access Support Grocery Innovation With Tim Cosens

00:06 – Audrey Hogan:
Would you just introduce yourself? Name, title, where you work.

00:09 – Tim Cosens:
I’m Tim Cosens from McKeever’s Price Chopper, CTO. Been there 33 years now.

00:17 – Audrey Hogan:
What was your first hourly job?

00:19 – Tim Cosens:
Sacker — started when I was 16.

00:22 – Audrey Hogan:
What did you love about that?

00:23 – Tim Cosens:
I don’t know that I loved anything. I just needed money.

00:27 – Audrey Hogan:
Fair enough. What do you love about your job now?

00:29 – Tim Cosens:
It feels like family. We’ve got people who’ve been there a long time, from store directors to grocery managers — even front-end. It’s a community.

00:55 – Audrey Hogan:
One of the themes I’m seeing at NGA this year is that more retailers are finally ready to take baby steps into modern tech. But you guys are usually ahead of that curve.

01:23 – Tim Cosens:
We’re all in the same boat: it’s ultra-competitive. You can’t raise prices, you can’t stop running ads — so the only path forward is to be more efficient.

01:41 – Audrey Hogan:
Any new solutions you’ve seen that excited you?

01:48 – Tim Cosens:
Not sure I’ve seen anything brand-new. We’re already on the bleeding edge, so it’s more about seeing which ideas will actually work for our team.

02:05 – Audrey Hogan:
Speaking of bleeding edge, let’s talk about Earned. How’s it going?

02:21 – Tim Cosens:
Adoption’s still growing, but we see the same people using it consistently — two or three times a week. More employees are joining in every week, and we think it’s helping.

02:35 – Audrey Hogan:
For context — Earned is TimeForge’s earned wage access feature. No fees to employees. They only access money they’ve already earned. That was important to us from the start.

03:05 – Tim Cosens:
That was huge for us too. We didn’t want employees paying just to access their own wages. In today’s gig economy, it’s the only way to compete. You’ve got to offer flexibility.

03:19 – Audrey Hogan:
Exactly. We’re not just competing against other grocers — we’re competing against Uber, Walmart, and the convenience store down the street.

03:49 – Tim Cosens:
And we’ve seen people really take advantage of it.

03:51 – Audrey Hogan:
What do you think is next for grocers?

03:53 – Tim Cosens:
Wish I knew. But I think it’s about staying focused on what you do well — and being willing to adjust when necessary.

04:02 – Audrey Hogan:
You have strong vendor relationships. What’s your advice to grocers still trying to find the right partners?

04:17 – Tim Cosens:
You’ve got to lean in. Pick vendors you trust — and who will work with you when something doesn’t go right. That’s where the value is.

04:26 – Audrey Hogan:
There’s definitely a bit of distrust in the space.

04:28 – Tim Cosens:
Sure. But that’s why you build relationships. If something fails, they need to show up with a better solution.

04:36 – Audrey Hogan:
What else should people know about your team or what McKeever’s is trying to do?

04:42 – Tim Cosens:
We just try to provide the best service at the lowest price. And we know the only way to do that is through efficiency.

04:55 – Audrey Hogan:
That’s wonderful. Thank you for your time.