MARKET WATCH
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Inmar to Manage Price Chopper Digital Coupon Program
Price Chopper Supermarkets is getting an upgrade for its AdvantEdge Card shopper loyalty program. Inmar will now manage the digital coupon program for Price Chopper.
As a result of this change, the retailer will be able to access Inmar’s nationwide, open network and provide shoppers with offers from the best-known and most popular brands in the country. AdvantEdge members can load these offers (e-Coupons) directly to their loyalty cards from the Price Chopper website and automatically receive the discounts, with appropriate purchase, at checkout.
Heidi Reale, the retailer’s Director of Shopper and Digital Marketing, said, “The greater availability of more attractive offers, the improved functionality of our coupon portal and the increased efficiency of our digital coupon program are all going to advance Price Chopper’s efforts to deliver an outstanding and distinctively different shopping experience to our customers.
Shoppers visiting the Price Chopper website can expect to have access to, on average, 150+ digital coupons at any given time. Loyalty program members will be able to load as many offers to their cards as they desire — the previously established limit of 99 coupons was eliminated as of December 1. In addition, a new search function on the website will make it easy for shoppers to seek out specific products and find offers for those products they want to buy.
“Price Chopper’s focus on consumer engagement and their commitment to delivering real value to customers through digital coupons shows they have a true understanding of what it takes to maintain shopper loyalty,” said Inmar Chairman and CEO David Mounts. “Their leveraging of our technology is going to give them a very real competitive advantage in a very demanding marketplace,” said Mounts.
New Opportunities in Omnichannel for CP Companies: SAP Survey
As consumers increasingly use new technologies and channels to guide their purchase decisions, consumer products companies have adapted omnichannel strategies to reach these customers directly, in addition to working through the retailer as in years past. To better understand the extent to which omnichannel data is creating business value for these companies, SAP commissioned a multi-country survey of marketing decision-makers in omnichannel consumer products organizations, with results reflecting a period of transition that will bring new challenges but new opportunities for consumer products companies.
The key findings of the report are:
- Eighty-six percent of respondents agree that omnichannel has meant that customer and consumer expectations of the organization have increased
- Eighty-six percent agree that the benefits of investing in an omnichannel approach to consumer sales clearly outweigh the challenges
- As a result of having a multi-channel strategy to sales, most companies say that their organization has experienced increased sales (74%), increased consumer loyalty/acquisition (64%), competitive advantage (62%) and better consumer experience (57%).
The survey data further suggests that simply operating a large number of channels is not a competitive strategy moving forward. Rather, the key focus for consumer products companies now is to apply data gleaned from directly consumer interactions — via information inquires, online purchases, social engagement and more — to improve the consumer experience.
“Consumer expectation has been, and will continue to be, the catalyst for omnichannel strategy development,” said E.J. Kenney, senior vice president, global head of Consumer Industries, SAP.
“However, organizations have the opportunity, by collecting and harnessing omnichannel data, to not only meet consumer expectations but pre-empt and lead them. This leads to a clear competitive advantage against organizations that are less adept at cultivating a high degree of consumer intimacy while simultaneously developing the operational capacity to respond quickly and profitably to consumer needs.”
Gladson’s e-Commerce Database Reaches Milestone
Gladson’s e-Commerce Database now has Web-ready images and comprehensive product information for 500,000 items, with hundreds more being added each day.
Over the past 12 months, Gladson added 1,000 new manufacturer customers that want to make sure their digital product content is available to the hundreds of retailers that use Gladson to support their digital and omni-channel strategies. The surge in demand for complete and accurate product content is in direct response to the rapidly evolving CPG marketplace, where shoppers are increasingly seeking detailed product information across the path to purchase.
To help brands and retailers meet shoppers’ expectations, Gladson’s Web-ready content offers a complete digital representation of each product, including high-resolution product images that are sized, edited and formatted for easy deployment into websites, e-commerce platforms and mobile applications. In addition to images, Gladson’s e-commerce product content includes up to 230 attributes for each product, such as package-verified weights and dimensions, nutrition facts, ingredients, allergens, warnings and marketing claims.
“Digital innovation is changing the shopping landscape and challenging our retail and manufacturing customers to develop strategies that engage and inform consumers throughout their shopping journey,” said Susan Sentell, Gladson president and CEO. “In addition to fueling omni-channel sales, Gladson’s comprehensive product content supports business processes across the enterprise, such as supply chain, category management, advertising, market research and in-store merchandising.”
IRI Launches ‘Platinum’ Line of Solutions Powered by Shopper Data
Information Resources, Inc.’s new “Platinum” line of solutions will power its advanced insights and analytical model by using retail shopper transaction data from Datalogix, the company connecting online ads to in-store sales.
Through the agreement, Datalogix will provide retailer shopper transaction data to IRI on tens of millions of households for use with IRI’s existing National Consumer Panel data to create the largest and most powerful consumer and shopper insights platform in the industry.
IRI will be able to use Datalogix data from frequent shopper programs (FSP) in its syndicated consumer and shopper insights platform, as well as in other advanced analytics offerings. IRI will use this information to enhance the capabilities of services, including price and trade promotion analyses, predictive analytics through its Hendry Market Structure solution, and marketing mix modeling.
“The consumer and shopper landscape is changing quickly with the impact of digital, social and mobile communication platforms, requiring a deeper and broader understanding of key segments of the population at various touch points in the new path to purchase,” said Robert I. (Bob) Tomei, president of Consumer & Shopper Marketing, IRI. “To achieve growth over time, it’s essential that marketers fully understand emerging consumer and shopper segments and how they buy (that is, select certain brands or select certain stores). This first step in our alliance with Datalogix will enable us to provide that level of granularity around our clients’ key consumer and shopper segments.”
Perceptions Vary among Grocery App Users
A new study has found that the more active a shopper is with social media, the less likely it is that shopper will use a grocery retailer’s app in a store.
The study, from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Saint Joseph’s University, also found that shoppers with large grocery expenditures were most active in utilization of grocery apps. The study found a need for simplification and customization in grocers’ approaches to customer digital engagement.
“We segmented the users in order to help food retailer’s better tailor marketing of their respective apps,” said Nancy Childs, Ph.D., professor of food marketing and the Gerald E. Peck fellow at Saint Joseph’s University. The research also suggests potential sales implications. “We found that customers employing apps are also the heaviest shoppers.”
The Digital Grocery Commerce: Insights for Enhancing Consumer Connection with Grocery Shopping Apps profiles various types of digital grocery shoppers based on IRI’s DigitaLink digital behavior of grocery shoppers. The research is extended by investigation of consumer use and attitudes towards using grocery shopping apps.
U.K. Grocery Shoppers Keen to Embrace Wearable Tech: IGD
In the future, more than four of 10 U.K. grocery shoppers (43%) could envisage using wearable technology devices such as smart glasses and smart watches, according to the latest IGD ShopperVista research. IGD is a UK-based researcher focused on the global food and consumer goods trends.
Six of 10 shoppers (62%) say they would be interested in getting special offers in-store sent to their wearable device, with 61% interested in using it to redeem or collect loyalty points. As well as wearable gadgets, shoppers would also be keen to use their smartphones when grocery shopping, with a particular emphasis on using the technology to stick to a budget and search out the best deals:
- 41% would like to scan their shopping with their phones while going around a store, to keep a running total and speed up the checkout process
- 39% say they would be interested in being alerted on their phone for special offers when they’re in different parts of a store
- 36% say they already or would like to use their phone when they’re in store to see if somewhere else can offer a better price.
Joanne Denney-Finch, IGD Chief Executive, said: “Savvy shopping tactics are now the norm, which has enormous implications for any upcoming digital technology that can tap into this trend. We are operating in an increasingly multichannel environment, with half of shoppers now believing it’s more convenient to shop around and use different formats for their grocery shopping - including digital and online.
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