Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

I remember my mother sitting on the living room floor on Sundays, spread out with the weekly circular in front of her, planning our family’s shopping list for the week.

“Woo hoo! Another deal! Special K–two for one this week!” she’d announce gloriously, while clipping out the coupon and adding it to the collection she carried around in a tattered envelope in her purse. “Woo hoo! Fifty cents off Quilted Northern!”

Flash forward 25 years, and here I am doing the very same thing…on my iPhone.

Yesterday, MyWebGrocer and ShopRite launched the very first weekly specials iPhone App. We’re all very excited about it here at MWG because it’s a product we all believe in and use personally.

Click on image below view a video demo of the App

The App is the latest incarnation of MyWebGrocer’s efforts to make ShopRite’s customers’ lives easier. It functions as a portable circular and invites consumers to “start saving” before they even arrive at the store by browsing hundreds of items instantly. Among its many groundbreaking features, ShopRite Weekly Specials enables consumers to see what’s on sale in real time at their regular ShopRite store. Once they select an item, it literally tumbles into their shopping list, which is neatly organized by category with pictures, descriptions and real time prices. The App syncs and downloads store specials directly to an iPhone or iPod Touch and can even sync with customers’ shopping lists at ShopRite.com.

At the gym this morning, while plugging along on an excercise bike, I put together a dinner menu for tomorrow night based on the current sale items at ShopRite . I planned the meal around what’s on sale, and I was able to stay within budget my because the App gave me a running total of my basket price. When I got to the office, I printed out a paper copy of my list, and I will stop at the store tonight and pick up my groceries after work. I saved myself time and money, all while burning calories on the bike! I felt so good I added a box of chololate cookies to my shopping list…hey! I’d earned it!

Our App doesn’t try to be “all things to all people…” and I like that. This App focuses on what I want to know: what’s on sale at my local store. It’s simple and efficient and it gets the job done.

Twenty-five years later, I am “clipping coupons” just like mom. As I click around on my iPhone, I can understand the excitement she felt there on the living room floor clipping for “deals.” And I’m doing it from the gym…bonus.

So I might as well just say it: I am turning into my mother. Woo-hoo!

-Alison

Earlier this year, research firm Brand Keys polled 26,000 consumers of 441 brands in 63 categories to gain insight into changing consumer purchase habits. The results showed consumers buy based on their subjective perception of value and not solely on price.

“Shopper consciousness has shifted from just trying to ferret out deals to looking for brands that provide value,” said Brand Keys President Robert Passikof.

In today’s economy, much has been made about the growth of private label and increased competition among brands. Savvy shoppers expect more value from brands they buy and remain loyal to those that deliver it. In fact, Brand Keys found the extent to which brand loyalty impacts purchase decisions varied among categories, with some categories attracting consumers who care little about price. Paper towels, moisturizers and allergy medicine are all examples of categories attracting super-loyal consumers. “Price is really not a factor,” said Passikof. “People are more concerned with feeling better and controlling the allergy versus saving 59 cents on the buy.”

For brands looking to build category share, as well as retailers looking to bolster private label sales, the value over price theory mandates increased branding efforts to convince consumers to buy. For brands looking to maintain share, brand loyalty requires constant communication and new innovations to strengthen perceived value.

Whether through rewards programs, quality ingredients, emotional connections, or more, brand value is in the eye of the beholder. Give your consumers something to behold.

Rachel