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

Consumer satisfaction with the top 100 e-commerce sites dropped 3 percent this spring versus the same period in 2008, according to the Top 100 Online Retail Satisfaction Index from ForeSee Results and FGI Research. Sites like apple.com, dell.com, crateandbarrel.com and toysrus.com all showed decreases, most likely due to an increasing lack of customer focus in an industry that’s been strongly affected by the weak economy.

“When times get tough some retailers continue to focus on the customer, others go into their cost-cutting mode. It’s more about not improving,” said Larry Freed, Foresee Results President and CEO.

Those who have benefited most have capitalized on shifting consumer concerns for affordability and convenience. Discount retailers like Costco, Target and Wal-Mart, and others, like grocery e-commerce site Peapod.com, showed significant increases in consumer satisfaction versus last year.

Consumers expect to be catered to by retailers, through enhanced value in product offerings and consistent online services. “A valued customer pays back dividends, not only in loyalty, but in long-term recommendations,” said Freed.

Although the report, which analyzed data from over 20,000 respondents, covers only 94 e-commerce sites, retailers should consider the findings indicative of what their consumers expect from them to be satisfied with their shopping experience. Furthermore, retailers should consider who is currently exceeding those expectations.

When consumers make their recommendations, are they recommending you or your competitor?

Rachel

Traditionally, online contextual advertising referred to text-only ads that were most often served across the major search engines. Text ads, while still extremely popular and effective, no longer constitute contextual advertising. Whereas before a keyword search resulted in a standard search results list, all in text, with improved targeting capabilities, web publishers can now contextually serve display ads, rich media and more. In addition, content ownership and relevant advertorials deliver brand messages in a less obtrusive, more consumer-friendly way.

Along with search platforms, advertising networks are a common venue for contextual advertising. Yet the problem with ad networks, as Hollis Thomases of Clickz says, is “that DIY rules in some systems. There might not even be a media rep to answer your questions. These platforms don’t facilitate ad serving and, consequently, data reporting can be thin. You might not ever know how many ad impressions were served to what sites or even on what sites your ads appeared.” Too many publishers can often mean uncertainty as to where ads are actually serving and how relevant the content actually is.

To ensure that they are reaching the right target, advertisers should engage in transparent contextual advertising on relevant sites, meaning they know where their ads are serving and what content is being displayed. Ads that serve on MyWebGrocer’s online grocery advertising network, for example, serve across e-commerce platforms, recipe engines, interactive circulars, meal planning applications and more. MyWebGrocer’s highly targeted content provides multiple options for contextual targeting.

On retailer’s e-commerce sites, advertisers can purchase keywords that trigger their ads so they appear above brand, category and competitive searches, among others. Advertisers can integrate brands in recipes, causing consumers to add that ingredient to their lists. Other contextual advertising options include product merchandising, category ownership and sponsorship opportunities.

Regardless of whether campaign objectives call for a broad or targeted online impact, contextual advertising should be considered as one of the most important ways to affect brand preference and purchase actions. Especially in a direct sales environment where competition is fierce, advertisers need to ask themselves: am I the leader in my category?

Rachel

Embracing digital advertising is paying off for the Kellogg Company, which last week said that its online return on investment for the Special K brand exceeded that of broadcast television over the past year and a half. According to Advertising Age the findings are predicted to help “drive stronger adoption across the business.”

Kellogg Co. Chief Marketing Officer Mark Baynes said, “For the right opportunity, the online space offers fresh ways to commercialize new and existing brands, target specific audiences on needs more cost effectively.”

Kellogg was one of the first advertisers to join the MyWebGrocer advertising network, now the largest online grocery advertising network in the country. With incredible foresight to the future and a shared partnership for success, MyWebGrocer and Kellogg Co. saw the value in targeted e-commerce solutions.

The result has been double-digit sales increases across Kellogg’s trademark brands.

Rachel

To read the Advertising Age article, click here.

In a recent New York Times article chronicling the success of NBC’s Olympics coverage , author Bill Carter identifies the critical moves the network made pre-Olympics to ensure viewership and cash in on advertising revenue. Certainly, as the article points out, the publicity surrounding the Olympics, the politics, the protests, the athletes and the expectations, all contributed to the event’s success.

But the driving success factor was timing.

With the support of U.S. swimming star and Olympic legend Michael Phelps , Dick Ebersol , chairman of NBC sports, not only convinced China and the International Olympics Committee to propose an August start date, he influenced them to schedule the swimming and gymnastics events in the morning so they would air live on NBC primetime. 200 million viewers and more than $100 million later, NBC concluded coverage of what was one of the most watched and talked about sporting events in recent history.

The main lesson to be learned from NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is not new. Timing is everything. The early date of the Olympics, which began August 8^th, meant school had not resumed. The weakened economy forced Americans to stay home and not vacation. The primetime coverage pulled in viewers and intrigued advertisers; many ran advertisements congratulating Phelps’ gold medals in the first commercial break following each victory.

When advertising online, especially in an e-commerce setting, advertisers should take advantage of timing to increase relevancy and decrease waste. Advertising where your consumers are most likely to buy is a cost-effective and powerful way to increase sales and promote positive branding. Just as Ebersol took advantage of a time when he knew viewers would be watching television to air Olympics coverage, advertisers should take advantage of online e-commerce applications to influence consumers where they are already going to buy.

Rachel

To read the entire article click here.