Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

As the holidays come to a close and 2009 is here, it’s time to focus on growing your company’s business.

Most retailers have websites, but many are company websites that do little more than give consumers the basics: store hours, contact information, background, etc. Among increased competition and changing consumer purchase behavior, it’s important to remember that it takes less effort to keep consumers than it does to go out and find new consumers.

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to increase customer retention is to increase your online presence. Improve your website and add user-friendly tools such as MyWebGrocer’s recipe engine, interactive circulars and integrated shopping list. Your consumers will appreciate the convenience of being able to go online to their favorite store’s site and find everything they need to plan their meals.

What’s more, as a part of MyWebGrocer’s online grocery advertising network, your company will make money simply by participating. Through MyWebGrocer’s revenue share program, you won’t have to lift a finger to generate advertising revenue up to tens of thousands of dollars.

Take the newspaper industry’s shift to digital as a perfect example of a smart, necessary, revenue-boosting move. In December, The Detroit News and 170-year-old Detroit Free Press announced they were cutting print editions and bolstering their digital efforts. The papers joined countless others that already made the change, included the well-known Christian Science Monitor, which announced earlier this year that it would stop printing completely and focus solely on online content. Detroit Media Partnership, which manages business operations for the papers, credited its “bold” decision to economics.

Resolve to focus on customer loyalty this year and generate easy revenue. Your customers, and supervisors, will thank you.

Rachel