Supermarket Perimeter - June 2022 - 15

The
roles technology can play in bringing consumers back to the
perimeter - and keeping them there, and guaranteeing repeat
visits - are countless.
TOP TIPS
Digital experiences have the power to engage shoppers, creating both " stickiness "
and loyalty by delivering value shoppers can't attain elsewhere, said Katie Hotze, CEO of
Charlotte, N.C.-based Grocery Shopii, a digital meal planning platform for grocers that
uses recipes to fill carts, expediting the online shopping journey while solving the meal
planning headache for shoppers.
" Considering the massive digital transformation that grocery has experienced during
the pandemic, technology can create high-performing revenue channels for fresh
perimeter sales by leaning into mobile, social, and other digital experiences that deliver
value for the shopper by offering experiences that are more personal, more connected,
and faster than ever, " Hotze said.
Grocery Shopii does that by asking retailers to think of a recipe as a bundle that contains
all the necessary ingredients to produce a meal. That bundle may contain items from
the bakery, meat department, dairy, fresh perimeter, and center store. And, Hotze said,
it's where the power of technology can drive bigger baskets and impulse purchases as it
simplifies the purchase process by delivering value for the shopper.
" When a grocer employs Grocery Shopii's retailer-branded meal planning platform
onto their existing website, shoppers who do their meal planning spend up to 20% more
per shopping journey and return to the grocer's site four times more often, " Hotze said.
" This is a direct boost to fresh perimeter as carts are filled with recipes, which tend to be
comprised of either fruits or vegetables. "
Not only does the platform boost sales but it also supports last-minute merchandising
efforts when farmers need to move surplus product. A recipe featuring that product
can be deployed both in-store and digitally within hours to fire up sales specific to a
select item.
Grocery Shopii is a retailer-first platform that provides essential support to retailers
who sell groceries online today, Hotze said. The company's platform embraces a retailer's
logo, colors, imagery, and Grocery Shopii even can add their recipes to its existing catalog,
creating a recipe shopping experience that aligns with the grocer's brand while serving
shoppers with fast and convenient meal planning and grocery shopping in five minutes
or less.
" Our platform will always be free to shoppers, and it focuses on pulling shoppers
back to the grocer's website to leverage the meal planning capability, which intensifies
customer loyalty. "
Forecasting what consumers want
Today's consumers are accustomed to unprecedented variety and convenience when
shopping for food, said Kane McCord, president and chief revenue officer of Seattle-based
Shelf Engine. " Grocery stores have 40,000 more items than they did just a few decades
ago. But the more SKUs a store has, the more it wastes. And the vast majority of these new
SKUs are fresh products, which have much shorter shelf lives. "
Highly perishables now make up 39% of grocery stores, and produce alone is nearly
24%. These items have a short lifespan and are ripe for waste if not purchased. And food
waste is expensive: shrink costs retailers $52 billion annually.
Technology, McCord said, can play a key role in attracting consumers to the fresh
perimeter. It can forecast the products shoppers want to buy and ensure those are stocked
appropriately. It can also steer retailers away from products that will take up valuable shelf
space but ultimately won't sell.
" When shoppers look at a fresh food display, they want to see variety, abundance and
sustenance, " he said. " It's difficult to achieve this, however, through traditional methods
of forecasting and ordering. " For instance, he said, grocery managers often follow a very
manual process that hasn't changed in decades: rough estimates using legacy software
supermarketperimeter.com
Make technology
work for you
Make it a meal
Add " bundling " programs to
your website that make it as easy
as possible for consumers to
turn items from multiple areas
of the perimeter into a meal.
Inventory control
39% of foods sold in grocery
stores fall into the " highly
perishable " category. Lean
on cutting-edge software
programs to make sure
perishables don't get wasted
- and don't turn off shoppers
who inadvertently buy them.
Forecast: strong sales
The right technology can help
retailers forecast the products
shoppers want to buy and ensure
those are stocked appropriately.
Variety, abundance
and sustenance
That's what consumers want
to see when they look at a
fresh perimeter display. Pulling
off that triple threat is much
easier with the right software
ensuring the right mix of
on-trend, peak-quality foods.
AI
Artificial intelligence and
machine learning models
predict exactly how much highly
perishable product you need
to order to meet customer
demand and maximize sales.
JUNE 2022 - 15
SPAINTER_VFX - STOCK.ADOBE.COM

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Supermarket Perimeter - June 2022

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