Albertsons’ Omnichannel Experience Playbook: Daily Rhythms and Digital Screens
When it comes to the innovation must-haves for omnichannel grocers — whether that’s shoppable recipes, retail media or subscriptions — Albertsons Cos.’ Jill Pavlovich doesn’t have an easy answer. All of them, she said.
Instead, it’s the action sequence that matters, and there are some steps retailers just can’t skip, the SVP of digital shopping experiences stressed at Progressive Grocer’s GroceryTech event last week in Dallas.
“You have to make sure that you pay attention to the individual needs of your customers and your business first. … If you solve the customer problem, business outcomes will follow,” she said.
A solid digital foundation is a non-skippable — “Basics first, innovation second” — and Pavlovich described Albertsons’ digital ecosystem as a “Swiss Army knife of convenient features” meant to reduce shoppers’ cognitive load and take the chore out of grocery shopping.
Increasing Expectations
Now that Albertsons has become an omnichannel retailer, expectations are rapidly evolving, and the customers have control of the goalposts, said Pavlovich.
This pressure for seamless customer experiences will only increase as younger, digital natives graduate into Albertsons’ customer base and shop for their families, as omnichannel-enabled experiences are what they know.
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The rate of digital adoption is only increasing, which carries many opportunities. “It's just easier to get those generations to engage digitally, and once you engage them digitally, then you can really open their world up to convenience features [and] personalized experience.”
Albertsons sees its employees and company purpose as advantages. Bringing people together on the joys of food and inspiring well-being sets a different tone, she said, and it’s easier to snowball that tone into customer obsession.
For example, the digital team has created daily rhythms and habits that start and end each day by reading customer sentiments and ratings, and understanding call center complaints.
The information, used as a trend line, informs Albertsons’ product and technology roadmap to ensure the retailer is solving the most urgent customer pain points first. She described the digital roadmap as living and breathing and quite aggressive, noting it can change from sprint to sprint.
Current and Future Priorities
At the top of the CX list is improving the digital fulfillment experience for customers, particularly the points between checkout and delivery, or checkout and pickup. The retailer is giving customers more control over their orders, including choosing substitutions that can be saved for future orders or directly communicating with store associates via chat while the orders are being picked.
Within retail media — another key priority — the digital experience team views it as an intuitive discovery opportunity for new brands, which can be hard to replicate online and something it has struggled with, she said.
Retail media can do this in a more intuitive and personalized manner. As the grocer expands its digital footprint and builds new services and capabilities — its retail media arm unveiled an in-store display network this week — it’s inviting brands to participate even earlier.
“We want customers to be able to discover across all touchpoints,” she said.
Pavlovich also sees future opportunities with in-store digital surfaces, including mobile apps and digital screens connecting to cart technologies.
“I think we will see a shift in the emergence of more digital interfaces throughout the store that allow us to communicate with customers in different ways and enable them to communicate with us as well — educating us on where they're idling, educating on the most valuable aisle, where product is resonating and where it's not.”
This article was originally published by sister brand Path to Purchase Institute.
