MDI, Design House Offer Access to Ideal Retail Media Network, Digital Circulars

Distributor’s retail customers said to be seeing 250K measurable store visits per week

12/5/2022

The Ideal Retail Media Network enables CPG companies to select their target audience and draw attention to promotional content, as well as video, animation and recipes, within a local retailer’s digital circular, and then drive traffic to the store.

Merchants Distributors LLC, a wholesale food distributor for independent grocers, has made a marketing agreement with Ideal by Design House to allow the 600-plus grocery stores in 12 states that are serviced by MDI to access Ideal’s Retail Media Network and upgrade to dynamic digital circulars.

The network enables consumer packaged goods companies to select their target audience and draw attention to promotional content, as well as video, animation and recipes, within a local retailer’s digital circular, and then drive traffic to the store. CPGs receive analytics showing the success of the distribution system, engagement on the circular, visits to the store, cost per visit and lift in sales. According to the companies, MDI’s retail customers are receiving 250,000 measurable store visits per week driven by CPG campaigns.

“Ideal’s performance dashboard measures the entire ecosystem, showing our customers and CPG partners how ad costs are being optimized and the return on investment for each campaign,” noted Nick Carlino, MDI’s EVP of sales and merchandising. “Our CPG partners’ special offers get on-platform and off-platform positioning, gaining access to all shoppers from all stores within our 600-store footprint across 12 states.”

The Ideal platform integrates dynamic digital circulars with an intelligent, omnichannel distribution system. Consumers can create shopping lists, view recipes, watch videos, change language and share content. According to Design House, the 24/7 access to information and promotions has been shown to boost customer experience and loyalty.

“MDI is continuously innovating to give their independent grocers a competitive advantage,” said David Gordon, president and founder of Solon, Ohio-based Design House. “Ideal’s marketing platform makes it simple and fast for stores to modernize their print programs into a digital circular. Our clients tell us they’re moving away from print because newspapers and their distribution channels are shutting down and leaving them no choice. With Ideal, shopping is easy and fun, resulting in greater sales and brand awareness for retailers and CPGs.”

This past June, MDI renewed its use of Revionics technology to deliver artificial intelligence-driven retail-pricing recommendations for its wholesale distribution business.

Hickory, N.C.-based MDI provides expertise, infrastructure and scale for independent grocers. With an assortment of more than 40,000 food and nonfood items, the wholesaler supplies hundreds of grocery stores in the United States and exports a variety of products to retailers and distributors in 36 countries. MDI is a subsidiary of Alex Lee Inc., which is also the parent company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Lowes Foods, operating more than 75 Lowes and Just $ave stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Alex Lee is No. 65 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.