Price Chopper, Market 32 Enhance Promo Planning, Forecasting

Northeastern grocery chains Price Chopper and Market 32 are centralizing promotions, merchandising and marketing for all stores across their six-state operating area.

Partnering with Aptaris, a Tampa, Fla.-based promotions management software supplier, the Golub Corp.-owned banners are streamlining collaborations for outside resources, creative teams and other departments across their footprint, all via a new vendor portal. The software supports category managers with greater visibility of promotional deals, customer-facing offers and campaign results, and it accelerates communications with manufacturers and other partners to smooth budgeting and reconciliation. Additionally, the software minimizes manual entry assists with forecasting and planning via historical data that goes down to the SKU level.

With the new portal, the banners are anticipating up to a 10 percent improvement in cycle times from start to finish in key promotional programs. This would allow associates to devote more time and focus to higher-level merchandising and marketing strategies.

“Relevant communications and more personalized promotions are the key to attracting and retaining shoppers,” said Blaine Bringhurst, EVP of marketing, merchandising and store operations for Price Chopper. “Since we have supermarkets across different regions and work with multiple creative teams, having a centralized portal is a must to simplify communications and facilitate approvals.

Based in Schenectady, N.Y., the Golub Corp. owns and operates 134 Price Chopper, Market 32 and Market Bistro banners across New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.