Thrive Market Works to Optimize New Product Discovery

Online grocer Thrive Market is working to better offer customers organic products that they want at prices "well below" those of its competitors through its membership site.

For the initiative, the Los Angeles-based pure-play ecommerce grocer is partnering with RangeMe, which supplies a platform that streamlines new product discovery for retailers and suppliers. RangeMe is owned by Solon, Ohio-based ECRM, a provider of business innovation and technology.

With online grocery sales rising steadily in recent years – expected to make up 20 percent of total grocery retail by 2025 – grocers are rethinking how they source and sell products online.

"The meteoric rise of ecommerce, and the drastic shift in consumer shopping behavior, has pushed retailers to rethink and revise how they source products," RangeMe said.

Designed for buyers and suppliers, RangeMe's dashboard puts thousands of products in front of buyers, with the intent of making it easier to find and compare products from across the globe. This is useful for online grocers such as Thrive Market, which curates organic and non-GMO products that span all categories.

"Typically, merchants are inundated with emails from brands asking for distribution, but RangeMe allows us to decide how and when to respond to incoming brand requests," said Julie Johnsston, SVP of merchandising and chief merchant at Thrive Market.