Wegmans Updates App

Wegmans Food Market Inc. has unveiled the newest version of its app, which can be uploaded free from the grocer’s website.

“Ever since we released the first version of our app a couple of years ago, we’ve been listening to customer feedback and making improvements based on what we hear,” noted Jason Wehle, director of Internet marketing for Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans, a family-owned supermarket chain with 81 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. “One of the most common requests we received was for compatibility with Android devices. [T]his new version delivers on that request, and it will soon work with Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook, too.”

Continued Wehle: “Those who have already been using our iPhone app told us they wished their experience could be more personalized. With that in mind, we included past purchases to this new version of the app. We’ve added other features, too, from more nutrition information to estimating what it will cost to buy the items on your list.”

Time-saving features of the updated app include the following:

--Users can jump-start their shopping lists using past purchases by signing into the app and touching the “Products” icon on the home screen. Purchases are linked to a user’s Shoppers Club account and will be shown if Shoppers Club is scanned at checkout. The app also allows users to add ingredients from Wegmans recipes to their lists and scan product bar codes with their devices’ cameras to add the scanned items to lists.

Further, users can create and edit multiple shopping lists for their accounts from both Wegmans.com and the app. “Some of our customers shop for others -- a relative or neighbor, for example -- and it may be helpful to keep that person’s list separate from other lists,” explained Wehle. “You can also e-mail your list to someone else who’s doing the shopping, and even add helpful notes. We think customers will see right away how much time this can save.”

--The Wegmans app organizes shopping lists by aisle according to the user's store’s layout to make shopping easier. If a user visits another Wegmans, she can touch the “more” icon on the home screen, and then choose “My Account.” From there, she can switch to another store location.

--The app now estimates the total cost of the items on the shopping list. “Customers have asked us for this feature because it offers more control over spending and planning,” said Wehle. “It helps keep the food budget on target.”

--Users can check store locations and hours, refill prescriptions, view cooking videos, read the Wegmans’ Fresh Stories blog posts, browse recipes, rate and review products and recipes, and look up nutrition information and Wellness Keys for Wegmans brand products and recipes.

--At checkout, users get a lower price on items being discounted for cardholders, Wegmans will try to notify them if products they bought have been recalled, and there will be a record of user purchases on the app and past receipts on the grocer’s website. Cashiers can also point a handheld scanner at a user’s phone or tablet to capture the Shoppers Club information from a bar code at the bottom of the shopping list, so there’s no need to carry the card in a wallet or the key tag on a keychain.

Further information on the new app is available on YouTube.

From Jan. 20-29, Wegmans will share tips for using the app on Twitter. Customers can tweet @Wegmans and offer their own takes on how the app makes shopping easier, along with the hash tag #wegapp. A $100 Wegmans gift card will go to the author of a randomly chosen daily tweet.