3 Ways Grocers Can Provide Stronger Customer Engagement
More Customer Engagement Coverage
Customer engagement is a hot topic in retail circles these days, and for good reason — supermarkets are looking for new ways to attract and retain shoppers who have been shifting their spending to a multitude of channels.
To help provide some inspiration, Progressive Grocer spoke with several thought leaders who are in the trenches of customer engagement both in-store and online. Their work ranges from industrial design to artificial intelligence, as well as the emerging medium of retail media networks. Read on to discover ways that you can provide stronger customer engagement.
[Read more: "How Retail Media Is Becoming a Circular Movement"]
1. Rethink your design, in-store and online
Syracuse, N.Y.-based ChaseDesign has been behind some innovative redesigns in the aisles of various supermarket and supercenter chains, and now its work is broadening into the world of e-commerce. The company uses its background in industrial design to rethink the way aisles are arranged, and to explore how categories could be better laid out to more effectively serve shoppers and boost basket size. Among its more recent work is a coffee aisle reinvention at Giant Eagle (led by a collaboration with Smuckers) and a redo of Walmart’s front end/self-checkout, facilitated by Coca-Cola.
- Bring Health and Wellness Home
Healthie, a New York-based telehealth and client engagement platform, is being leveraged by several grocers, including Big Y, Weis Markets and Hy-Vee, to help deliver more personalized, digital health-related services. Examples include personalized counseling sessions, interactive group workshops and cooking classes. Healthie’s platform also features an instant messaging function that enables shoppers to send messages to registered dietitians who work for the retailer.
Beth Stark, RDN, LDN, who works with Healthie’s Retail Nutrition Partnerships, notes that the messaging function drives loyalty because customers end up creating meaningful relationships with a member of the retailer’s dietitian team who can guide them on a path to better health.
Some of Healthie’s retailer clients are tying in their loyalty programs with the service to help address their shoppers’ unique health needs and concerns, says Stark. “This approach also allows retailers to reward participants for their involvement with exclusive promotional offers on specific products or savings on their orders. It’s a win-win for the shopper and the retailer.”