Chicory Enhances Digital Engagement With At-Home Chefs

Chicory, the New York-based digital shopper marketing platform, formed a new shoppable recipe partnership with kitchen and home brand Food52 to better engage with grocery shoppers and home cooks online.

With online grocery sales expected to skyrocket by about 40% this year, according to New York-based Coresight Research, retailers are seeking new ways to streamline the consumer e-commerce journey, which can include searching through thousands of products to create meals.

Chicory's partnership will provide Food52’s community of 24 million followers with a commerce-enabled recipe checkout experience. Using Chicory’s shoppable recipe technology, Food52 readers can purchase all ingredients needed for any recipe on Food52’s site. Once shoppers click on the “Get Ingredients” button under a recipe, they will be prompted to enter their ZIP code and select their preferred grocery retailer, including Amazon, Instacart and Walmart. Shoppers will then be redirected to that retailer’s site, with all ingredients needed for their selected recipe already in their digital basket for easier checkout.

Chicory’s latest grocery consumer research study, conducted in early October, found that there are 18% more online grocery users now compared with pre-COVID times. The survey of 615 American shoppers revealed that Walmart (55%) and Amazon (40%) are front runners in the online grocery wars.

Connecting recipes to shopping lists is nothing new as consumers spend more time in the kitchen preparing meals. For example, in June, SPINS, a Chicago-based wellness-focused market analytics, product intelligence data and technology solutions provider, and Redwood City, California-based food technology company Innit joined forces on a product attribute- and nutrition-driven e-commerce experience connecting shopping experience to cooking and home kitchens.

Additionally, Food52 will integrate Chicory’s shoppable media solutions into its advertising portfolio. The offerings will allow Food52 to offer in-recipe ad units that permit brands to “own” ingredients via in-line units, “pairings” ads that feature products within related content, and stand-alone shoppable links that add items to carts with a single click. These shoppable media solutions are designed to help Food52’s brand clients drive higher levels of consumer engagement, move consumers down the funnel and measure purchase intent.

“We're excited to deepen our promise of content, commerce and community with this new partnership,” said Matt Greeberg, SVP of brand partnerships at New York-based Food52. “Chicory technology will allow our platform to deliver shopper marketing solutions to influence purchasing behavior for our brand partners.”

“We’re so pleased that this new partnership cements the commitment of both parties to build commerce-enabled touchpoints in the right contexts,” added Yuni Sameshima, Chicory’s CEO and co-founder. “We’re looking forward to learning insights on how Food52’s new capabilities appeal to and enable brand clients to better engage with grocery shoppers and home cooks.”