EXCLUSIVE: How Giant Food Protects Shoppers From Rising Grocery Costs
Even as overall grocery inflation remains stable, pockets of price upticks are still happening in some food-at-home categories and consumer sentiment still leans cautious. Recognizing the market that has yet to return to the prior definitions of normal, Giant Food has continuously worked to minimize price impact on shoppers across its footprint in the greater District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) region.
“The lens at the center of it is the idea that ensuring groceries are affordable is probably one of the most pressing issues for any grocery retailer. I know for a fact that it is here at Giant. We obsess over looking at the data and how folks are shopping and what they are thinking,” said Ryan Draude, director, omnichannel loyalty, CRM and shopper marketing, during a recent interview with Progressive Grocer.
Heeding sentiment and some shifting behaviors in light of ongoing elevated inflation, Giant Food has deployed a variety of tactics to help its customers get the groceries they want and need while also keeping its business healthy.
One of those tactics was Giant’s Compare and Save initiative launched about a year ago. Through this initiative, the retailer spotlighted more than 15,000 private label items and offered deals like extra loyalty points for store brand purchases.
“That was a big investment, and a quarter billion points have been earned with that program,” Draude reported, noting that those points equate to more than $3 million in value, with savings ranging from fuel discount to offers for free milk and rotisserie chickens. “We’re proud of the fact that we are giving people more ways to be rewarded.” More than 80% of Giant sales come from a carded loyalty member.
Building on that successful value-centric tactic, Giant Food introduced a Fresh Low Price initiative in January. “When you look at things like meat, product, dairy – those high velocity products within the fresh category – this goes away from the idea of ‘I don’t know if the price is going to be high or low this week,’” he explained. “This is the idea that shoppers can count on a specific price that is going to be held constant. That dependability of coming to Giant for the things that they are purchasing most is a way to ensure that we are trying to add as much value as possible.”
The next level of delivering value to price-conscious shoppers is ramping up efforts to educate them about the many ways they can control their grocery spend. “What we are trying to promote is the idea that the shoppers can use the tools in front of them, including the weekly ad, digital coupons, loyalty program points and how you earn and burn them,” he said. “The combination of those tools can lead to savings that often run 20% to 30% more than what the regular ring of their grocery basket would be.”
The retailer is leveraging its own tools in the marketing function to get the word out, from social media posts to collaborations with local influencers. “Folks are hearing it from their neighbors or from people that are in their own age group and demographics versus just the marketing messages that you might hear directly from a retailer itself,” Draude pointed out.
As shoppers have been dealing with elevated prices for a few years know, they are receptive to messaging about how to identify and pool savings tools that increasingly include digital coupons, personalized offers and extra reward point levels. “There's a resourcefulness that I think you're starting to see again now – this mindfulness that goes around trying to spend in a really smart capacity. That’s what we want to encourage,” he declared.
Based in Landover, Md., Giant Food operates 164 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia, with approximately 20,000 associates. Included within the 164 stores are 154 full-service pharmacies, more than 80 full-service PNC Banks and 28 Starbucks locations. Parent company Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century.
