In the "exciting and ever-evolving world of shopper communication," keeping up with the latest trends and strategies is essential. IGA's Director of Digital and eCommerce Programs Sarah Rivers recently joined top IGA Retailers Chad Cropper and Bob Rybick and AppCard's Eran Harrel to learn about building programs to engage customers, boost loyalty, and drive sales.
The average American shopper belongs to 16 different loyalty programs, but most only use half of them. Additionally, 71% of shoppers expect personalization in retail communications and 76% are frustrated without it, according to McKinsey. For retailers, loyalty programs can be a valuable way to increase revenue, as these programs can generate 12-18% in incremental revenue growth, per Accenture.
During the webinar, Rivers discussed how shopper offers and content can grow sales, with insights provided by Chad Cropper from Crop's Fresh Marketplace, Bob Rybick of Geissler's Supermarkets and the national Retailer Advisor Board, and Eran Harel, SVP for strategic partnerships and corporate development at AppCard.
This panel of industry leaders provided actionable strategies that retailers can implement in their own stores to increase basket size, including improving the in-store environment, creating new paths for shopper engagement, and elevating communication programs.
Watch the webinar below to learn more or keep reading for the key takeaways.
Both Rybick and Cropper emphasized the importance of social media, especially in a time when shoppers often feel "bombarded" by communications from retailers.
For Rybick, social media is an "opportunity for you to get into people's feeds and have them search out your content when they want to see it." Social media provides a way to communicate with shoppers multiple times a day, "as part of their daily lives," added Rivers.
Additionally, social media can have a "multiplying effect," as Cropper indicated. While email communications can be "preaching to the choir" of people who are already interested in a retailer's content, social media allows retailers to expand beyond their traditional demographics. One strategy that Crop's has implemented is posting on community social media accounts, which allows the store to reach past their own follower network.
Yet these strategies must be considered in their full context, noted Harel, as it depends on what the store is trying to achieve and who the store is trying to reach.
While engagement is an essential component of any communication or loyalty strategy, it can be difficult to measure. At Crop's, key metrics include looking at the spending of loyalty program members versus non-members and considering the different tier-levels of customers.
For Geissler's, engagement looks like charting the number of member trips per week and the average basket size of members. Moreover, by looking at the tier level of customers, success can be measured by seeing customers migrate up into a higher-spending category.
At AppCard, engagement metrics begin by enrolling as many shoppers as possible. Harel mentioned several of the measures that AppCard uses to help retailers, including creating a control group to see the true lift created by a promotion.
Essential in all these ways to measure engagement is the use of a data-driven platform. As Harel stated, once the data for engagement is present, it can be used to create more tailored communication that targets shoppers through different channels.
As loyalty programs and shopper needs have changed, retailers have altered their tactics and strategies to keep up.
While at first some shoppers might resist changes such as the implementation of a loyalty program or an online circular ad, eventually the simplicity of the program "starts to become second nature," according to Rybick. Shoppers become more willing to engage with the programs, and "the data really seems to support that."
Cropper emphasized the importance of continually changing as the competition keeps evolving.
At Crop's, there is a dedicated person responsible for managing technology, which includes the loyalty program, POS system, and eCommerce platform. "As an independent, I think our technology staff keeps getting more and more complicated as the years go by," explained Cropper.
Both Crop's and Geissler's rely on their dedicated success manager at AppCard. These managers "help keep us on track" and add personalization, added Cropper.
At AppCard, "we want to make sure that the shopper is engaged," said Harel. This mission involves understanding each individual grocer in terms of their environment, their goals, and their competition.
"We are focused on the independent [because] the independent does not necessarily have the time or the personnel in order to do it," added Harel. By automating processes like IGA's National Digital Ad, AppCard "makes sure that the store has some more time."
At Geissler's the loyalty program was initially part of the marketing budget, as the store transitioned away from printed circulars. Today, loyalty is a "critical element of our tech stack," treated as a technology infrastructure expense.
"As you build out your program, it is a little bit of trial and error, but you can kind of start to determine how you're going to pay for that through your margin calculations," said Rybick. "It's not super scary — you have control over it — and as long as you start slow, you'll get a good track record to base the future off of."
At Crop's, the loyalty program is in a continued state of improvement. After moving away from print ads, Cropper now wants to work more with shopper segmentation and adding personal incentives to email communication and other direct messaging. While still in a growth stage, Cropper stated that "it's pretty cool" to "hear people saving" as they complete transactions and clip coupons at the NTR.
People are clipping more coupons during this time. While most of this happens at the register, both Cropper and Rybick are focused on driving people into the store by showing their value before shoppers begin their trips.
Digital coupons can help us "position ourselves in a value perspective" for our customers, noted Rybick, which can start before customers start shopping, while they're in the aisles, and as they reach the checkout.
Shoppers search for value, but they also want to be valued, said Harel. In this, it is key that communication is "relevant to the shopper."
One way to accomplish this is at the front of the store. "Cashiers are the forefront of the program and the ones that engage with the shoppers the most. We all need their buying-in to the program," added Harel.
Understanding shopper behavior is also critical. This knowledge can ensure that the timing of promotions will drive shoppers into the store.
For Crop's Fresh Marketplace, promotions to engage shoppers include members-only sales and fun programs like the rotisserie chicken club. Cropper believes that customers will respond positively to loyalty efforts, as the competition has similar programs.
Additionally, loyalty platforms can become tools to boost other promotions, such as creating a grill giveaway or precisely targeting the shoppers who are most likely to be swayed by a lobster campaign.
It can be difficult to measure the returns generated by loyalty programs and shopper communications. For Rybick, "we look at this as a cost of doing business."
While it "still remains to be seen what exactly the measurement is," loyalty programs ensure that his stores "can compete with my largest competitors [and] have all the same tools — that's invaluable."
Other ways to look at ROI include considering year-over-year sales data, customer retention, and migration of shoppers between spending tiers.
Harel added that while it is unlikely that a program can influence a household to eat more, retailers can try to stop shoppers from splitting their baskets. Plus, AppCard is "always happy to show additional ROI by adding more content and more data and more coupons." Per Harel, "our responsibility [is] to show this ROI [and] continuously add more content and more value on a constant basis."
"Everything has to be the same message," stated Cropper. This unification means that in-store signage, emails, and texts all need to tie together.
"We will get tired of the message far before our customers will," added Rybick.
Perhaps most importantly, "don't be shy to reach out to IGA," said Harel. "You are surrounded by people that can help, and help you think outside the box, and bring new thoughts and ideas into the building."
Contact IGA's Sarah Rivers at srivers@igainc.com.