BRotD - Entry 0264 Grocery App Usage Increase

Best Reading of the Day

Forbes.com has a great piece out about mobile apps and supermarkets.  That's something I know a little bit about as I led an effort for 3 years in that space.  They predict the apps will see a 50% increase in usage.  That is something else I know a little about having written a few papers on the subject.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

When the fridge is empty, and you are too tired to put on real clothes to go shopping, reaching for the phone to use a grocery app is an easy solution. You are not alone when you do this. According to a study from eMarketer, grocery app usage will grow by 50% this year, and 18 million Americans will order food this way. However, brick-and-mortar grocery stores are not going away and can take advantage of this industry shift.

Here is the whole story:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2018/09/11/grocery-app-usage-will-grow-by-50-what-this-means-for-the-industry/#752a389164dd

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Coupons App With Beacons in Malls

Do you love or hate coupons (there really is no in-between)??

Well now they are much simpler, though you may have to opt-in to notifications as you walk around a mall.  Read on:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/the-coupons-app-brings-beacon-triggered-offers-to-mall-shoppers

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Offer-driven mobile application The Coupons App revealed today that it is leveraging beacon technology to enhance the user experience by delivering location-based alerts inside malls from retailers, brands and restaurants.

The Coupons App, which provides more than 10 million users with deals and coupons from more than 100,000 retailers, has partnered with Mobiquity Networks to deliver offers in more than 475 malls equipped with beacons managed by the marketing firm. As a result, users will receive alerts when they are nearby stores and restaurants where promotions can be redeemed.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Food Lion Doing Great Work with Mobile Beacons

If buzzwords were a measure of a marketing effort this one might win.

Check out the story over on Mobile Commerce Daily:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/food-lion-initiates-in-store-mobile-coupons-through-shazam

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Food Lion is giving shoppers a way to save money by using the Shazam application to listen to a location’s music, in an innovative mobile coupon experience that also leverages beacons.

The grocery store chain is providing its in-store shoppers with a modern couponing experience, streamlining the process as well as making it an interesting experience.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Target Personalization Kicks Up Sales

Target is acting as a digital leader blazing a trail for others to follow and establishing itself for future success.  Their latest is an in-house personalization engine that is having a significant impact on redemption in the Cartwheel app.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/targets-cartwheel-enhances-personalization-and-sees-10pc-more-offers-downloaded

Here is a snippet from the story:

Target recently introduced personalized recommendations to Cartwheel, resulting in a more-than 10-percent increase in the number of offers downloaded per user.

This is just one of the ways that the merchant continues to fine-tune the Cartwheel application, which manages offers and lets users see what their friends are saving on.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Big Data Coupons as you Drive

The era of big data is upon us as techies around the world scramble to figure out the best ways to use all of that data floating out there (with much more data still to come as the Internet of Things grows).

A startup has figured out how to hit you with coupons on the fly, in a relevant way, and has some major retailers interested.  Here is the story:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/techflash/2015/08/startup-hopes-to-push-shopping-offers-to-you-while.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Repeat entrepreneur Sanjay Chopra and Eric Nyberg, professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, have teamed on an ecommerce startup that will use mobile data to create personalized shopping offers.

Cognistx, which is based in Gibsonia, launched in July and expects to debut its first product in early fall. Via language processing and data manipulation, the young mobile marketing firm enables retailers to offer personalized offers to customers, Chopra said. That includes their history with the retailer and to-the-minute information such as their location. Nyberg had consulted with IBM on the Watson project, the supercomputer that won on “Jeopardy!” four years ago.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Very Cool Mobile Coupon Capability

A company I'd never previously heard of named 'Slyce' has some news of what looks to me like a very cool new mobile coupon capability for retailers.  Offered as a service the customer will be able to scan physical coupons with their phone and use them at checkout.

Here is the story:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/slyce-launches-snap-to-coupon-capability-and-digital-coupon-author-platform-for-major-retailers-2015-08-04-7173397

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Slyce Inc. (SLC) announced today the launch of a new enterprise level product for retailers: Snap-to-Coupon. The technology, when integrated into a retailer app, enables consumers to snap a photo of any coupon they see from that retailer - whether via newspaper, catalog, or receipt - and instantly generate a mobile-optimized version which can be stored on the retailer's app. The retailer is then able to leverage push notifications to remind the consumers to use the coupon. These reminders can be automatically triggered based on pending expiration dates of coupons or when a consumer is near a physical store.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

CPGs, Digital Coupons, Mobile Grocery, Digital Ads, eCommerce Delivery, and More

The Blizzard of 2015 is finally nearing an end though snow is still falling here north of Boston.  Looks like a couple feet of snow in my area and a major event for most of New England.

Here are a slew of stories I've found that are worth visiting.

First up is the life of a category leader especially as a consumer packaged goods company:

http://www.canadiangrocer.com/worth-reading/the-secret-lives-of-category-leaders-48724

Next up is new data from Inmar on digital coupons and the add to card method:

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/research-data/market-trends/redemption-digital-load-card-coupons-doubles-study

One supermarket chain has added new functionality to its mobile app and the news is good for their provider GPShopper:

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/departments/technology/lunds-and-byerly%E2%80%99s-add-new-features-mobile-app

Digital advertising gets two stories: first is a line of thought on brand ads vs. performance ads, then an AdAge.com story on who to blame when digital campaigns fail.  That second one has several great links so be sure to dig deeply there.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/242440/beauty-and-the-geek.html?edition=79667

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/blame-a-digital-campaign-wrong/296761/

Finally is news of delivery services such as the alcohol delivery startup 'Drizly' in Boston and the impact the Blizzard of '15 had on them in the NorthEast:

http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2015/01/27/alcohol-grocery-deliveries-spike-as-blizzard-batters-boston/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0174 Social Media Nightly News

Does that title make any sense?

Social Media Nightly News

Didn't think so.  Yet, it does.

ABC is kicking off a Facebook version, supplement, or enhancement (call it whatever you like) to its World News Tonight.  Interesting new approach.

http://adage.com/article/digital/abc-kicks-social-media-version-world-news-tonight/296024/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The 1-minute-long news summaries will appear every weekday, starting today, on the show's Facebook page. In what the company said was a first for a network anchor, "Facecast: The One Thing" will be hosted by David Muir, who took over the evening newscast from Diane Sawyer in September.

Three other stories caught my eye, finally, and are worth noting.  Digital coupons are catching fire in the Supermarket vertical.

First is the Golub Corporation promoting the new Groupon app:
http://supermarketnews.com/marketing/price-chopper-promotes-new-grocery-app

Next is Meijer with their new mPerks rewards campaign:
http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/meijer-readies-digital-coupon-promotion

Finally is SpartanNash with their digital coupons:
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/industry-news-trends/wholesalers-distributers/spartannash-digital-coupons-hit-15-redemption-rate

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Corrected a typo stating the three stories are worth "noting" vs. "nothing".

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0082 Amazon Image Recognition

Showrooming is the act of visiting a brick & mortar store to get the hands on experience with a product, in the showroom, then getting online to buy it for the best price.  This has been driving traditional retailers nuts for a while now.

My personal experience regards books and traditional bookstores such as the Borders that used to be across from 500 Boylston Street in downtown Boston.  First I would just snap a photo of a book that caught my eye, then visit Amazon.com to purchase it.  Later the Amazon.com app introduced barcode scanning, in-app, to better facilitate this practice.

Now Amazon has upped their game by introducing image recognition for the same behavior.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/amazon-takes-showrooming-to-next-level-with-image-recognition

Here is a snippet from that article:

Amazon is tightening its grip on showrooming with a new image recognition application feature that cuts down on the number of steps it takes for a consumer to find and buy a product.

The new image recognition feature is called flow and builds on a previous bar code-based app technology that let consumers scan UPC codes on products to then shop them from Amazon. Amazon’s newest iteration of app-based showrooming comes at the same time that the company is trying to cozy up to retailers with a possible mobile point-of-sale service.Happy reading,

Another little story is worth digging in to regarding aggregated couponing:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/219066/retailmenot-shopping-app-posts-huge-gains-claims.html

Here is a snippet from that article:

Apparently I am not alone in letting RetailMeNot’s geofenced app ping me whenever I pass or enter my mall parking lot. The coupon and offers Web site has only had its app in market a couple of years, with geofencing active for little more than a year. But according to its latest financials, mobile accounted for 13% of net revenues in fiscal 2013, up 213% to $26.6 million. For the fourth quarter alone, it saw mobile account for 15% of revenues, for a 179% gain to $11.7 million. In the fourth quarter, 88 major retailers were partnering with the company -- up from 65 just three months prior.
Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0046 Two Stories For You

I'm posting two stories today, one that has been sitting in my queue for a few days.  Both are excellent.

Mobile is driving digital coupons, or mCoupons:
well-of-course-mobile-is-driving-digital-couponin

Aisle411 is partnering with iBeacon provider Estimote to create best in breed in-store navigation:
aisle411-partners-estimote-indoor-retail-mapping

Very interesting information overall and both are worthy of being the "Best Reading of the Day".

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant