Three online marketing tips from grocery retailers doing digital

Recently ClickZ Intelligence published its Grocery Retail Digital Report, detailing how the key players within this space are innovating within online and multichannel marketing.

So what are some of the key takeaways from this report? Read below for more.

Use social media to demonstrate commitment and engage large followers

One example cited in the report is Whole Foods Market as a brand that not only respond to their customers through social, but also use it as a platform to engage their customers.

The brand’s commitment to social media was brought to the fore when, in March 2016, it decided to remove its pre-peeled oranges wrapped in plastic from its stores, after just one tweet from a shopper named Nathalie Gordon, who criticised the wastage of plastic by the company.

@awlilnatty Definitely our mistake. These have been pulled. We hear you, and we will leave them in their natural packaging: the peel.

— Whole Foods Market (@WholeFoods) March 3, 2016

In addition to customer service, Whole Foods uses video on social that follows best practice: it’s visually appealing, short and works well even without audio.

Use mobile as a vehicle for couponing

A retailer using digital to deliver mobile coupons is Germany’s Real supermarket.

Customers can choose their own coupons via the company’s website or app, which they can then redeem in-store. And since 2014, customers no longer need a physical card to collect and redeem points.

This caters for both older customers (who are more used to paper coupons) and the younger generation.

Curate content to save time and money

Walmart is a giant in grocery that recognises the importance of content. According to Donata Maggipinto, former creative director of content at Walmart.com:

“Content has ascended the marketing throne. Customers love content, they trust editorial content. We want content to be where our customer has a question, problem or needs an idea.”

But this doesn’t mean they necessarily produce everything themselves. Curation is a valuable technique that all players big and small can adopt.

An example quoted in Ad Age was an ad touting its pledge to hire any honorably discharged veteran starting Memorial Day. Instead of spending huge sums on imagery, they curated it from publicly available Department of Defense footage.

This combined with the stories of veterans who now work for the retailer provide a cost-effective way of content marketing.

For more online marketing tips for grocery retail, check out ClickZ Intelligence’s Grocery Retail Digital Sector Report.