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SUPERVALU TESTS SYSTEM IN PITTSBURGH

PITTSBURGH -- Supervalu, Minneapolis, has expanded testing of electronic marketing to its division here.The test involves a card-based program that uses shopper-interactive computer terminals to issue electronic discounts, print coupons and recipes, display promotional messages and tally bonus points at the checkstand.Supervalu has been testing the electronic frequent shopper program in other company

PITTSBURGH -- Supervalu, Minneapolis, has expanded testing of electronic marketing to its division here.

The test involves a card-based program that uses shopper-interactive computer terminals to issue electronic discounts, print coupons and recipes, display promotional messages and tally bonus points at the checkstand.

Supervalu has been testing the electronic frequent shopper program in other company divisions for about three years. The recent installation in Wellsburg, W.Va., a community of about 3,000, is the Pittsburgh division's test site, according to a source at Supervalu's Minneapolis office.

The store, which installed the devices in all five checklanes in June, documented healthy shopper participation, with 40% to 50% of total store sales derived from customers enrolled in the program. To date, about 25% of the store's customers are participating.

Tom Loney, owner of the Shop n' Save store here, said daily shopper activity is communicated via satellite to a third party, which maintains a data base of customer demographics and generates weekly reports for the store.

The electronic terminals are marketed under the Vision Value Network name by Advanced Promotion Technologies, Pompano Beach, Fla.

"[The company] tells me weekly how many points we've given out in any given week, how many customers have used the card, what percentage of customers use the card and what percentage don't," explained Loney.

Shoppers are rewarded at the point of sale with instant discounts and promotional points that can be accumulated and redeemed for gifts.

Loney said the system allows for some degree of targeted marketing today, with more sophisticated opportunities possible later.

For example, when shoppers swipe their cards through the devices at the checkstand, the computer recognizes the individuals and compiles their transaction data with the demographic information they provided upon enrolling in the program.

Based on real-time access to that information, the terminal may then print out a baby food coupon for the parents of an infant or a coupon for pet food for the shopper who indicated he had a pet.

"But being that the [program] is so young," Loney said, "we really haven't taken time to analyze the data yet."

Should the program continue, much valuable information could be compiled and used in merchandising and product buying, he said.

"I'm sure we could request they tell us what our customers in a certain age group are buying or how many customers do we have in this age group," he said.

"We could start pinpointing things like that with our special advertising, [pinpoint] who we want to get our message.

"It will be very important if we take a look at those customers and see how we can better serve them -- and take a look at the customers we're not serving so well and see how we can serve them better."

TAGS: Supervalu