Ahold USA Brands Launch Digital Growth Strategies

In a push to connect with shoppers both in-store and online, Ahold USA brands Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Giant/Martin’s and Peapod are rolling out digital innovations to help personalize the shopping experience.

The brands’ digital growth strategies include investments in digital tools such as coupons, new websites, mobile app improvements and a new recipe center.

"Through the introduction of new technology, Ahold USA brands are able to offer more savings, faster shopping, and a more transparent connection with their customers," says Matt Simon, VP, loyalty and digital marketing at Ahold USA.

Since the implementation of these strategies, Ahold USA brands have seen record-setting engagement, activation and redemption, Simon adds. All four brands have already achieved the following milestones:

‘Load to Card’ Coupons

Ahold USA brands have made it easier for their shoppers to find and utilize coupons with the "Load to Card" program, which directly loads digital coupons to loyalty cards. The program, including bonus week events, so far has totaled more than 174 million digital coupon activations in 2017 at Ahold USA brands, which is a 179 percent increase vs YAG.

Exclusive digital savings are also delivered via email with a total of over 29 million personalized "Load to Card" coupons already utilized this year. In addition to the personalized offers, new digital bonus week events stack an additional $100 dollars in digital coupons to each user's account.

Plus, the brands have partnered with Flipp Corp. to improve the digital circular experience, letting customers quickly clip relevant items, browse bonus buys, add items to their shopping lists and even load coupons directly onto their loyalty cards.

"We have reached a tipping point where American shoppers are engaging in their pre-shop ritual digitally," says Wehuns Tan, CEO of Flipp. "Ahold USA brands are leaders in showcasing their brand stories through compelling visual merchandising with a digital-first approach.”

Meal Planning Made Easy

The brands’ new recipe center offers more than 3,700 recipes featured in Savory Magazine, the monthly magazine published exclusively for Ahold USA brands. All Savory recipes displayed on the brands' webpages include the option to transfer ingredients directly into the customer's Peapod digital shopping cart, creating a seamless path for the customers to have exactly what they need delivered directly to their door.

"Today, the consumer does not just shop one way. She's finding meal inspiration online and either filling her grocery cart in the store or virtually," says Carrie Bienkowski, CMO of Peapod, a brand of Ahold USA which is seeing year over year double digit growth as demand for online grocery intensifies.  

Transparency Matters

This year, Ahold USA Brands also launched a new YouTube video campaign titled "Fresh Stories." The series was created in an effort to provide meaningful, transparent information to customers about the food they purchase and contains a library of more than 30 engaging and emotional videos about fresh product suppliers that have been viewed over 15 million times this year alone.  As an example, "True North Salmon: A Partnership for Sustainable Seafood" has been viewed over 200,000 times.

With a total of more than 1 million followers for AUSA brands across social media, each brand has also expanded its social media presence by recently launching on Instagram. The highly visual platform will enable Ahold USA brands to develop unique strategies to engage with consumers in fun and unique ways.