Kroger Growth Attributed to Customer Analytics

JULIE GALLAGHER

COLORADO SPRINGS — The Kroger Co.'s ability to tailor customer-specific store selections and personalized promotional offers was identified here yesterday as the catalyst of six consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth averaging above 5%, by Ken Fenyo, vice president of corporate loyalty for Kroger. He presented the retailer's approach to customer analytics during Grocery Manufacturers Association/Food Products Association's Merchandising, Sales and Marketing Conference. "We do a loyal customer mailing each quarter that gets distributed to about 7 million customers," he said. "It involves about 100 million coupons that are targeted to the individual shopper and 99.9% of the coupon [combinations] are unique." Kroger is also using information gleaned from its database that captures 95% of shoppers purchase information, to customize its store sets. "We're tailoring our assortment to that store's shoppers and removing what's not relevant," Fenyo said. "Whether an individual store's demographic is comprised of upscale, value shoppers or Hispanics, we're using data to provide insights."

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