MARSH PLANNING AD PUSH FOR ELECTRONIC DISCOUNTS

DENISE ZIMMERMAN

INDIANAPOLIS -- Marsh Supermarkets here is evaluating how best to allocate direct mail advertising dollars to further empower its new electronic frequent shopper program.

About 80,000 shoppers have enrolled in the frequent shopper program, dubbed Marsh Fresh I-D-E-A (Instant Discounts Electronically Applied), since its introduction four months ago.

Mark Heckman, director of market research, said Marsh is pleased with the acceptance rate and will look to build the shopper base further. "We know we want more than we have today," he said.

Currently, the program is offered in 37 Marsh stores in and around Indianapolis. Eventually, Heckman told SN, the chain hopes to roll out the program chainwide to all 87 stores, although a timeframe for expanding the program has not been established. The program is administered by Consumer Card Marketing, Braintree, Mass.

"For the most part, shoppers are embracing the concept. It's new to our marketplace so we've ended up having to do quite a bit of explanatory advertising just so shoppers are aware of what the card is capable of doing," he explained.

Newspaper advertising, however, is not a viable promotional outlet, he added, because newspaper circulation exceeds the program's availability. Instead, Marsh is promoting the service through in-store materials and an occasional flier. A direct mail campaign is next on the agenda.

"We're just getting to that point, looking at the data [gathered thus far] and trying to make decisions about what we want to do early on with it," Heckman said. "It does take quite a bit of time to assemble the data, to sort it out and then to start making decisions as to how you want to allocate those direct-mail dollars."

For the near term, Marsh will contain the Fresh I-D-E-A program in the Indianapolis market, "which allows you to iron out the wrinkles" before expanding the frequent shopper program to other markets.

In the longer term, Marsh hopes to enhance the card's services. "Our intent is to make the card more powerful as time goes by," Heckman said. Among the initiatives on Marsh's "wish list" would be linking the card to a check cashing service, more targeted shopper discounts and possibly the introduction of co-branded credit cards.

Shoppers issued the Fresh I-D-E-A card receive electronic discounts automatically when checking out their purchases.

An added component of the program is a discount travel plan that, for an enrollment fee of $19.95, entitles shoppers to discounts on motel accommodations, vacation packages, airfare and car rental. The base Fresh I-D-E-A program has no enrollment fee.