Fareway Stores eyes more agile sourcing via RangeMe

Midwestern grocer Fareway Stores aims to optimize sourcing and enliven its product mix through a new partnership with RangeMe.

Under the collaboration, announced Thursday, Fareway will use RangeMe’s online product discovery platform to streamline sourcing, communicate with suppliers and find new products that align with its customers’ needs and spur their interest. The solution provides the Boone, Iowa-based supermarket chain with access to more than 200,000 suppliers.

Overall, Fareway operates 123 stores in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Missouri. 

"RangeMe opens up so many new possibilities to tailor products to help [customers] meet their goals," Clint Jenkins of Fareway said. (Photo courtesy of RangeMe)

“With the new year fast approaching, we are committed to creating a personalized shopping experience for customers, with the added focus on how we can better help meet their needs,” Clint Jenkins, vice president of wholesale purchasing at Fareway Stores, said in a statement. “So many of our customers are on a wellness journey, and partnering with RangeMe opens up so many new possibilities to tailor products to help them meet their goals.”

Designed for retail buyers and suppliers, RangeMe’s platform uses a dashboard to put thousands of products at buyers’ fingertips, making it easier to find and compare items. Automatic alerts are sent to buyers when new products meet their selection criteria. As a result, retail buyers can more efficiently source innovative new products and manage the inbound product submission process, according to San Francisco-based RangeMe, a subsidiary of ECRM.

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For suppliers, RangeMe provides added control over product marketing plus greater access to retail buyers. Suppliers can upload full details of their products to the platform for buyers to review. In addition, suppliers know when their products are being viewed and can receive feedback from buyers, while buyers can instantly contact suppliers of interest or track a product to be alerted of updates. 

With buyers and suppliers better able to concentrate on finding relevant and trending products, customers benefit from a wider selection in store aisles and online, according to RangeMe. The company noted that retailer-supplier communication and agility is proving especially critical amid the COVID-19 crisis, which has presented challenges in sourcing and shifting shopper behavior, with the latter including a sharper focus on health and wellness.

“2020 has been a year of learning and perseverance. We are excited to have a partner in Fareway that is eager to take these learnings into the new year, with a mission to provide a healthy product assortment to fit their consumers’ lifestyles,” commented RangeMe CEO Nicky Jackson. “Over the past seven months, the CPG and retail landscape has evolved dramatically,” she added. “Fareway is the epitome of this evolution not just from an innovation perspective, but also their openness to change and grow with rapidly shifting consumer demand.”

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