Grocery Outlet Taps RangeMe for Product Discovery

Discount retailer Grocery Outlet has partnered with online platform RangeMe for new product discovery to meet the growing demands of its customer base.

Part of the Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing Co. (ECRM) family, RangeMe is designed to connect suppliers with retail buyers by providing exclusive retail buying trends before the products come to market. The company in October also launched a new platform, Industry Insights, which it said helps fill in the data gap as most product trend insight is based on point-of-sale data from consumers, while RangeMe provides information into what retailers are looking for months before product innovations appear on shelves.

"We are committed to bringing our customers premium products at tremendous value," Steve Wilson, SVP of purchasing for Emeryville, Calif.-based Grocery Outlet, said in a statement. "And part of that commitment relies on having access to an abundance of suppliers who have high-quality, singular products at the ready. Expanding our options and increasing efficiency with RangeMe means we can truly excel for our customers."

Grocery Outlet calls itself the fastest-growing extreme-value grocer in the U.S., with more than 300 locations in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Its stores are run by independent owner-operators with a mission to connect with shoppers seeking deep discounts on unique, name-brand products.

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By partnering with RangeMe, based in San Francisco, the retailer has access to more than 150,000 suppliers and more than 600,000 products via an efficient, streamlined platform.

"Welcoming Grocery Outlet to the RangeMe platform opens up a whole new opportunity for our suppliers to connect with a retailer that takes an outside-the-box approach to grocery retail," Nicky Jackson, founder and CEO of RangeMe, said in a statement. "Products that traditionally get underutilized because of packaging changes, overruns in production or closeouts are now given new life by a retailer that is continually updating its product selection to bring its customers fresh and innovative products."

Signature to Grocery Outlet stores is the retailer’s “NOSH” labeling, which identifies items that fall under the natural, organic, specialty and healthy attributes. As consumer demand for healthy products continues to rise, RangeMe suppliers are well-positioned to fulfill those needs, the company said.

"By partnering with RangeMe, we can continue to grow and strengthen our supplier relationships, and already we've discovered products that we feel will meet our consumers' demands and expectations," Wilson said. "And through this partnership we are furthering how we differentiate from other retailers and securing our firm position within the grocery industry."