Hy-Vee Signs On With Citrus for E-Commerce-Boosting Platform

Hy-Vee will be the first American retailer to partner with the Citrus Media platform in a move the retailer said could open doors for its suppliers and boost revenue generated from e-commerce.

Citrus aims to help retailers create new revenue streams through e-commerce by allowing suppliers to compete in a live auction for prime real estate on a retailer’s e-commerce pages.

Additionally, Citrus offers a self-service sponsored product and display platform in which suppliers can promote their products in whichever way fits their budget and measure the success of the promoted products in real time.

With the move, Hy-Vee joins a number of retailers to pursue monetizing space on their e-commerce pages, including Albertsons, Walmart and Kroger.

Hy-Vee Group VP of E-Commerce Kurt Hasson said the initiative is in line with the retailer’s goal to provide a certain caliber of customer service while helping its suppliers grow e-commerce sales. Citrus “checks all the boxes” for the retailer, Hasson said, because it is “scalable, secure, easy to integrate and delivers personalized experiences for our customers while providing a highly targeted, performance-based digital advertising tool for suppliers that are both large and small.”

Photograph courtesy of Citrus

Citrus, which has U.S. headquarters in New York, launched in December 2017 and currently works with international retailers, including Ocado in the United Kingdom and Coles in its native Australia.

According to company officials, consumer packaged goods companies participating on the platform are seeing average returns on investment of 2,000% and conversion rates above 60% in grocery.

“We are excited to have a grocery industry leader such as Hy-Vee as our first retailer launching in the U.S., which is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world,” said Citrus CEO Brad Moran. “We look forward to our technology contributing to their success and growth by helping to monetize its online presence and further improve the customer experience they provide."

West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee operates more than 265 grocery stores across eight Midwestern states.