Save A Lot campaign calls on savings-seekers to ‘Shop the Dot’

Discount grocery banner Save A Lot is again leveraging its logo to promote the savings it offers throughout the store.

This week, Save A Lot launched “Shop the Dot,” an in-store, print and digital marketing campaign that spotlights regular price cuts and other deals for customers. The campaign uses the “Lot Dot”—the red dot prominently featured in Save A Lot’s retail banner—as a visual aid to flag discounts and hot offers highlighted in the weekly circular and on in-store signage.

Save A Lot said Tuesday that, each month, shoppers will see the Lot Dot on key products with price drops valid for 30 to 90 days, including both private- and national-brand items. In addition, the Lot Dot will be used to draw attention to weekly sale pricing and items new to the store. A Save A Lot spokesperson told Winsight Grocery Business that shoppers can expect to see three primary "Shop the Dot" headliner products on the front page of the circular each week—one meat, one produce and one grocery item, with most stores featuring the same three products.

Also under the “Shop the Dot” program, Save A Lot said it plans to invest in promoting lower prices via a “robust digital advertising buy” that includes social media and streaming TV.

Customers can find the regular Shop the Dot price breaks in their store’s weekly circular on savealot.com or directly in their email inbox when they enroll in Save A Lot’s email program, the company said.

Save A Lot noted that the red "Lot Dot" acts as a guide to help shoppers find price reductions and other savings. / Image courtesy of Save A Lot

“So many customers today are shopping with a limited budget. We wanted to find a fun, engaging way to help them see how they can stretch each dollar even further,” Mark Kotcher, senior vice president of field sales and marketing at Save A Lot, said in a statement. “The Lot Dot is full of Save A Lot personality. Most importantly, it highlights how we’re working hard to keep great deals coming, especially as high inflation continues to challenge families.”

Save A Lot’s logo play to tout its value proposition began in the summer of 2021 with the launch of the “Like, A Lot A Lot” campaign, a music video-driven, brand marketing initiative highlighting the savings that customers find in its discount grocery stores. The campaign included the creation of a “buzzworthy” song and accompanying music video starring the Save A Lot shopping experience, including role of the Lot Dot.

“It all started when we took a closer look at the little red dot in our logo. Over the last year, our focus has been on our long-term growth and becoming a brand of choice for our customers, including providing them with an enhanced hometown shopping experience,” Tim Schroder, chief sales, marketing and operations officer at Save A Lot, explained at the time. “This new campaign further builds on our current efforts of modernizing our stores and breaking out of the sea of sameness that’s taken over the industry as of late.”

And last June, Save A Lot focused on promoting its private brands in the “A Lot Alike” campaign. In that effort, Save A Lot curated about 1,850 seasonal items across 55 brands that match the quality of national brands but offer a significant savings. The campaign included video advertising spots via streaming TV services, online video, social and owned channels as well as print and in-store promos. 

Also last summer, Schroder reported that Save A Lot was testing a loyalty program called “Red Dot Rewards” in selected markets nationwide. He noted that with a digital rewards program, Save A Lot will be able to customize offers to shoppers and provide more savings.

But the Save A Lot spokesperson said that, after the Red Dot Rewards pilot in St. Louis, the company concluded that the best way to engage shoppers was through regular deals and price drops made available to all customers.

"The 'Shop the Dot' program captures this new approach," the spokesperson told WGB in an email. "We are continuously looking for ways to engage with our shoppers and provide the most value to them, and a customer engagement platform is something we are still evaluating."

Overall, St. Ann, Missouri-based Save A Lot operates 13 distribution centers and serves more than 800 stores in 32 states. Since December 2021, the company has operated under a wholesale business model in which independent grocers own and operate Save A Lot supermarkets via a relicensing program and receive marketing and other support services, including private label.

*Editor's Note: Article updated with more information about "Shop the Dot" and the Red Dot Rewards pilot.