Schnucks Partners with GetUpside on Cashback Digital Experience

Schnuck Markets, Inc., which is launching GetUpside at all its stores in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, will also be the first grocer to use the company’s Check-In feature, says the St. Louis-based grocer.

Shoppers can use the free GetUpside mobile app to access personalized cashback promotions—up to 20% at Schnucks locations. Meanwhile, GetUpside’s new Check-In feature seeks to simplify earning cashback at these stores. Instead of snapping and submitting a picture of their receipt, shoppers simply click “Check In” and GetUpside verifies each transaction automatically. 

“Check In is different because it does not require customers to take a picture of their receipt and send it to GetUpside. Instead, they just click a button,” Tyler Renaghan, VP of grocery for GetUpside, told WGB. “The process is designed to be as simple as possible for GetUpside users,” adds Renaghan, who breaks it down in four easy steps:

1. Open up the free GetUpside app

2. Customer claims offer at local Schnucks

3. Clicks “Check In” when they arrive in-store

4. Pay as usual with a credit or debit card

“That’s it,” he says. “The cash back appears right in [the customer’s] GetUpside account within two to four days, and they can cash out anytime via bank transfer, PayPal or e-gift card.”‍

Why does it take a few days to receive cash back using GetUpside?

“Because GetUpside is doing all the work on the backend to verify the transaction and to ensure it’s incremental and profitable for the retailer—in this case, Schnucks,” explains Renaghan.

“Schnucks is proud to be the first grocer to launch GetUpside’s Check In to ensure our customers get the best value from their in-store experience without changing anything about how they shop,” said Bob Hardester, Schnucks chief information and supply chain officer. “GetUpside helps us focus on our customers’ needs while allowing them to get cash back on their everyday purchases.” 

When a customer uses Check In for the first time, the app prompts shoppers to provide the first six and last four digits of their credit or debit card.

“This is a completely anonymized number (not the full card number) so there are no privacy concerns,” says Renaghan. “GetUpside only uses that number to go into Schnucks transaction logs and verify that No. 1, the transaction we see in the app actually happened on Schnucks’ books, and No. 2, it’s incremental to the business—meaning that when we look at the customer’s last 12 months of spending at Schnucks, and compare it with cards that behave similarly, the customer is actually behaving differently than they were before using a GetUpside promotion.

“If each customer that receives a promotion is not coming more often or not spending more than usual, the retailer doesn’t pay for that promotion. Period,” says Renaghan.

Personalization

Each promotion through GetUpside is personalized for each shopper, says the company.

“While retailers’ current loyalty investments help retain existing customers, GetUpside is an additional layer that helps retailers find new customers and influence their buying habits,” says Renaghan. “That way more customers choose them and buy more while in-store.”

From Renaghan’s perspective, many grocers treat loyalty customers based on their spend rather than their preferences. “In reality, we know that each of our needs are very unique. That’s why GetUpside personalizes every single shopper’s experience based on our machine learning algorithms and more than 24 pricing factors—based on five years of data spanning [more than] 200 million offers—just like an online retailer would,” he says.

“Our mobile app finds customers where they are—running errands and in the context of their daily lives—and our backend tech serves them with the minimum possible, margin-bound offer that motivates each of them to change their buying behavior,” Renaghan continues. “That way, retailers can provide the most compelling customer promotions possible, while maximizing their net profit. It’s a win-win.”

In the near future, GetUpside’s machine-learning platform will identify the right types of experiences and incentives at the precise time every individual customer needs them, through  retailer-owned communication channels like their app, website, loyalty program and email, says the company.

“In practice, that looks like knowing in real time that Jamie needs bananas and directing him to the produce that will expire if not purchased today, or knowing that Taylor is a regular customer and surprising her with express checkout at the checkout line that’s currently empty,” says Renaghan. “That would considerably maximize loyalty and retention of a customer; and would be a true differentiator for retailers.”

In addition to Schnucks, grocers currently on the GetUpside platform include Cardenas Market, Carlie C’s IGA, Cub Foods, Gelson’s Markets, Gold Coast Market, Grant’s Supermarket, Good Food Markets, Lunds & Byerlys, McKims, Murphy’s Market, Piggly Wiggly, Shoppers, Streets Market, Sunset Foods, Vicente Foods and Woodman’s.

Schnuck Markets, Inc. is a third- and fourth- generation, family-owned grocery retailer that operates 111 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. It employs 13,000 teammates.