Cub Foods makes personalization play

Cub Foods aims to foster more personalized online shopping experiences with the help of the CitrusAd e-commerce advertising platform.

Plans call for Stillwater, Minn.-based Cub to integrate with CitrusAd’s technology to tailor retail media to shopper preferences and purchase history, CitrusAd said Monday. In turn, Cub’s suppliers stand to benefit as the grocer’s first-party, real-time data from its website and loyalty program will work with CitrusAd’s algorithms to identify shopper preferences and serve relevant sponsored product ads, optimizing marketing campaigns and reducing ad waste, according to CitrusAd. 

“Our work with CitrusAd provides our supplier community with a fully transparent, self-serve platform for e-commerce marketing automation and personalization with clear ROI analytics,” Chad Bersie, director of e-commerce for Cub Foods, said in a statement. “Marketers have always looked for closed-loop analytics. We are thrilled to provide CitrusAd’s direct measurement tool that clearly demonstrates clicks from each ad campaign to cart sales.” 

CitrusAd’s algorithms combine with real-time data from Cub's website and loyalty program to serve relevant sponsored product ads to customers.

Part of grocery distributor United Natural Foods Inc., Cub Foods has a retail network of 80 supermarkets, primarily in the Twin Cities market, with one Illinois store. The retailer also has 28 Cub Wine & Spirits and Cub Liquor locations in Minnesota.

Related:Cub Foods balances online, in-store shopping experiences

St. Petersburg, Fla.-based CitrusAd noted that Cub supplier partners can tap its scalable, self-serve advertising platform for campaigns such as display banners, sponsored product ads and brand pages to reach shoppers at the digital point of purchase when they are making relevant category selections. Online retail media can grow both on-site and in-store sales, and the e-commerce sales surge over the past year has more brands seeking convenient ways to launch and measure targeted campaigns.

“Strong data leveraged in a powerful and seamless manner can always improve results. By Cub tying their first-party data to our technology, brands can connect with shoppers without compromising consumer privacy or security in real time,” according to Brian DeCoveny, senior vice president of retail media Partnerships for CitrusAd. “So much can be accomplished with this level of personalization, especially as marketers move away from third-party cookies.”