Schnucks enhances rewards app

Schnuck Markets has expanded the functionality of its Schnucks Rewards loyalty app with the addition of shopping lists and a wellness guide.

The St. Louis-based grocer said Friday that the in-app shopping list automatically organizes the order of customers’ lists according to the layout of their designated Schnucks store. Shoppers can add items to their list by typing in the product name, scanning a barcode or clicking on an item in the Schnucks digital ad.

Once a product is on a shopping list, the Schnucks Rewards app clips any available digital coupons — called “Schnupons” — for instant savings. Schnucks noted that the app updates the list in real time, enabling customers who share the same rewards account to leave a note for a family member or to cross off items that already purchased. In addition, the app makes it easier to view each item’s price, the retailer said.

With the new wellness guide, customers can view nutritional information and labels, including attributes such as “heart smart,” gluten-free, high protein and organic. The Schnucks Rewards app also now indicates products approved for the USDA’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) health and nutrition program.

“We heard our customers saying that they’re time-starved and also hungry for more health and wellness information,” Vice President of Marketing Ted Schnuck said in a statement. “These new Schnucks Rewards features will make customers’ experiences in our stores more convenient and take the guesswork out of nutritional planning by placing wellness information right at their fingertips.”

Related:Schnuck Markets goes bigger in digital

Schnucks launched the Schnucks Rewards program and app last August. Members earn 10 rewards points for each dollar spent on qualifying purchases. After collecting 1,000 points, or the equivalent of $100 in purchases, shoppers earn $2 off a future purchase. Dollars can be redeemed as they are earned or accumulated to spend in bulk, up to $500. The chain operates 119 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Digital shopping lists are a key feature for supermarkets not just in driving online purchases but also in making it easier for customers to put more items in their virtual carts, according to Gartner L2’s Grocery U.S. 2019 Digital IQ Index report, released this week. Of the 62 online grocery retail brands examined, 71% offer online shopping lists, 58% enable products to be added to the list from search results and 40% allow products to be added to the list from recipe pages.

“Grocery retailers operate on thin margins and cannot afford to lose digitally savvy customers open to buying their groceries online. To help transition shoppers onto these new platforms, grocers should digitize steps shoppers already take, such as list building,” Gartner L2 said in the report. “This helps increase the value proposition of their sites and apps as shoppers walk into the store or check out online. Other basic in-store functionalities to streamline the purchase process include live savings updates either in the cart or in the account.”

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