IGA Partners with Digital Foodie and Freshop for e-commerce Program

IGA has launched IGA Groceries Online—or IGA GO as it will be branded to shoppers—an e-commerce solution that meets shoppers’ need for a convenient online ordering platform from their trusted local Hometown Proud IGA store. IGA has named two preferred partners to bring IGA GO to its more than 1,100 IGA licensed retailers across the U.S. The partners, Digital Foodie and Freshop, will begin providing their optional online grocery services to IGA retailers immediately.

“IGA retailers are in a unique position to offer an online grocery solution when you consider online shoppers migrate towards a trusted brick and mortar store, prefer online shopping as a service rather than a premium offering, and expect a full grocery experience with access to fresh departments like IGA’s meat, produce, bakery and deli,” says IGA CEO Mark Batenic. “Now our shoppers will have two ways to experience IGA’s personalized level of Hometown Proud customer service: within the walls of the IGA stores they know and trust, and online whenever and wherever is most convenient for them. With the industry’s top two providers behind us, we look forward to the immediate benefit our retailers and shoppers will see from this new IGA offering.”

Award-winning grocery platform creator Digital Foodie is providing an IGA program option that includes retailer-branded web service, linked to IGA branded native mobile applications for placing orders and shopping planning, as well as in-store picking and fulfillment tools for optimized store pick-up and home delivery. IGA and Digital Foodie also established a marketing partnership for digital experiences that draws upon Digital Foodie’s marketing and consumer adoption best practices, leveraging its successes in more advanced European grocery markets. Digital Foodie will work closely with IGA and its retailers to develop marketing offers and training programs for converged groceries proven to achieve a high level of consumer adoption with profitable results for grocers.

“The retail grocery industry is undergoing a digital transformation that requires grocers to provide converged services including on-demand and in-store solutions to extend and enhance their current bricks and mortar business and to fend off digital inroads by competitors such as Walmart, Amazon and other large grocery chains,“ says Kalle Koutajoki, CEO of Digital Foodie. “We have nearly a decade of experience in deploying online grocery in the most competitive on-demand grocery markets in the world, while simultaneously ‘cracking the code’ to achieving retailer profitability. I am very excited about this partnership, and with our platform and secret sauce to profitability, IGA retailers can jumpstart their on-demand business instantly while keeping the control of the store brand.”

Freshop’s program option will provide full digital personalized engagement and online shopping for IGA’s independent retailers. The company’s full-service offering powers mobile, web and app-clickable circulars, full product catalogs, recipes to shopping lists, list building and the personalized offers critical to IGA’s independent grocers. Freshop, known throughout the industry for its efficient processing, also offers integration with loyalty platforms, PCI compliant payments, ADA compliant websites, and walkpaths for order fulfillment and outstanding support, all for one simple charge per store.

"Online Grocery is not just for big metro areas—grocers are successfully using Freshop in more than 25 states in communities of all types and sizes,” says Freshop's CEO Brian Moyer. “IGA's partnership with Freshop allows IGA stores to not only compete in online grocery but to go beyond what the 'big guys' are offering. Freshop's powerful, easy to use platform enhances each local IGA, highlighting products and personalized services tailored to the community."