Price Chopper/Market 32 doubles down on gamification with Frozen Food Frenzy

The popularity of mobile digital games like Wordle is beginning to make its way into the grocery realm with the release of games like Price Chopper/Market 32’s newest—Daily SurPRIZE, Frozen Food Frenzy. 

The game, which celebrates National Frozen Food Month, follows the success of the grocer’s Spin-the-Wheel contest released last fall. Price Chopper/Market 32’s second game, developed by marketing firm tcc Global, plays on the frozen foods theme by challenging shoppers to wipe away virtual frost from a virtual freezer window to reveal a variety of products and prizes.  

Players get the chance to win sweepstakes entries, AdvantEdge Rewards points, magazine subscriptions, and donations to charities. “It’s a marketing maxim that customers who engage with your brand both online and in-store are more valuable than single-channel customers,” said Glen Bradley, Price Chopper/Market 32 executive vice president of Sales & Merchandising, in a statement. “The Daily SurPRIZE enabled us to validate this theory—customers who played the game showed higher sales in-store than the corresponding control group who did not play the game.” 

The Schenectady, New York-based grocer’s previous Spin-the-Wheel game resulted in higher traffic, sales and registrations, according to the company. In Spin-the-Wheel, shoppers were allowed to play the game once a day, which entailed spinning a virtual wheel for the chance to win gift cards and other prizes. “That positive consumer reaction encouraged us to reprise the game during Frozen Food Month,” Bradley said.   

The game is just one of many created by tcc for various grocers. Tcc created Ritchies Gold Rush for the grocery chain Ritchies IGA in Australia, which challenges players to collect gold mining cards to win prizes. In another game called “The Goodness Gang," created for German grocer Lidl Stiftung & Co., players learn facts about vegetables and fruit while they unlock codes in-store, online and in collector’s cards, according to a description in Apple’s App Store.  

“tcc has a long history of providing digital mobile games to supermarkets and convenience store operators. What makes Daily SurPRIZE unique is its seamless integration into Price Chopper’s digital assets and AdvantEdge Rewards program.” said Dan Dmochowski, president North America of tcc Global, in a statement.

Dmochowski explained that the game exists on tcc’s rewards platform but appears in Price Chopper’s app and website. That links it to each customer's points system. “As a result, customers can play the game, win their prize and redeem right on the platform without leaving the Price Chopper experience,” he said. “And, the fact, most of the prizes are sweepstakes entries and bonus points, makes it a more cost-effective prize structure for the retailer.”

Correction: The headline of this story has been updated from an earlier version, to correct the name of the game.