A Trip To The Grocery Store (An Open Letter)

A few months ago, while at the grocery store checkout, I had an experience that inspired a new blog entry for me about the predictive marketing potential that can be realized by leveraging the rich data  most grocery store chains capture from consumer purchases through their loyalty card programs.

This event occurred while I was visiting my local grocery store to accomplish a very specific goal - to cook a stir fry dish for a very special occassion.

I purchased the usual suspects:

• Sesame seeds
• Rice vinegar
• Soba noodles
• Soy sauce
• Beef strips. 

Before processing my groceries through the checkout, I handed the cashier my loyalty card to receive additional store discounts. As the cashier processed the items through the checkout my groceries were bagged by her colleague. Wihin a couple minutes, this colleague directed a few words to me that sent me on a bit of a database marketing journey. With a smile he said, "Ma'am you sure are making me hungry for the Stir Fry you are about to cook!". I must admit that I was taken back a bit, not by his presumptuous nature but his ability to quickly and accurately pinpoint the cuisine I was to prepare. And it got me thinking: What if this grocer leveraged their purchase data to deduce the same information their employee was able to do in minutes? How different would my customer experience be?

Below is an outline of a brainstorming exercise I conducted shortly after this trip to the grocery store.

Yes...I am that dorky.

1.       Develop audience levels

·         VIP Card – based on card number

·         Individual ID – based on usage of card(s), strong correlation between card transaction eventdatetime and/or customer data- match (firstname, lastname, emailaddress)

·         Household ID – based on usage of cards, strong correlation between card transaction eventdatetime and/or customer data- non match (firstname, lastname, emailaddress)

Analyze data based on audience levels and execute campaigns accordingly:

2.       Develop correlation measure between VIP Cards – measure percentage rate of VIP cards used in consecutive transactions. The measure will be indicative of a relationship between the two cards may it be the same individual or same household

3.       Trigger campaigns –

a.       Customer purchases cold medicine – trigger campaigns related to remedies for a cold, promote complimentary products (i.e. chicken noodle soup)

b.      Customer purchases product with specific expiration dates (i.e. milk) – trigger reminder  campaigns at point of expiration to purchase upcoming expiry product

c.       Customer purchases items that strongly suggest cuisine – trigger personalized recipe campaigns (i.e. customer purchases soba noodles, sesame seeds and beef, there is a strong likelihood of customer preparing ‘Stir Fry’, send Asian cuisine recipes, suggestions for other sesame seed usage, etc.)

d.      Male VIP card holder purchases famine product – trigger quarterly ‘Date Night’  campaigns, indicative of female companion

e.      Develop traditional seasonality campaigns

·         Thanksgiving

·         Valentine’s Day

·         Christmas

·         Easter

·         Super Bowl

·         Halloween

·         July 4^th

·         Summer  Weather– Icecream, BBQ

·         Winter Weather – Roast, Soups

f.        Develop traditional weekly sales campaign – highlight weekly sales items based on customer’s transaction history

g.       Develop ‘Complimentary Product’ campaign series –

·         Shampoo to Conditioner (bi-lateral relationship)

·         Cold Medicine to Chicken Noodle Soup (uni-lateral relationship)

h.      Develop ‘Recommendation’ campaign series (specifically for beauty products) – i.e. ‘customers who bought X also bought Y’, think Amazon

i.         Purchase of baby product (i.e. newborn baby diapers) – deduce recent addition to family, trigger baby product campaign series (baby product sale items, ‘ways to stretch a budget-for families’, upsell baby items in trend-site references from reputable publications or public figures

 

Dear Mr. Grocery Store Chain,

Your are welcome.


- Candice M. Narvaez