A new app aims to be “the Gas Buddy of the grocery industry,” said Michael Waldroup, its CEO and one of its co-founders.
Launched last month, Grocery Dealz is a grocery e-commerce marketplace that allows consumers to compare prices in real time between grocery stores.
The free app enables shoppers to compare grocers’ prices and then quickly build a cart. Users will be able to build the cart in-app and then be directed to the selected grocer’s app or website with the cart already made. In cases where the cart can’t be carried over completely to the grocer’s platform, shoppers will still be directed to their preferred grocer’s website, according to the company.
Grocery Dealz’s initial launch was in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in mid-June. The app is slated to expand to the rest of Texas, with the long-term goal of reaching shoppers nationwide. In May, the company said its national expansion will happen region-by-region and state-by-state.
While Grocery Dealz is working to partner with as many grocery players as possible, grocers don’t need to be partnered with the app for their prices to be included as the company’s price data is coming from a third party, allowing for a broad view of grocery prices in a given region, Grocery Dealz said.
However, the app isn’t meant to expose grocers who have higher prices, but instead help them reel in more omnichannel shoppers as well as build brand loyalty, Waldroup said, noting that has been a trend in other industries.
“We look at this as a marketplace. So if you’re not in the marketplace, you’re going to lose 100% of the time,” he said.
The app also serves as a new way for grocers to attract and retain customers as well as grow revenue from existing shoppers, Waldroup said.
Along with entering other regions, applying coupons and other discounts will be the next piece of the puzzle for Grocery Dealz, Waldroup said, noting this addition will mark the app’s first “major update” post-launch.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for the consumer,” he said. “So we basically want to figure out a way to auto-apply coupons to shopping lists. That way, [users are] not having to manually scroll through [coupons to] figure out which ones apply.”
