The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Regional grocers occupy a challenging middle ground in the industry. They’re trying to push prices lower, but they can’t go as low as the largest players. Their shopping experience is typically strong, yet they often can’t afford to innovate quickly and offer extra bells and whistles for their customers.
With so many other retailers posing a threat in an increasingly fragmented market, who should regional grocers keep their eye on?
This was a key topic during a webinar this week hosted by data firm Dunnhumby. According to Erich Kahner, the firm’s head of competitive insights and strategy, the retailers that pose the most serious threat to regionals, according to data collected for Dunnhumby’s annual retailer scorecard, are those that combine a reputation for quality with a reputation for helping people save money. This select group includes Costco, WinCo Foods, Trader Joe’s and Aldi.
Lorin Drake, consumer insights strategist with Publix, said he’s keeping a close eye on Costco, which, according to a Grocery Dive analysis of Numerator data, has made some of the strongest grocery market share gains over the past several years. He said he’s noticed that members seem to stock up more on groceries and other everyday items at the club retailer — and not just consumables like bottled water and toilet paper.
“They’re buying massive boxes of cereal, because that’s how they save money. So their answer to the affordability crunch is to buy in bulk for everyday grocery shopping,” said Drake.
Walmart has become a bigger threat to traditional grocers in recent years through digital innovation and improvements to its stores, both Kahner and Drake conceded. But Drake said Publix is nicely positioned against the mega-retailer because it offers a better end-to-end store experience. Aldi, meanwhile, has earned Drake’s respect for how rapidly it’s been able to grow while figuring out how to appeal to American consumers.
“Finding an unmet need in the food retailing business is daunting, and they’ve been able to do that successfully,” said Drake.
But there’s one retailer that Drake said he watches the closest, and it’s the one with arguably the deepest pockets and the biggest reputation for innovation.
“I sleep with one eye open, and that one eye is watching Amazon,” he said.
In case you missed it
Kroger zeros in on digital deals to reward customers
The grocer brought back its Customer Appreciation Week sale, which began Wednesday and will run through Tuesday, according to a press release. During those dates, shoppers can log into their account on Kroger’s app or website and clip digital coupons that can be redeemed up until March 20.
Each day of Customer Appreciation Week, Kroger will also reveal additional digital coupons, dubbed Daily Deal Drops, that are available to clip for one day only on the grocer’s website, app or by request at checkout.
Fareway links up with Instacart
Instacart announced on Thursday a new partnership with the Midwestern grocery company. Fareway is launching its own online marketplace powered by Instacart’s Storefront Pro, and shoppers can also place pickup orders through Instacart Marketplace.
Grocers cook up plans for Pi Day
On Saturday, Save A Lot is offering up to two Mantia’s Rising Crust Pizzas for $3.14 per customer — a clever promo linked to the annual celebration of the mathematical constant of Pi, according to an emailed announcement.
Meanwhile, Heinen’s is running its own Pi Day Deals, offering 31.4% off bakery pies, Daily Bites pizzas and meat department pot pies. The offer will run Saturday and Sunday while supplies last.
Impulse find
H-E-B scales down to Fisher-Price size
A pre-K class in Odessa, Texas, earlier this month debuted its own miniature H-E-B Market, local news outlet NewsWest 9 reported.
The entire “store” is scaled down for the toddlers at Burleson Early Education Center and includes all the essentials, from plastic produce to functional checkout counters. The students can wear H-E-B vests and pretend to be cashiers, shelf-stockers and shoppers, NewsWest 9 wrote.
“The great thing with pre-K is they learn by play,” Tanya Galindo, principal of Burleson EEC, said to the Texas media site. “Building connections and relationships while working on their communication skills is the most important part for them. It’s about talking and having conversations.”
Jessica Gonzalez, H-E-B’s public affairs manager, noted to the news outlet that, for the grocery company, this is an investment in their future workforce.
