Micah Corrigan, owner of B-Alive Nutrition Center, a family-run health food business based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has navigated the complexities of eCommerce with remarkable success. B-Alive has been an ECRS customer since 2016. With over 37 years of experience in the nutrition industry, this independent retailer champions the philosophy that “great health starts with great products.” Over the last six years, B-Alive has experienced remarkable growth through its adoption of CATAPULT® WebCart™, a comprehensive eCommerce solution.

During a recent ECRS Learning Lounge webinar focused on profitable eCommerce strategies, B-Alive owner Micah Corrigan—who’s also a proud new father—shared key insights into the company’s digital transformation and continued success.

How eCommerce fueled B-Alive’s continued growth

The wellness industry has seen explosive growth in recent years, becoming a $6.3 trillion market in 2023. Sensing a gap in his local community, Corrigan made the pivotal decision to “come into the online space” in 2019 by installing WebCart and launching B-Alive’s digital storefront. The company’s mission is to offer “the highest quality supplements at the most affordable prices because they believe in the body’s natural healing ability when given the proper nutrients.”

That strategic transition to the online space was made seamlessly because of the decision to install a unified point-of-sale platform, laying the foundation for the business’s continued growth. “We installed CATAPULT in 2016. Then, we opened our second location in 2017 and … our third location in 2018. We installed WebCart in 2019,” Corrigan recalled.

B-Alive’s ability to grow from one store to three, plus a digital storefront, is a testament to their commitment to using innovative retail technology to better serve their communities.

A digital foundation that weathered the pandemic

The onset of COVID-19 pushed many small businesses to rapidly adapt to new technologies—and B-Alive was already one step ahead. Their early adoption of WebCart in 2019 positioned them perfectly for the shift to online shopping.

“We launched WebCart right before COVID, and so we were already set up for that. It was just a perfect, really smooth transition. People love our same-day delivery option,” Corrigan noted.

With WebCart, B-Alive was able to swiftly offer same-day delivery and curbside pickup, providing customers with flexible, safe shopping options and ensuring business continuity during an uncertain time.

Now, as online grocery sales in the U.S. surged 30% between February 2024 and February 2025, B-Alive’s eCommerce presence allowed them to expand beyond their immediate community. “The majority of our customers are shopping within a five-mile or ten-mile radius. We do have people shopping from northern Wisconsin, but we’re able to reach them with our online presence,” Corrigan shared.

If there’s one lesson that COVID taught business owners, it’s that “people want different forms of convenience,” Corrigan explained. “You know, life happens sometimes. People just can’t make it out of the house, and so we do offer that as a service and that’s been very successful for us.”

B-Alive’s grocery POS transformed by CATAPULT

Data integrity is critical when launching an eCommerce platform. “Having a clean item name and on-hand inventory count made the installation of WebCart straightforward,” Corrigan emphasized. WebCart, a native eCommerce application within the CATAPULT software suite, eliminates the need for API integrations with third-party providers.

Since CATAPULT powers B-Alive’s point-of-sale technology, all inventory is managed through their back-office system, Web Office®, and automatically updated in real time. This unified structure eliminates the need to maintain separate databases for POS and eCommerce.

Thanks to CATAPULT’s Unified Transaction Logic®, B-Alive ensures that shoppers have a consistent experience online and in-store—without the friction or disturbance of middleware. It’s truly an all-in-one grocery POS platform.

This system also synchronizes data across all locations in real–time, simplifying inventory and pricing management. Corrigan detailed the standout multi-level pricing feature: “This feature allows us to have that unified price online…and allows us to have a lower price in store for customers who want to have that in-store experience.”

By utilizing multiple pricing levels—including Price Level One (in-store), Price Level Two (the “Minimum Advertised Price” or “MAP”), and Price Level Three (employee discounts)—B-Alive ensures both compliance and customer satisfaction.

The future is here with AI personalization

WebCart’s AI-driven personalization, powered by Cognition® Artemis™, has transformed the customer experience. Corrigan compared the technology to a consumer’s “digital shopping assistant” and described Artemis as “an absolute home run” for his business.

Artemis analyzes a variety of data including shoppers’ purchase history and basket analysis of frequently bought items to deliver tailored recommendations, leading to more sales — higher profit. Logged-in users see “top picks for you” and relevant sale items right from the homepage. If users are not logged in, the technology will serve up general store recommendations.

In addition, if an item is out of stock, WebCart “offers some suggestions to that customer, and it allows that customer to stay on WebCart — in my experience — a little bit longer. So they’re discovering items a lot easier than I thought that they were before,” Corrigan described. With the help of Artemis’ recommendations, consumers are lingering on B-Alive’s website for a longer amount of time, making it even easier for them to discover new products.

AI personalization doesn’t only assist online shoppers, on-site staff also benefit from this new technology. For instance, if a desired product is unavailable or out of stock at a brick-and-mortar, B-Alive associates can utilize Artemis’ assistance, too, and suggest alternative products similar to the in-person shopper’s sought-after product.

Replicating the In-Store experience online

To maintain the personalized feel of their in-store experience, B-Alive sought to replicate their weekly sales flyer digitally. Their solution? A seamless integration with Red Pepper Digital to create a digital smart e-circular.

Corrigan detailed how B-Alive produces the digest: “For the e-circular, we work with INFRA and utilize Red Pepper, which is also a partner with ECRS to digitize this flyer. And, I think it looks absolutely amazing… We send out our marketing email blasts via LoyaltyBot®, and then we hook up the link and the iFrame to this e-circular to that email. People click on that and get brought straight to our website where they can just flip through the flyer.”

The result is a dynamic, shoppable circular where customers can “select the ad and add the item to their cart right away,” as Corrigan explained, making the process easier and more intuitive.

Maximizing customer loyalty through innovation

Loyalty plays a major role in B-Alive’s customer experience strategy. Through the unified experience between CATAPULT’s loyalty suite and WebCart, customers can easily access loyalty accounts, view past receipts and check point balances.

“Offering access to the customer’s loyalty account is huge. People want to see their past receipts. People want to see their loyalty balance, so this just offers them a transparent feature… the loyalty program has been wildly successful, and we love it,” Corrigan shared.

Instead of traditional discounts, B-Alive uses a loyalty points multiplier to offer cash-back rewards. “If it’s a $10 item and 20% off, that purchase is going to be subsidized by two dollars… And so they still pay for that full price right then and there. But then on their next visit, they can redeem the $2 subsidy,” Corrigan explained. This approach helps cash flow and provides customers with a unique currency, enhancing their engagement and use of the loyalty program. 

With 80% of customers enrolled in the program, it’s become a core component of their engagement strategy. “Eight out of ten customers are part of our rewards program. We’re always getting new customers all the time, but we’re not charging for our loyalty program at the very base rate. People accrue 1% cash back on anything they purchase — no matter what,” Corrigan stated.

 Educating customers beyond the store

B-Alive prides itself as an independent retailer that offers a wide array of wellness products, but it also takes great pride in its knowledgeable and helpful staff within its brick-and-mortars. To transfer that knowledge and help, B-Alive takes thoughtful care in providing as much product information and curating their inventory to meet the needs of their shoppers as much as they possibly can through their eCommerce platform.

Similar to in-store signage, their website is organized by categories, subcategories, brands, health attributes, and more—allowing shoppers to quickly locate products. For instance, if an online shopper is searching for a supplement to support bone and joint health made by a certain brand and produced a certain way, then they can filter their search expeditiously.

WebCart also enables Corrigan and his team to improve product listings with videos and detailed descriptions. “There’s a lot of education that the supplements we sell require, so it’s better if you can add little snippets of what the product is in the online product description and WebCart also allows us to include a video about the product in the description tab. That’s been helpful,” Corrigan said.

Transform your business like B-Alive

B-Alive’s success with CATAPULT WebCart illustrates the powerful potential of having a native eCommerce solution within a unified point-of-sale system. With real-time data, personalized experiences, and integrated operations, CATAPULT has helped B-Alive grow its reach, streamline processes, and enhance customer engagement.

Ready to modernize your business? Discover how CATAPULT can automate your online store, drive profitability, and deepen customer loyalty. Visit ecrs.com or call 1-800-211-1172 to schedule a demo today.