Case StudiesMarket Basket
AppCard and Alliance Retail Group Partnership Leads to Transformation
In the ever-changing world of retail, a powerful partnership between AppCard, a trailblazer in customer loyalty and engagement, and Alliance Retail Group, a coalition of independent retailers, has brought about a remarkable transformation in retailers like Market Basket. Market Basket has 28 locations currently operating an AppCard program in a multicultural environment throughout Texas and Louisiana. Andrew Westbrook, Market Basket’s Director of Marketing and Advertising, shared firsthand insights into the challenges faced by the grocery industry, including the repercussions of COVID, reductions in SNAP benefits, migration from existing loyalty solutions and the industry-wide transition to a digital landscape.
In response to the industry’s changing landscape, Market Basket undertook a significant shift from print to digital in 2023. Market Basket faced challenges arising from alterations in SNAP benefits and the necessity to adapt to a digital framework. AppCard’s platform emerged as a crucial tool in navigating these challenges, offering a seamless transition to the digital realm.
Whitney Parse, SVP of Customer Engagement at Alliance Retail Marketing, highlighted simplification as a prevalent theme observed in the retail landscape. As the industry grappled with rapid changes, Alliance Retail Group sought to simplify challenges for retailers. Their partnership with AppCard allowed them to offer comprehensive solutions, alleviating the need for retailers to engage with multiple providers for reward, digital coupon, app and website services.
Market Basket’s initiatives in 2023 included a successful transition to digital and an emphasis on increasing digital coupon engagement. Shopper migration, “we miss you” lost shopper, and happy hour campaigns, along with a robust employee discount promotion, yielded substantial sales increases. The introduction of AppCard’s in-lane touchscreen terminals (NTR) played a pivotal role in increasing coupon participation and customer enrollment. Shifting from print to digital enabled Market Basket to register a significant savings of 66% of its print budget.
The AppCard NTR had a significant impact on shopper engagement, with 48% of all coupons at Market Basket being clipped in the lane. Beyond facilitating digital engagement, the NTR addressed Market Basket’s concerns about shifting to a digital platform while still giving their older and lower-income shoppers the best shopping experience possible. The Market Basket team thought they had reached the ceiling of loyalty penetration with their previous program, but Market Basket was able to enroll more than 100,000 new shoppers in their program in the first year since launch thanks to the simplicity of engagement with the AppCard NTR.
The regular communication received from the AppCard team, along with the continuous support from the Alliance team, has led to a true team mentality in dealing with the challenges of implementing a loyalty program across multiple locations. The collaboration between AppCard and Alliance helps their mutual grocers feel confident to take on any challenge they may face, knowing that they do not face it alone.
Market Basket’s focus on attracting a younger audience and increasing digital coupon clips aligns with Alliance Retail Group’s broader goal of getting all retailers digitally engaged with their customers. This emphasis on an omni-channel marketing approach and an increased digital presence reflects the changing landscape of consumer behavior.
AppCard is a Member of the Intel IoT Solutions Alliance. A global ecosystem of more than 800 industry leaders, the Alliance offers its Members unique access to Intel technology, expertise, and go-to-market support, accelerating the deployment of best-in-class solutions. Powered by Intel CPU, AppCard J-brain ensures data is captured at the EDGE and transferred to the cloud where we run our machine learning and AI to guarantee that offers, rewards and campaigns are all personalized to shoppers and employees.
