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GIGA BITES

Grocers are getting personal with shoppers about what they eat. But instead of digging through their snack stash or ambushing them at weigh-in time, they're letting technology take on the sometimes touchy subject. Shoppers willing to share their weight, height, age and physical activity level with soon-to-be-introduced kiosks in RCPS' nine Food Pyramid banner stores, for instance, will be able to

Grocers are getting personal with shoppers about what they eat.

But instead of digging through their snack stash or ambushing them at weigh-in time, they're letting technology take on the sometimes touchy subject.

Shoppers willing to share their weight, height, age and physical activity level with soon-to-be-introduced kiosks in RCPS' nine Food Pyramid banner stores, for instance, will be able to create a personalized MyPyramid Plan based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommendations. When customizing a pyramid, the feature will take into account whether a woman might be pregnant or breast-feeding. Shoppers can also reach the tool from their home by accessing www.mypyramid.gov.

“We don't want to appear as a health food store, but if shoppers are interested, we'll allow them to create their own pyramid, print it out and shop the store,” said Nicole Taylor, marketing director for RCPS, which also operates stores in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma under the Ramey, Price Cutter, Price Cutter Plus and Smitty's names.

Customized daily plans include a breakdown of quantities of items from each food group that the person should be consuming. The feature is designed to drive sales in Food Pyramid stores, which have also adopted Take A Peak materials at the shelf edge, noted Taylor. Sponsored by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute and MatchPoint Marketing, Take a Peak is designed to help promote foods featured in the government's MyPyramid food guidance system.

“We have signs indicating foods that are grains, dairy or oils,” said Taylor. “If a mom wants to go in and create a pyramid for herself and her sons and daughters, she can do so and put together meals that represent what each family member needs.” Shoppers can also update their personalized pyramids as their weight and/or activity level changes.

To further simplify the shopping experience, helpful food tips are provided for each group presented in a shopper's customized plan.

“For a change, try brown rice or whole wheat pasta,” advises a grains tip.

Installation of the kiosks will follow Food Pyramid's store remodels, which are expected to be complete by Dec. 1, according to Taylor.

FOOD FLEX

Safeway has also invested in technology to help shoppers reach their personal health and wellness goals. An interactive Web tool called “foodflex” is one of the newest value-added services to be tested under Safeway's Ingredients for Life ideology, said the chain's spokeswoman, Teena Massingill. She related that the feature has not yet been marketed to shoppers.

The interactive tool, accessed at www.safeway.com/foodflex, is designed to present loyalty cardholders with a nutritional snapshot of past purchases, as well as food alternatives that may help them reach their unique nutritional goals.

“Foodflex helps them take a look at the foods they bring home for their families and make changes as they are necessary,” said Massingill. “If you're trying to cut your sodium, for instance, you can learn through foodflex how much sodium what you're normally eating contains and adjust it by taking the suggestions foodflex offers. No one else is doing anything like this.”

Shoppers will also be granted the ability to compare the nutritional content of their family's diet with a normalized diet and a heart-healthy diet, said Steve Burd, Safeway's president, chairman and chief executive officer at an investor conference in September.

“Consumers can even click on sodium, for example, and it will identify every item they've bought in the last six to 12 months with sodium content in the highest range and the lowest range so they can pick the best alternative,” he said. “By the end of this year we should be able to tell them, based on the information they enter, the aisle locations of the desired items.”

Consumers aren't the only ones who'll stand to benefit from the launch. Industry observers note that newly informed shoppers are digging deeper into their wallets.

“We interviewed people who accessed health and wellness information in-store and asked them if it led to a sale, and 40% said yes,” said Jim Wisner, president of Wisner Marketing Group, Libertyville, Ill. “This goes beyond information and gets into the management of the shopping trip in order to build basket size.”


Wisner polled users of information booths marketed by Portland, Ore.-based Healthnotes as part of his independent study. The Healthnotes kiosks present health research gleaned from more than 600 medical journals to shoppers in an easily digestible way.

“The intent is to inspire shoppers to make purchases of products with which they otherwise wouldn't engage,” said Jeff Seacrist, vice president of marketing for Healthnotes. “The kiosks provide seasonal information and ideas that are relevant to products merchandised in the store.”

The tool provides tips on how to best shop for organics. It can also help customers select wine varietals that pair well with recipes that take a particular dietary restriction into consideration.

An August pilot of a Healthnotes kiosk in a single Orlando, Fla., Publix location was so well received that the retailer decided to make two kiosks permanent fixtures in the company's first Publix GreenWise Market store to help shoppers get acclimated to the new environment, said Maria Brous, spokeswoman for Publix.

“Our customers have become more product-savvy, and Publix GreenWise Market allows the opportunity for us to carry specialty items,” she said. “Customers may need additional guidance when seeking to purchase unique items. Healthnotes provides one more point of contact with our customers.”

To help shoppers distinguish between the organic, all-natural and conventional items offered in its store, the retailer also launched a color-coded shelf tag system.

Brown tags without an icon, for instance, indicate an all-natural product, while a brown tag with the USDA Organic icon is used to identify a product that is between 95% and 100% organic. A brown tag that reads “Made with Organic Ingredients” identifies products that contain between 70% and 94% organic ingredients. Meanwhile, white tags are used to identify conventional items.

The Healthnotes kiosks became operational at the Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., location in late September at the store's grand opening. Publix will also install the kiosks in the Boca Raton GreenWise store that will open in May.

One of the booths is positioned in the store's mezzanine area, where customers relax, mingle and eat, said Brous. Another is located in its Body Care section.

“Customers can search recipes, diet, nutrition and supplement information,” she said. “They can also print off copies of the information they're searching, and associates are available in our Body Care section to answer additional questions.”

Publix's strategy of using the kiosks to supplement — rather than replace — information imparted by store associates is a clever one, noted Wisner. He advises supermarkets that have adopted these strategies against skimping on resources allocated to employee education.

“Almost the reverse is true,” he said. “You need to get employees as exposed as possible to these kinds of things, because you're also trying to maintain health care costs within your organization. The better educated they get, the lower the health risk to them and the company.”

Making store associates familiar with these kiosks will also get them excited about the technology.

“Before you introduce these to the customer, launch them in an employee break room for a few weeks,” suggested Wisner. “They'll become your ambassadors on the floor, and that's huge.”

Spreading word of your offerings to shoppers is also key.

“It's not enough just to stick it in your store, you need to market it,” noted Wisner. “This is where many retailers fall down. They ask, ‘Why isn't anyone using this?’ It's because they don't know what it is, they're in a hurry and it's outside of their mission.”

Wisner also warns against belaboring the obvious.

“I saw a sign in a store that identified bottled water as having no cholesterol. You need to be sure and bring some intellect into this.”