Birdzi, a provider of personalized digital customer engagement solutions for grocery retailers, has teamed with ScriptSave, a provider of prescription drug saving programs at 62,000 U.S. pharmacies, to launch a new WellRx Personalized Wellness program that debuted today at the NGA show in Las Vegas.
Using the Birdzi platform, the innovative program uses nutritional data science, along with Birdzi’s AI-powered personalization and digital customer engagement technologies, to guide the shopper to products beneficial to their individual health condition. According to company officials, the WellRx Personalized Wellness program helps shoppers make healthier choices by offering personalized product recommendations and offers on products beneficial to the shopper’s health and well-being based on specific health conditions, allergies, food or lifestyle preferences.
Shoppers can opt into the program either through the WellRx app or through the participating retailer’s websites or mobile apps. Birdzi’s AI personalization engine then determines what products to recommend to the shopper. The shopper will then receive personalized recommendations and offers that include food choices, supplements, vitamins and other pharmacy products, thus creating a “store within a store” for each individual shopper.
Shopper communications are handled through ScriptSave’s WellRx app or the retailer’s digital channels, powered by Birdzi.
“Birdzi supports every digital channel the retailer uses, so we can make recommendations available to shoppers through the retailer’s website, mobile app, e-mail, in-store kiosks, etc.,” said Gary Hawkins, CEO, Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART) and executive director of Birdzi, based in Iselin, N.J.
“Birdzi provides an API [application programming interface] so the integration to digital touchpoints is easy. Birdzi also provides white-label mobile app, web app and e-mail service that are all branded to the retailer and provide tight integration that gives real-time insight to the customer’s intent that powers increased relevancy,” Hawkins said.
If a retailer uses Birdzi’s mobile app, they have the ability to make specific product recommendations to shoppers as they stroll the aisles. “This capability uses beacons placed around the store to trigger location-specific relevant recommendations,” Hawkins explained.
It will also point them to specific branded items.
“The point of the entire Personalized Wellness program is to guide shoppers to specific products throughout the store so the recommendations are not generic, like ‘oatmeal,’ but to specific products that meet the nutritional requirements of that individual and are beneficial to them,” Hawkins said.
Retailers do not need to be concern about violating privacy issues.
“The program is entirely customer opt-in, so the shopper shares only what information they want,” Hawkins said. “Second, if the customer wishes to provide a view to prescription information or other health-related info, this is all done under a customer opt-in process and, if needed, a HIPAA-compliant process.”
The program is offered to the retailer at no charge; its funding comes through managed care organizations and brand manufacturers. It is designed to help retailers improve customer loyalty as well as customer lifetime value through larger basket sizes, increased shopping frequency and improved retention for the pharmacy and the total store.
“Our vision is to meld the astonishing product assortments of grocery retailers with wellness criteria sourced from key opinion leaders in healthcare and nationally recognized guideline recommendations to improve the health outcomes of shoppers,” said Marcus Sredzinski, Pharm. D., COO and executive vice president of Tucson, Ariz.-based ScriptSave.
