ShopRite goes live with dietitian online chat service

ShopRite is expanding access to its nutrition experts with the launch of the Registered Dietitian Virtual Chat program.

Through the free online dietitian service, introduced in a soft launch in December, ShopRite customers can engage in a chat session with one of its more than 100 registered dietitians to get answers and advice on nutrition, food choices, healthy diets, food trends and other topics, as well as related health and wellness information.

Customers can access the virtual dietitian chat at ShopRite.com/welleveryday. After clicking through the home page, they will see a pop-up box that prompts them to chat with a dietitian. The service is available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If a dietitian is already engaged in a chat session, shoppers can leave a message, and the dietitian will respond as soon as they are free.

Natalie Menza-Crowe, director of health and wellness for ShopRite, noted that the grocery chain’s Registered Dietitian Virtual Chat is the first service of its kind to be launched in the Northeast at a major supermarket retailer. Part of the Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp. retailer cooperative, the ShopRite banner includes nearly 280 supermarkets in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland.

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“Ever since we launched the in-store ShopRite dietitian program nearly 14 years ago, we’ve been creating new and expanded ways to help our customers take advantage of the wealth of expertise and knowledge that our team of dietitians have to offer,” Menza-Crowe said in a statemt. “I’m especially excited about launching this program, because it means we can now provide all of our customers — both those that shop in our stores, as well as those that are shopping with us online — with quick, easy and simple ways to get nutritional advice from licensed health professionals, at no charge, when and where they need it most.”

ShopRite’s Registered Dietitian Virtual Chat program is powered by Hero, an online service that enables shoppers to interact with retailers and their stores via text, chat and video calls.

“Customers want the personalized service of in-store with the convenience of online shopping,” according to Alistair Crane, CEO of London-based Hero, which has a U.S. office in New York. “Our messaging app — designed for experts in stores to instantly connect with online customers — provides online customers the guidance they need in the most convenient, personal way. We’re delighted to partner with ShopRite to bring the power of conversational commerce to their locations and customers.”

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ShopRite’s in-store registered dietitian program, launched in 2006, now serves more than 140 of the grocery banner’s stores. The dietitians help shoppers better understand ingredients and food labels, offer healthy recipe substitutions and recommend ways to live a healthier lifestyle. They also provide complimentary services such as one-on-one consultations, supermarket tours, support groups, classes, kid and adult cooking classes, and in-store product samplings.

Besides the new dietitian chat service, ShopRite’s Well Everyday website also allows customers to sign up for dietitian consultations and in-store classes and events.

“We think that this is a fantastic way to leverage new technologies on our website and provide additional free services to our customers,” Menza-Crowe added about the dietitian chat program.