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Jet.com helps food shoppers meet dietary needs

Walmart e-commerce unit adopts Spoon Guru search-and-filter platform

Russell Redman

June 6, 2019

2 Min Read
Supermarket News logo in a gray background | Supermarket News

Walmart’s Jet.com is catering to grocery shoppers with specific dietary requirements with the help of food search and discovery technology from Spoon Guru.

Jet.com is the first U.S. retailer to adopt London-based Spoon Guru’s platform, which has been used by U.K. supermarket chain Tesco since November 2017.

When shopping at Jet.com, customers now can filter their food searches by using specific dietary attributes, ranging from allergies and intolerances (such as to milk, gluten or tree nuts) to healthier choices like low saturated fat or high fiber and to individual dietary requirements such as vegan, vegetarian, paleo or kosher.

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According to Markus Stripf, co-founder and co-CEO of Spoon Guru, 64% of the world’s population is on some form of exclusion diet. Spoon Guru also reports on its website that shoppers have an average of 3.3 dietary preferences. In addition, 57% of consumers will shop elsewhere to get specific food, and 84% would switch supermarkets if it better supports their health and wellness needs.

“Whether this is due to allergy, intolerance or health and lifestyle choices, the demand for a more personalized approach to food shopping is clear. With today’s technological advancements, customers — especially in the U.S. — are looking for a more tailored shopping experience, as well as an easy and safe solution for finding the right food,” Stripf explained. “It’s a delight to work with Jet and help transform the consumer experience for their shoppers.”

Jet.com’s product catalog is optimized for high-level personalization using Spoon Guru's proprietary TAGS technology. The tech firm said TAGS employs a combination of artificial intelligence, algorithms and human expertise to make products more accessible, searchable and discoverable to people with specific dietary and lifestyle preferences. The platform analyzes product ingredients and nutritional value and designates appropriate dietary tags to each item, which Spoon Guru said allows large, unstructured data sets to be searched more easily and filtered more accurately to deliver more relevant choices to consumers.

Since implementing the technology, Tesco has seen sizable increases in its basket conversion rate, including up to 420% for some search terms, according to Spoon Guru.

Jet.com’s use of Spoon Guru’s platform comes as the Walmart e-commerce subsidiary bolsters its grocery offering. In September, Jet.com introduced a “city grocery experience” for New York City residents that offers a curated selection of groceries, everyday essentials and other merchandise geared toward city dwellers plus enhanced customer service and same- or next-day delivery. When announcing the launch, Jet.com said it aims to “rehumanize” e-commerce and provide a more “intentional catalog” that’s personalized and relevant to city consumers’ living needs and shopping preferences.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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