MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ — Wisconsin-based Festival Foods broke grocery store Web site traffic records last year primarily using Grocery Shopping Network (GSN), a leading provider of proprietary software for grocery store retailers. Total page views of the Festival Foods Web site, FestFoods.com, surpassed 12 million, more than four times the volume it saw in 2006.
GSN is the first grocery store Web platform to offer consumers an integrated online tool for creating grocery lists, accessing manufacturer and in-store coupons and much more. Using the system, FestFoods.com currently attracts approximately 7,000 unique customer visits (per store) at any given time, a 25.7 percent increase from 2006. Additionally, because the service includes consumer customization features designed especially for repeat users, shoppers who begin using the service are likely to return to the retailer’s Web site time and time again.
“The grocery industry continues to grow increasingly competitive, yet remains slow to change, even in the online information age,” said Tom Wilkolak, CEO, Grocery Shopping Network. “While some of the biggest retailers have the lowest Web site views per store location, GSN-powered grocer Web sites are generating the highest viewership in the industry — a testament to the competitive value that the program provides.”
With GSN, grocery consumers shop weekly ads and in-store specials, build shopping lists, plan meals, discover recipes and cooking videos, source dietary guidance and print discount coupons. Additionally, shoppers can save their lists so that each time they log on they can start with a pre-existing list of regularly purchased products and personalized coupons. While GSN offers convenience to consumers, it also gives grocers an abundance of data to help them better track and predict consumer buying behavior. More than a thousand stores across the country are using the GSN service, including 12 Festival Foods locations.
“The partnership between GSN and Festival Foods is the solution that turned FestFoods.com into an integral part of many of our guests’ shopping experiences,” said Nick Arlt, director of public relations and Internet services, Festival Foods. “Now, we are leading the grocery industry by providing shoppers an interactive shopping tool allowing them to save money in a variety of ways and create a virtual shopping list.”
GSN helps transform a retailer’s Web site into a virtual version of its brick and mortar store — one that customers can personalize and bring directly into their homes. For Festival Foods, GSN has helped create personalized virtual stores for each of its 7,000 unique visitors per location. In comparison, many larger retail chains are only able to create 300 virtual stores per location.
“The differentiator is that the GSN solution takes all of our elements that make shopping easy and integrates them in a way that makes the shopper’s experience seamless,” said Arlt. “It’s what keeps them coming back week after week.”
About Festival Foods:
Festival Foods is a grocery chain operated in Wisconsin with headquarters in Onalaska, and Green Bay, Wis. Festival Foods specializes in servicing the guest, friendly people, clean stores and high quality products for, “not a lotta money.” Festival Foods operates its business according to the “Boomerang Theory.” That is, “Every business decision we make is based on one question, ‘Will it bring the customer back?'” For more information, visit http://www.festfoods.com/.
About Grocery Shopping Network:
Grocery Shopping Network provides grocery retailers’ Web sites with a suite of proprietary software products that integrate shopping list building, recipes and meal planning with relevant, focused advertising content. GSN (http://www.groceryshopping.net/) brings together the Web and in-store supermarket shopping experience. A GSN-powered site enables consumers to seamlessly shop their store, be presented with sales and promotions in the context of the items they are planning to purchase, access and save recipes for the items they plan to purchase, plan meals and utilize the many discount offers (including coupons) made available by brand manufacturers.
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Source: Grocery Shopping Network
