Grocery Shopping Network CEO Robinson Says Platform Increasing Performance By 30%

June 28, 2010 – 12:05 am
Andy Robinson is CEO of Grocery Shopping Network, an online ad network.

AdExchanger.com: What problem is Grocery Shopping Network solving?

GSN enables grocers to significantly expand digital shopper engagement, value and total in-store and online sales. Likewise GSN provides a means for advertisers to reach and target their best customers on a per store basis and/or at a critical “Moment of Purchase Decision” on the grocer’s website, right when shoppers are making their shopping list and purchase decisions. GSN does so by providing a state-of-the-art suite of shopping planning and saving solutions for grocers’ websites. This platform provides their customers with tools which makes the grocery shopping experience easier for their customers to plan their shopping trip to the store (or, in some cases, order from home delivery). These shopping solutions help customers save money, save time, learn new recipe or cooking ideas, and shop for healthier choices. Grocers who have deployed GSN’s platform to power their websites typically see an increase of 30% or more of the best customers spend. These websites now reach over 7 million people planning 21 million shopping trips a month. This, in turn, creates a “Moment of Decision” advertising opportunity for CPG brands that want to influence the purchase, and is the essence of GSN’s Ad Network, ‘GSN StoreSite™’. GSN’s unique access to online and offline purchase data provides advertisers tremendous insight to sales impact, audience makeup, and product brand/category performance, including measurable ROI from the advertising spend.

Do you consider yourselves an ad network? What is your view on the oft-cited view that ad networks are on their way out?

The advent of DSPs, RTB, and ‘audience buying’ are the new trends that are causing some to say that ad networks are old news. GSN offers a strong product in this new area, GSN OutReach™, which delivers audience in unique geo-targeted clusters which are identified via GSN’s extensive shopper data integrated with other demographic and lifestyle data. Our GSN StoreSite™ is an ad network, but is a unique product in the network world. It is not a network of loosely related sites, but is a network of grocery store websites all providing GSN’s platform functionality. For the CPG advertiser who wants to reach as many shopping dollars as they might reach via the large chains, this network allows a single buy to reach 7 million shoppers planning 21 million monthly shopping trips at over 6,000 grocery stores.

How do you differentiate among your competitors? And, is proprietary technology key to your pitch?

GSN’s primary difference is the level of insight and direct shopper behavior that drives both the GSN Ad Network solutions. GSN starts with the deepest set of online activity to offline purchase knowledge in the industry. Our 1.7 million shopper online panel members are also part of GSN’s database of 35 million shoppers’ offline purchase data – this depth of shopper data provides a true end to end measurement and insight that is second to none within the industry. When applied to the GSN StoreSite™ ad network, this shopper data enables GSN advertisers to target and impact category specific shoppers at the precise time they are deciding what to buy. GSN OutReach™ uses this depth of knowledge to accurately define neighborhood segments of Product/Category Purchase Cluster Behavior as a basis to overlay the demographics, psychographics, and social behavior in a way that has never been available before.

What are you seeing on the client-side today? Any trends you can share?

We continue to have excellent results with clients that understand the combination of impact from reaching premium grocery shoppers and insight backed by offline purchase results and data. Both CPG marketers and their agencies are increasingly demanding the insight to a real connection between online behavior and offline sales – and we’re delivering on this. For promotional efforts and shopper marketing programs – we’re seeing a reaction to the realization that grocery shoppers need to be influenced prior to entering the store – and our platform is a perfect fit for extending promotions and shopper marketing tactics beyond traditional in-store promotion. We are seeing a great interest in ways to tie online communication with offline purchase results.

Are you able to help clients tie their online advertising to offline sales? What are your thoughts here?

Yes, definitely online activity to offline purchase behavior is in our DNA. It is a core difference to the GSN offering into the marketplace. GSN collects transaction level data (t-log) from many grocery retailers across the USA, currently over 6 billion transactions over two years. GSN already enjoys the largest online to offline purchase database. GSN plans to expand our online panel to 5 million members and our offline transaction level data to over 60 million shoppers in the next 12 months. This growth will continue over time. At the same time, we are already looking for ways to provide advertisers with custom insights to their products and categories through the development of their own custom shopper panel. In a recent proposal we were able to provide a baby products manufacturer shopper insights from a database of 55,000 households buying baby formulas. Their comment was they had never seen this level of measurement for a category that represents less than 3% of the population.

Please discuss your data strategy. For example, among participating grocery store websites, will you leverage aggregated cookie data for ad targeting purposes?

Yes we will use cookie and offline purchase data for ad targeting purposes. GSN uses data to serve the shopper and make their shopping experience better. In doing so we expand the average households shopping basket by 45% by understanding the attributes of what they buy and their unique behaviors in each product category. We make nearly 700 million “buy” suggestions a week to consumers based on what is on sale in the stores. This program will be expanding in the future to include implicit offers to highlight seasonal items and offers directly from the CPG brands. It is a win-win-win capability to maximize the value provided to shoppers, while increasing sales to the retailer and market share to the CPG brand.

On the media side, will you use ad exchanges and/or networks to buy media on behalf of grocery store clients in order to target shoppers?

Absolutely! GSN OutReach™, uses the knowledge of online locations to determine the precise market area around each store and fine tune selection based on the desired target audience. We just announced a turnkey ad product that displays the current week’s advertised specials in an ad unit to create the first digital distribution option for the traditional weekly circular.

What needs to happen with CPG advertisers and the grocery stores to make this an even more compelling proposition? Any key drivers you’re looking at?

This digital landscape for advertising is new and advertisers need more information – specifically to know that traditional broad communications techniques now can have a second placement at the time of decision. In the traditional “funnel” most advertising focused on the top of funnel or mass approach. In the digital world of websites, social and mobile, folks like GSN have created a ‘bottom of funnel’ compliment at a critical moment of shopper purchase decision. With the generational trend in consumer behavior towards pre-planning purchases, this second placement needs to find a mainstream acceptance. This advertising category already exists, it is just not widely recognized. Once the brands within the grocery space become aware, I do believe the migration will be fairly quick. Those who get there early will be able to drive influence of their products and grab market share and household penetration with unprecedented success. The ROI measurements GSN provides, as well as other measurements, will ultimately drive advertisers to the most efficient spend. The economy will change the messaging but not the use. For example, in an improved economy the message will be used to find market share for new products, while in a down economy the focus maybe on maintaining market share. The introduction of causal areas, like Health and Wellness, where brands want to have a platform to express a point of view and highlight their offerings will also be a key area where this “bottom of funnel” placement will cause a migration of advertising focus.

Re: growing the business, how many employees are you today? Any plans on reaching out for funding in the near future?

Our base of employees is a total of around 55 people today. We plan to grow commensurate with our footprint and reach. Our company raised series A funding in 2007 with VantagePoint Venture Partners which helped enhance the platform to its current state. Based on the continued growth of market demand placed on GSN, we are open to new strategic funding discussions.

A year from now, what milestones would you like Grocery Shopping Network to have accomplished?

We are striving to reach 20 million shoppers planning their monthly trips, and impact a significant percentage of shopping decisions. We have an initiative to increase the registration of users and our database of registered users to nearly that level. Lastly, we have new initiatives in critical areas for consumers beyond saving time and money, particularly in food choices related to health.

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MINNEAPOLIS–Grocery Shopping Network, Inc. (GSN), a leader in technology and advertising solutions for retail grocers, is pleased to announce today that it has been awarded a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for “Product Variety Information” which includes GSN’s processes for displaying product varieties from weekly ads, circulars, and flyers displayed online. The patent was issued on June 8, 2010 and is listed as U.S. Patent 7,734,514.

“This achievement represents a milestone in the company’s history that illustrates the amount of ongoing focus the company puts into product development and innovation to deliver the best consumer experience and retail performance,” said Andy Robinson, CEO of Grocery Shopping Network. “We are pleased to bring a significant business process to the online grocery community and look forward to working with more retail chains to offer this patented technology.”

If a consumer is viewing an interactive flyer online, this patent covers the displaying of available varieties of “on-sale” products. For instance, if a top selling product is on sale, the patented process is a method for taking a general sales item and helping shoppers find exactly the items they want by displaying all varieties of an available product at a specific brick and mortar location. This solution helps shoppers while significantly increasing basket size and sales for retailers.

Grocery Shopping Network offers retailers a broad range of services that are designed to interact with consumers via store websites and manages over 7 million unique visitors planning over 21 million shopping trips monthly, over 35 million loyalty cards, and boasts a survey/email panel of over 2 million users. Some of the solutions for retailers include a display advertising network with revenue share, food and wellness content, coupons, personalized offers, interactive circular creation, online planning as well as buying, and much more. Grocery Shopping Network is now in more than 6,300 retail locations across North America.

The Company Releases Next Generation of Online Grocery Shopping

Grocery Shopping Network (GSN) is pleased to announce the release of the next generation of GSNConnect. Featuring mobile ordering capabilities and fully supporting all of the major mobile platforms including iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad, and others; GSNConnect has been upgraded and streamlined to allow users of GSN’s enhanced proprietary technology solutions to order their groceries or plan their shopping trips while on the go.

Retail grocery outlets who work with Grocery Shopping Network, now or in the future, are now able to provide online grocery shoppers with state of the art features including savings, circular specials, in-store specials, recipes, and personalized offers based on previously shopped items from their mobile phone.

“As a leader in the marketplace, GSN’s ability to continually innovate and create technology solutions for the industry has contributed to our company’s unparalleled growth and continued success,” said Andy Robinson, CEO of Grocery Shopping Network. “This newly developed solution combines websites, social media, and mobile media platforms to deliver improved shopper satisfaction and sales increases through the effective integration of technology advances and business acumen.”

Combined with Grocery Shopping Networks newly upgraded platform, GSNConnect will allow shoppers to plan and order items from their favorite grocer while on the go. GSN’s next generation platform also includes full logistics and back-end support including labor, picking optimization, and route trip planning. Stores can use this solution as a delivery mechanism as well as a shop-to-pick-up platform.

Hometown Illinois Grocer Adopts Latest Grocery Web Technology

Savanna, IL/Minneapolis May 24, 2010 — Grocery Shopping Network (GSN) announced today the addition of Illinois grocer Sullivan’s Foods to its technology and advertising network. Located in Savanna, Illinois; The 13 store group has served area communities for over 40 years. Sullivan’s Foods also joins the Grocery Shopping Network’s advertising network, which brings manufacturer offers directly to consumers and offers a new revenue stream for the company.

“We are anxious to bring our shoppers the best technology provider to enhance our online presence. Our customer base will be excited to know that changes are afoot on our website and the new site will be a major overhaul that will provide time, money, and quality service that reflects our goal of treating our customers how we would want to be treated,” commented Sullivan’s Foods CEO, John Sullivan. “We are very excited to be part of Grocery Shopping Network!”

This move is another example of how committed Sullivan’s Foods is to providing the very best services available to their customers. Not only will this upgrade enhance communications, it will also help shoppers find the best deals ahead of their shopping trips to Sullivan’s Foods. Sale items come standard with recipe suggestions and home cooking videos, allowing the at home chef or busy on-the-go family to plan trips and events while finding the right foods that meet their dietary needs.

“Grocers are continuing to adopt modern technology to manage the thousands of sale items and products that are specific to each store location,” said Vic Tortorici, SVP of Sales, Grocery Shopping Network.  “Technology solutions offered from Grocery Shopping Network bring speed to market and ease of use for grocers of all sizes. The solution is fully customizable for chains with limited IT staff to chains that have extensive IT and CRM management.”

The new website will include all the current features that Grocery Shopping Network provides for grocers across the country. The digital shopper planning solution includes a store wide search function which finds items from circulars, temporary price markdowns, and items that are in store but not on sale. The new website will also include the ability for in store coupon placement and manufacturer coupons which are searchable and will display next to relevant sale items to maximize the savings of shoppers.

About Sullivan’s Foods:

We are Sullivan’s Foods, a customer service team where our #1 priority is to treat our customers as we would want to be treated. Our purpose is to provide the widest variety of quality goods and service while keeping in mind the value of our customer dollars. Our success will always be measured by how well we service the needs of our communities. Come and grow with us, the stores where the customer always comes first! For more information on Sullivan’s Foods, please visit our website at: www.sullivansfoods.net.

A New Digital Advertising Solution Combining National Reach, Neighborhood Optimization & Purchase Based Shopper Targeting

What If You Could…

• Reach a nationwide audience of up to 110 million grocery shoppers

• Specifically target Power Shoppers of your brand and/or category as identified by actual in-store transactional purchase data

• Optimize your ad spend by geo-targeting only those areas, or Purchase Clusters, where your highest potential shoppers live      

Well, Now You Can with GSN OutReach

Stop by FMI Booth 1459 to Learn more about GSN OutReach!

Not going to the FMI show?  Contact our sales team at sales@groceryshopping.net to learn more!

New Digital Advertising Solution Reaches Audiences of Up to 110 Million

Minneapolis, MN (Vocus) May 10, 2010 — Grocery Shopping Network is pleased to announce the release of their second and newest digital advertising network, GSN OutReach; which combines national reach, neighborhood optimization, and true purchase behavior to allow retailers and brands to target based on their goals. GSN OutReach has an ad network reach potential of 110 million grocery shoppers across the country.

“CPG brands and grocery retailers now have access to a powerful new way to advertise online. GSN OutReach delivers brands and retailers an effective vehicle to reach their super-targeted audience that guarantees an effective ROI,” said Andy Robinson, CEO Grocery Shopping Network. “At GSN we’re unlocking our expertise in reaching power grocery shoppers anywhere in the purchase process – GSN OutReach clients will reach their most valuable shoppers with online display advertising that combines neighborhood level geo-targeting with lifestyle, demographic, psychographic and offline sales data intelligence.”

 With the continued trend of shopper’s pre-planning before reaching the retail store, this second ad network placement early in the traditional purchase funnel will complement the super-impactful value of GSN’s other ad network, GSN StoreSite, and its moment of decision delivery at the bottom of the purchase funnel.

Available in the second quarter of 2010, this new ad network provides brand advertisers and grocery retailers with a method to optimize their online advertising effort by precisely targeting their best customers based on the “purchase clusters” where they live. This level of targeting eliminates neighborhood zones that don’t deliver your strongest target audience. In doing so it enables unprecedented efficiency and return on investment. GSN OutReach assists in the acquisition of new customers, reminds your most loyal purchasers and provides the ability to target purchasers of your competitor’s product – on the web – prior to shopping.

Even a small increase in customer spend can mean huge overall annual sales increase.  GSN’s integrated suite of digital shopper planning and savings solutions will increase your customer spend an annual sales.  And we can prove it:

GSN has the ability to analyze the effectiveness of digital shopper planning online by looking at web and offline behavior.  By using POS and loyalty card data, GSN can show analysis for you and your chain that illustrates the result of effective web communication.  Stop by the booth at FMI to learn more and see an actual research study that was conducted over a 2 year period with many grocery chains nationwide that includes over 5 billion transactions.

Stop by FMI Booth 1459 to see the Study and Results!

Not attending the show?  Contact sales@groceryshopping.net to schedule a meeting to go over the results!  Or call 612-238-4940 and ask for a retail sales representative.

• While GSN offers the best tools in the business to capitalize on these emerging areas – as evidenced by our iPhone mobile app which was a 5^th ranked iPhone food app – it’s not tools that will make a mobile, social or even email program successful.  It’s content and the framework behind it that enables it.  And by their very nature mobile and social applications are highly personal.  Any attempts to push or offer content in these mediums that is not intensely relevant to the consumer will at worst lead to opt outs and “negative loyalty” and at best be simply ineffective.
• GSN is the only company that uses and has the capability to use “purchase based personalization” (offline and online) to provide truly relevant, personalized content in the form of savings, coupons, recipes to mobile and “digitally social” shoppers
• We provide this content day in and day out on a continuous “everyday” basis to all registered shoppers which are critical needs given that these mediums are accessed multiple times daily.
• This wealth of data enables GSN to know what works and what doesn’t across the industry.  A capability that no one else has which allows insight that directly benefits our retail and advertiser clients
• Finally, GSN’s capability of intense, purchase based personalization is seamlessly integrated into all shopper touch points including mobile, social, email, the website – everywhere.  GSN is the only company with the ability to do so.

Stop by FMI Booth 1459 to find out more!

Not going to the FMI show?  Contact our sales team at sales@groceryshopping.net to learn more!

Your website should be a sales and profit center, not just an expense.  The reality is that very few grocery websites have proven positive ROI’s.  GSN is the expert in digital consumer and shopper behavior for the grocery channel.  With a shopper insight data base of more than 35 million loyalty card households, we continually develop, test, measure and optimize digital marketing programs for retail clients who represent more than 130 Billion in annual sales. 

Our team knows which engagement solutions work and how to generate ROI backed by actual in store transactional data.  We will be meeting with retailers at the FMI show in Las Vegas, NV from May 10th – 13th talking about this very topic.

Visit Grocery Shopping Network at FMI Booth 1459 to find out more!

Not going to the FMI show? 

Contact sales@groceryshopping.net to learn about research that shows positive ROI using best practices along with the best technology and advertising program for grocery retailers today!

The Lempert Report for 04/27/2010 – Supermarket Guru. Click this link for the 5 minute video.  A detailed report on taking your brand online and couponing.  A very  practical reason for brands to have an online presence is to exert more direct control over dialogue with consumers.  Today’s Lempert Report summary below.

Online, Brands Can Be More Than One in 50,000|Coupons: More, More, More

TLRTV is a 5-minute videocast designed specifically for the B2B Food World with a focus on Marketing Analysis, Issues & Trends. In today’s report…

·  It may seem as if CPG is playing follow the leader since Procter & Gamble announced the PGestore would go live this spring. Alice.com is providing a marketplace for dozens of brands consumers know.. and a safe haven for others that lack retail distribution.

·  In calendar 2009, overall coupon distribution rose by 11% to 311 billion coupons – and redemptions rose by 23%, with successive gains each quarter, detailed in the 2010 NCH Coupon Facts Report.

Visit the Lempert Report for today’s video here