Offers Bringing Social Buying to the Grocery Industry LEAD Marketing Conference 2011 Ben Sprecher Founder and VP of Marketing, Incentive Targeting ben@incentivetargeting.com 617-661-4170
Outline What is social buying? Challenges to social buying in grocery Examples of social buying in grocery Best practices and lessons learned Questions? 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 2
Why am I giving this presentation? 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 3
What is social buying?
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Typical deals: restaurants, spas, yoga, travel 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 6
Daily Deals: $4.5 billion in the US by 2015 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 7
Groupon still leads the pack 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 8
Fastest growing company. Ever. Q2 2009 Q1 2011 Employees 37 7,107 Revenue $3.3 M $644.7 M Subscribers 152,203 83.1 M IPO in 2011: $15 Billion valuation? 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 9
How does social buying work? Email Share Groupon s take: 50% 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 10
Social buying s greatest hits Groupon - $50 for $25 at the GAP 441,000 sold LivingSocial - $20 for $10 at Amazon.com 1,301,296 sold LivingSocial - $20 for $10 at Whole Foods 1,000,000 sold 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 11
Market criticisms of Groupon and social buying Cost Measurability Runaway deals Deal chasers Erosion of non-deal-based marketing Funny math: adjusted CSOI ( adjusted consolidated segment operating income ) 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 12
Challenges to social buying in grocery 9/27/2011 13
Main obstacles to social buying in grocery Business model Pricing Redemption Deal packaging 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 14
Business model challenges Shopper 3 Parties = More Complexity Retailer Brand Measurability & Accountability Fear of runaway liability 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 15
Pricing challenge 1.57% Average before tax profit margin in the supermarket industry in 2010 (source: FMI) 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 16
Redemption challenges Grocery Retail Industry Dozens of chains, thousands of stores, gazillions of lanes No cross-chain coordination or integration POS Technology Complex/antiquated terminals Limited/no internet connectivity Integration to retail back-office is difficult Checkout Efficiency Delays are unacceptable Manager intervention required for high-value coupons Fraud Rampant coupon fraud today ($500M+/year) Already, many grocers won t honor high-value digital or print-at-home coupons 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 17
Deal packaging challenge vs. Save $1 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 18
Problems Fraud Print at home. Execution No POS integration. Analytics Shopper not identified. Complex, multi-party transaction Brands don t sell direct to shoppers. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 19
Problems Our solution: load-to-card Fraud Print at home. Load to Card. Execution No POS integration. Executed though POS Analytics Shopper not identified. Shopper tracked. Complex, multi-party transaction Brands don t sell direct to shoppers. Brand promotes. Retailer sells. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 20
Examples of social buying in grocery
Categories of social buying grocery deals Direct ship by brands Specialty/gourmet store-wide deals Load-to-card deals on specific products lifestyle deals coupon-style deals Whole Foods/Living Social deal 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 22
Direct ship by the brand, circumventing the retailers
General Mills $20 for box of GM Products Box of GM products and coupons shipped to shoppers homes, retail value of $40+ Sold 5,000 between Minneapolis and San Francisco 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 24
Direct ship - pros and cons Pros No retail integration or coordination Not limited to particular retailers or geographies Fixed product selection drives trial Coupons could yield followon purchases Cons Circumvents retailers, creating channel conflict Expensive: fulfillment and shipping costs No measurability Not scalable 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 25
Specialty/gourmet stores offering store-wide discounts
Fresh Farms $10 for $20 Sold out at 5,000 1 location, in Chicago, Groupon s most mature market Gourmet/specialty grocery store 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 27
Lemon Tree Grocer $12 for $25 Single location, gourmet/specialty grocery store 2,798 bought In Chicago 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 28
Lovera s Italian Market - $25 for $50 Single location, gourmet Italian grocery store 351 bought In Tulsa 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 29
The Goddess and the Grocer - $5 for $10 Multiple locations, gourmet/specialty grocery store & deli 10,000+ bought In Chicago 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 30
Peapod Chicago - $30 for $60 Home delivery 450 bought In Chicago 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 31
Gourmet retailer store-wide deal - pros and cons Pros Simple to sell (it is just a normal deal) Simple to administer (have a single redemption station in the store) Likely to sell better due to fewer restrictions Cons Slows down checkout Redemption hassles Fraud risk No measurability Won t work well across multiple locations or at high volumes Won t work with lowermargin grocers No brand funding 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 32
Load-to-card deals for specific products
Load-to-card lifestyle deals - #1 and #2 Angus Porterhouse Steak Existing item Outsold all other deals (1,500+) Seafood Grilling Basket New item Outsold all other deals (333) Loaded to the shopper s Big Y card, automatically applied at check out Targeted follow-up offers to cement buying behavior 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 34
#3 Jewel-Osco/Unilever Ice Cream, $9 for $15 Launched July 28 3,823 purchased ~2,000 on day 1 ~1,000 on day 2 $57,000 of ice cream pre-sold online >50% redeemed thru 9/15 Distribution No-one received this as their Featured Deal or Deal of the Day Most visitors to Groupon.com had to go to All Deals page to see it Social Media 736 Facebook Likes 19% of purchasers (typical Groupon gets 5% - 10%) Possible follow-up offers 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 35
#4 Big Y/Kellogg s Special K, $10 for $22 Launched 9/13 Select 5 Special K items: 2 cereals 1 shakes 1 chips 1 bars 826 purchased $18,000 of Special K pre-sold online Distribution Available in Springfield, Hartford, Fairfield County, and Worcester Social Media 176 Likes 21% of purchasers Possible follow-up offers 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 36
Load-to-card, product-specific lifestyle deals - pros and cons Pros Works with low margin retailers Doesn t slow down checkout Simple redemption Fully traceable and measurable Fraud resistant Scalable across any number of locations and large volumes Can be brand funded Can build continuity with targeted follow-on offers Cons Requires (lightweight) connection to retailer loyalty/pos/load-to-card capability May sell fewer than deals with no product limits 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 37
Aisle50 coupon-style discounts Launched in August 3 deals so far: 50% off 1 32-oz Chobani $1 off 2 International Delights creamers 2 Lowes Foods OJs for $2.79 Load-to-card No connection to shopper data 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 38
Load-to-card, product-specific coupon-style deals - pros and cons Pros Works with low margin retailers Doesn t slow down checkout Simple redemption Fully traceable and measurable (*by the retailer, not the brand) Fraud resistant Scalable across any number of locations and large volumes Can be brand funded Can build continuity with targeted follow-on offers Can be just another digital loadto-card coupon Requires less integration than needed to support analytics Cons Requires connection to retailer loyalty/pos/load-to-card capability May sell fewer than deals with no product limits Lacks aspirational aspect to deals - can feel like just another coupon to the consumer Smaller deal sizes and dollar values may not drive as large an increase in basket size Smaller deals may drive lower redemption rates 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 39
National-scale retailer, store-wide discount
Whole Foods Living Social 1,000,000 sold! 120,000+/hour Fastest selling deal in Living Social history Good for anything in the store Executed as a $20 virtual gift card 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 41
Buzz, media, etc. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 42
National-scale, store-wide deals - pros and cons Pros 1,000,000 sold!!!!! Simple redemption Free money for Whole Foods?? Emerging consensus: Living Social paid Whole Foods close to $20 for each deal sold, not the usual $5. Cons No measurability Fraud risk Economics don t make sense on an ongoing basis Can t be brand funded 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 43
Results and metrics from our deals 9/27/2011 44
10-20% of deal purchasers didn t have a card New vs. Existing Card holders New 20% Existing 80% 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 45
9-10% of Groupon purchasers weren t current 18% Percent of existing cardholders who hadn't shopped in the prior n months 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 1 month 2 months 3 months 4 months 5 months 6 months 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 46
The deals drove enormous rates of trial 826 people purchased 2 cereals 1 chips 1 bars 1 shakes Of those 826 1 # of shoppers who had bought all items before: Across all deals, 50-100% hadn t bought the promoted items before. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 47
The deal drove shoppers to shop new categories Percent of deal purchasers who had not bought... 50% 47% 40% 30% 24% 20% 13% 10% 0% Promoted Ice Creams Ice Cream Category Frozen Department Storewide during the 6 months prior to the deal 4% 47% of deal buyers were not previously customers of the promoted brands, and almost a quarter weren t buying ice cream at all. 4% were completely lapsed. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 48
Lift across item, category, department, and store Average Weekly Spend by Porterhouse Groupon Redeemers (Excludes $10 spend on the Groupon; existing shoppers only) Porterhouse +2100% Red Meat +152% Meat DEPT +73% All Products +50% +0% +500% +1000% +1500% +2000% +2500% Increase in avg. weekly spend, redemption period vs. 2011 pre-groupon Deal redeemers have begun to dramatically outspend their pre-deal 2011 averages, even before taking deal revenue into account. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 49
Best practices and lessons learned for social buying in grocery
Know what you want to achieve, and measure it Discuss key objectives up front, measure against those #/% of new card signups #/% of lapsed shoppers engaged Filling category voids Rate of trial Increase in spending during the redemption period on item, category, department, and store Increase in spending after the redemption period on item, category, department, and store Long term change in shopper behavior Unit economics alone can t justify these types of deals Scott Taylor (on Monday): Learning is the ROI 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 51
KISS #1 (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. - Murphy s Second Corollary Think through the shopper experience end-to-end Reduce complexity, eliminate choices, remove steps Key areas: New card enrollment Card # entry Redemption Issue resolution Expiration 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 52
KISS #2 (Keep It Secure, Stupid!) If there are loopholes, people will find them If people find loopholes, they will share them If people share loopholes, they will go viral Danger areas: Duplicate cards/multiple purchases Override codes Pricing system limitations Returns 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 53
The deal matters. A lot. Deal structure is hugely important $ off anything (e.g., Whole Foods $10 buys $20) $ off a product (e.g., Big Y s $20 of Porterhouse for $10) $ off a set of products (e.g., Unilever s $9 for $15 of ice cream) $ for an item (e.g., Big Y s Shellfish Grill Pack for $24) $ for a set of items (e.g., Kellogg s $10 Special K bundle) Different structures impact Rates of trial Purchase rates Share/Like rates Profitability Interaction with other promotional activity 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 54
Don t let the big one get away Plan your follow-up campaigns from day one Different values and messaging for different shoppers New shoppers Lapsed shoppers Category buyers Existing loyals 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 55
Other best practices/lessons learned Timing matters Pay attention to other promotions In-store activity can distort the redemption curve Experimentation is key 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 56
Advice from other retailers Pick the promotion carefully Dollar value should represent an upsell Highlight something that differentiates you Redemption can be a problem without load-to-card Poor compliance Additional work for associates Remember the big picture Build a relationship with your customer Think about social buying in the context of an overall digital strategy Find the right partner Pure social buying companies don t necessarily understand grocery Issues like vendor funding, accounting, etc. require deep industry knowledge 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 57
Conclusion Social buying can be a powerful tool Short term ROI: trial, reengagement, lift, buzz, and learning Long term ROI: jury is still out Measure, measure, measure Don t waste the engagement follow up with everyone Experiment, but with eyes wide open to the challenges, and as part of a broader digital strategy. 9/27/2011 2011 Incentive Targeting, Inc. 58
Questions?
For more information, please contact me: Ben Sprecher Incentive Targeting, Inc. ben@incentivetargeting.com 617-661-4170 Thank you!