The Chicago Tribune has a lengthy article on Jewel-Osco’s MyMixx electronic coupons today. From the article:
Jewel-Osco is back in the personalized discount business.
The Illinois grocery chain eliminated its loyalty card in 2013 in favor of offering the same prices to all. Now, with a new app, it has started to offer discounts and sometimes even free products to those who sign up and share their personal information. The move comes as use of digital coupons is growing at a rapid clip but accounts for a very small percentage of the billions of coupons redeemed each year…
The data is collected and used to create personalized offers on items and categories people shop the most. Also, Jewel can track how coupons are working. If it sees certain coupons aren’t popular, it can let the vendors know so they can devise better offers.
“It makes a lot more sense to give people the best price on the items that are most important to them,” said Jim Hertel, managing partner at Barrington-based Willard Bishop, a grocery consulting firm.
The launch of MyMixx marks a bit of a return to electronic coupons for Jewel-Osco. Years ago, Jewel was seen as one of the leaders in electronic coupons with its Avenu service, said Jill Cataldo, who runs coupon workshops and has a nationally syndicated coupon column. The Avenu service was dropped a few years ago.
Cataldo says she held on to her Jewel Preferred Customer card after the chain eliminated discounts tied to the card. She was still presenting it until January in order to get deals through SavingStar, a digital coupon service that links to supermarket loyalty cards for additional savings.
Cataldo said she has seen a lot of what she would call “fun offers” through MyMixx, such as $5 off a purchase of $50, as well as giveaways such as a 12-pack of Canada Dry.
“When you give away free things like that it’s a great way to get the consumer engaged and get them thinking about checking those offers,” Cataldo said.
Still, plenty of shoppers are accustomed to bargain hunting, and eliminating that chase can turn them off. In 2012, J.C. Penney got rid of coupons and frequent sales under then-CEO Ron Johnson. The attempt backfired. Its revenue plunged, and the company brought back its tried-and-true strategy and a former CEO months later.
“People love a bargain, they love to feel like they’re getting a deal,” Cataldo said.
On the registration page, Jewel calls MyMixx “a savings personalization program that tailors coupon and sale offers to you.” MyMixx is set up to be used on mobile devices, but can also be accessed on a computer for those without a smartphone.
Still, while “mobile is the rage” when it comes to marketing and promotions, the challenge will be trying to get enough people using such personalized offers that their use really moves the needle in terms of sales and market share, Willard Bishop’s Hertel said.
There’s quite a bit more to this story too. Read the entire story at ChicagoTribune.com
NFriday says
Hi- I have not gotten any personalized offers yet, and so the only mymixx deal I have done so far is the Canada Dry one, which I got a few weeks ago. When Dominick’s had the J4U program, I used to get all kinds of personalized offers that I could really use.
Thaanks, Nancy