RetailWire, a trade publication, has an interesting article on Safeway’s Just For U personalized deals program. Some excerpts:
Safeway’s annual investors conference in early March, Steve Burd, president and CEO, spent 30 minutes raving about the potential of its Just For U marketing program that combines personalization and mobility.
“The offers are much more relevant than the weekly ad,” said Mr. Burd. “Will we continue to do the weekly ad? We will. But I can envision a point in time where that’s not really very important.”
For shoppers, the digital site congregates virtually any paper coupon that exists in the market. To speed up the grocery-list creation process, club deals and coupons are organized based on the shopper’s purchasing history and also by expiration date.
…
Besides better engaging consumers through the overall program, the use of personalizing offers cuts down the price competition that comes from a mass approach such as circulars. Said Mr. Burd, “Your go-to-market strategy becomes a lot more invisible to your competition.”
Aside from the wildly inaccurate statement about them congregating “virtually any paper coupon that exists” (they only offer Coupons.com offers, ignoring thousands of other printables and all of the coupons that come in the inserts each week) …can you imagine a time when Just For U will replace the physical, paper ad?
I realize the industry is pushing hard for digital, but anyone who’s spent any time at Dominick’s has undoubtedly seen shoppers struggling with Just For U. Whether it’s discounts that don’t come off at the register or the path one must take to get those deals, I don’t think that they’re quite in touch with what actually goes on at the store level.
When it works, it’s great. But when it doesn’t… I know many of us have experienced the discounts not being deducted at the register and the chilly reception at the store when you complain. “Well, did you print it? We can’t adjust it unless you brought a printout.”
I’ve seen a senior citizen asking how he can get the milk price advertised — “Oh, you need to sign in online. Here, we have a computer at the front of the store so you can load it to your card.” It takes about ten minutes for an employee to walk him through the process of entering his Fresh Values card and setting up an account, going through all of the screens with assistance, and then finally loading the coupon to the card. Upon completion, the man was told it would take an hour for the deal to register to his card before he could use it. Of course, he threw up his hands in exasperation. He was a shopper for whom a paper ad or promotion was definitely a better fit.
The industry comments under the article are interesting too. Many in the industry think JFU is brilliant, while others aren’t so sure.
Charlie Q says
Another “brilliant” plan from Safeway’s marketing dept.
bookmaven says
that J4U works pretty well for me. Maybe I’m in the minority, but the personalized deals I get are very good and obviously tailor-made for my shopping habits. For example, I almost always have bananas at $.49 or less on my card. Yesterday, I could get the pillsbury crescent rolls on sale & use the ecoupon without needing a paper coupon. With the deal match, there’s not much I have to stop for at Jewel. Also, I really like the printable shopping list J4U provides. Yes, there are some glitches, but nothing too major that I’ve had to deal with.
I do still look at the paper ad, but I could probably just use the online stuff and get the same result. The ad is helpful for noticing things on sale that I don’t regularly buy.
claritygolden says
I’d say about 30% of the time I have a problem at the store with items I loaded on my card. (And actually that’s an improvement from when it first started.) I’ve called the number they give and been told my card is fine, yet still something goes wrong. Now even if I print out the list or pull it up on my phone, my store says they have to call to verify. (Can’t you see that I have it loaded on the phone I’m holding in front of your face?) One day I spent 10 minutes waiting in line at CS, then 10 minutes waiting while the woman called and was on hold, then answering all these questions about the products I got, then re-explaining what I needed because no one understood, etc. I only waited because I was due about $12 (and I only ended up getting back $10 of it because they insisted I didn’t have something loaded, even though it was showing on my phone), but when it’s only a few bucks I usually don’t waste my time and just leave without the correction. The CS people at my store don’t really seem to understand the system either, and frequently give me incorrect information. (This stuff has to be infuriating for them too!) I’ve basically stopped popping into Dominicks when all I want is 1 or 2 JFU items. If I have a larger trip I go, and only if I’m not in a hurry. Otherwise, it’s more convenient to just pay a tiny bit extra but go to Jewel or, even better, the small produce market/grocery store where I never have a hassle or an incorrect price.
I’m really curious about how many people are using the system. It takes a lot of time as well as access to a computer to use the site. Seems like there would be a lot of people who can’t/won’t use it. I suspect Safeway doesn’t care that not everyone will access their deals, though. They put teasers in the ad which draws people in, but then those who can’t or aren’t willing to use the electronic system will end up paying full price. Customer satisfaction doesn’t seem to be high on their priority list.
lawrence54476 says
I’m having the same problem as another user described below. At least half (usually more) of the JFU deals I load to my card do not work at check-out. Then, if I want the deals, I have to go the same process described – take the items to customer service, call the main number, explain everything to the operator, have them talk to the customer service rep. at the store, etc. – it is a HUGE inconvenience and totally not worth the savings. I called the main number and after explaining the issue was told that this is happening a lot and they don’t know how to fix it! They were willing to refund me the difference for several items I purchased but did not get the proper discount for – the savings showed up on my card the next time I shopped.
FDeRosier says
I had to look at the date you posted this Jill, because I thought maybe you were posting a second April Fool’s Day joke for us!
jmdetz says
I live very close to Dominick’s, but I really don’t shop there unless the deal is amazing. I have loaded Just For U in the morning, and 8 hours later on my way home from work it hasn’t worked, which I didn’t notice until I got home, so then I had to help the customer service agent on the phone who obsessed over the fact that my husband’s card wasn’t linked to mine and that must be the problem…. You have to scrutinize every step of the checkout process – which isn’t easy since they are fast. I like the deal match concept as well, but last time I tried it on smart ones it wasn’t marked well.