But there are certainly some community retailers that understand the potential impact of new processes and technology. This was proved at a workshop on digital shopper marketing at the National Grocers Association's annual convention in Las Vegas last week where about 50 retailers heard experts discuss how to increase sales and margins through the enhancement of the store website and the use of social media, search and (again!) mobile marketing.
Curt Alpeter, executive vice president of MyWebGrocer, started the session reviewing the digital tools available to retailers, including search engine optimization. He also discussed the importance of the shopper having control of how, when and where messages and offers are communicated.
Arthur Ackles, director of marketing at Roche Bros., gave two case studies on how effective digital marketing can be if done right. In the first example, Roche Bros., an 18-store chain in New England, mailed cards listing a personalized website with customized offers to 7,600 shoppers. About 10 percent responded by logging on to the site and 91 percent of those shoppers read through the entire offer and took some action. The program had responses four months after initial mailing.
In the second example, Roche spent about $48,000 to place ads on search engine sites and conduct a search engine optimization program, which resulted in $1 million in incremental revenue. The retailer is still seeing about 100 net new customers from the effort per month.
Roche also has online shopping through MyWebGrocer, with an average basket size of $150, more than half of which is incremental, Mr. Ackles said. He added that online sales are now the equivalent of a small store with considerably less overhead.