Grocer Scores Sales With Floor Graphics, Kiosks

When Tom Weisner, director of merchandising for the Milwaukee-based division of Roundy's Inc., didn't even notice the Christmas display materials hanging from the ceiling in his local supermarket, he realized it was time to change the food wholesaler's approach to P-O-P.Weisner revealed what he successfully substituted for the ceiling decor at a seminar at The P-O-P Show/Display, Sign & Fixture Design Show in May, one of three sessions devoted to the supermarket industry. Joining him on the dais were representatives from two of Roundy's vendors: Bob Peiffer, creative director, Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth, Wis., and Matthew Borgard, on-premise national accounts manager for Barton Beers Ltd., Chicago."What most grocers have done is use ceilings to the point where there's too much to read, and customers just don't look up anymore," Weisner explained. "We used to do a lot of things on our ceilings, too, until last Christmas. We had put up a decor kit, and when I came into the store and looked up, I just didn't see it."As one of the nation's largest food wholesalers, Roundy's reach extends to 12 states and 10 distribution centers that supply more than 1,800 independently owned supermarkets. One such supermarket is Pick 'N Save, Wisconsin's leading supermarket chain. Its Advantage Plus frequent shopper program is at the heart of Weisner's efforts to revitalize P-O-P.The highly successful program gave back $10 million in merchandise credits to Wisconsin consumers last year. It relies on data gathered at kiosks in every Pick 'N Save store. Customers who sign up for a "Smart Card" can swipe it through three different ports on the kiosk when they shop: the first scans the card's bar code and times each shopping trip; the second is a message center; and the third prints customized lists of discounts based on shoppers' buying habits. Cards are swiped through the system again at check-out to reflect any discounts and release the customer's data from active status and void any offers made that day.The company has made a substantial investment in hardware alone, which includes multiple kiosks in each location and satellite dishes to track customer data throughout all stores. As Weisner said, "If Mrs. Smith goes across the state or out of state and scans her card, in only 5.6 seconds the system retrieves data from her home store and makes her completely personalized offers."Weisner stressed that the P-O-P ties the whole program together. Once ads introduced shoppers to program mascot "Pickie the Card," a giant version of the program's shopping card, that helped dispel any fears over data collection and privacy, he says. Three 7-foot-tall Pickie characters also visited individual stores to attract attention. Floor graphics showing Pickie's red footprints to lead shoppers to the kiosks were also installed.Since the launch, Weisner has expanded his use of floor graphics to include a graphics program for every private label brand the stores carry. Sargento Foods Inc. took advantage of this commitment recently when it introduced a Dairy Snack Center for its MooTown snack products by using cow hoofprints to lead shoppers to the display.According to Sargento's Peiffer, the combination has positioned the brand as a winner. "Before, the products were strewn around the stores with no set location," he said. "Now they're all in one place in an attention-getting display. We have more than 4,000 units out there at most of our target accounts, and 75 percent have said their sales have increased from 10 percent to 30 percent."Floor graphics, this time in the form of bare human footprints, also helped Barton Beers boost supermarket sales during its promotion for Corona beer. The company placed more than 75,000 footprints on store floors to lead shoppers to Corona displays.Said Barton's Borgard, "We wanted to increase incremental trade volume during the key summer period as well as generate impulse trials and stimulate repeat purchases. We decided on a P-O-P approach that was lighthearted and stressed fun in the sun and on the beach."Weisner said floor graphics will continue to play a major role in his P-O-P plans, not only because of their success but because they're so simple to use. As he noted, "Really, the sky's the limit because you can do anything with the floor that you want. We've tested it at store entrances, and it stands up to water, salt -- even scrubbing machines. There's no peeling or blistering and zero maintenance."

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