In years gone by, grocery stores could rely on foot traffic and weekly circulars to draw in local customers.
But when big box retailers started opening multiple stores, the tables turned. Now, they have big budgets and authority that enable them to market their stores effectively, making it difficult for smaller grocery stores and local markets to keep up.
But all is not lost! With some creative grocery store marketing strategies, smaller retailers can create authentic local connections, differentiate themselves from big box retailers, and bring back loyal customers.
In this article, we'll explore five innovative marketing tactics your grocery store can use to stand out and drive foot traffic and sales in new ways. Let's dig in!
Grocery Store Marketing: Get Creative With These 5 Ideas
Grocery store marketing is essential, but it does come with unique challenges. More than other retail businesses, grocery stores rely on promotions, seasonal offerings, and flash sales to drive foot traffic and sales. Shoppers expect promotions to help make their shopping experience better, from special holiday displays to summer produce deals.
Doing marketing well will help your store stand out and stay competitive. Promotions showcase new products, educate customers, and encourage purchases. Year-round campaigns keep customers engaged. Community events bring families together and make the store a hub for local food culture. Lastly, bargain-seekers love campaigns that offer deals and discounts.
If you fail to market altogether, your store will struggle to survive. Thanks to big box retailers, farmers markets, and online grocery delivery services, shoppers have more choices than ever before. So, how can you grab shoppers’ attention and loyalty?
You need a strategy. And your point of sale (POS) system can help. You can track goals and key performance indicators to monitor what’s working, use sales data to inform promotions, and easily manage customer loyalty programs.
Social media presents a huge opportunity to drive engagement and promote products in helpful and entertaining ways. One popular (yet underutilized) idea is to launch contests and giveaways that encourage shoppers to participate and create content themselves.
For example, you could hold a themed recipe contest around Thanksgiving. Ask shoppers to submit original recipes using ingredients in peak supply, and select winners to spotlight.
On a broader scale, having a social media presence helps showcase your store. Leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to post high-resolution photos and videos that highlight the freshness of your produce. You can also attract daily shoppers by presenting freshly prepared meals and baked goods made with products from your store.
Finally, capture shoppers’ attention with pictures of exciting new products, seasonal items, and specials you want to promote. The visual nature of social media presents opportunities to inspire and inform your customers. You can even share behind-the-scenes looks at your produce and meat departments, tell the stories of local vendors, and offer shortcuts that make cooking with your ingredients easy.
Related: Meat and Fish Market POS: 4 Features That Boost Sales
Your POS system can help by identifying which products sell fast or see sales lifts during promotions. You can feature top-selling products heavily on social media to double down on what’s in demand.
2. Level Up the In-Store Experience
Although digital grocery store marketing tactics are all the rage, grocers have various ways to boost the in-store experience through engaging promotions and signage. For example, use alliteration to create memorable experiences like “Taco Tuesdays.” You might introduce “Fresh Fruit Fridays” and offer a free sample of fruit to put in kids’ lunchboxes.
If you have the budget, you could bring in local chefs to conduct live cooking demonstrations using your fresh ingredients. Set up tasting stations where customers can sample foods and new products. You could also bundle products together in a display so customers can try the recipes they see chefs creating.
Use signage and displays to highlight products. Consider using spotlights to draw shoppers’ eyes to featured items, and chalkboard signs to highlight daily sales and specials. Floor stickers are another good idea to guide foot traffic inside your store and direct customers to key products.
Your POS system provides data you can use to inform in-store merchandising decisions. Identify fast-selling items and place them on end caps or at the front of shelves. Likewise, identify slow-moving products and create promotions and discounts to move them quicker.
3. Partner With Local Food Producers
Partnering with local farms and food producers lets you tap into the “farm-to-table” movement and consumer desire to know where their food comes from. You can promote local partnerships through “farm-to-fork” messaging in your store, on social media, and through email marketing.
People love stories. You can tell the stories of nearby farms and share photos and videos of local farmers producing your fruits and vegetables. You can also use signage to highlight locally grown produce and offer discounts or coupons on local ingredients.
An out-of-the-box idea is to convert part of your parking lot into a weekly farmers market where local producers can sell fresh goods, baked treats, jams, crafts, and more. You help support small businesses and create a unique shopping experience.
If that’s not feasible, you could dedicate a section of your store to local items and send weekly emails and social media updates to customers spotlighting what's in season and available.
Your POS system helps identify top-selling local products. Use this data to inform which partnerships you promote and products you spotlight. Some POS systems offer custom label-printing features, making it easy to print labels and barcodes for special promotions.
4. Host Free Community Events
Hosting free events shows your customers that you care about the local community and helps bring families together around food.
To piggyback off the previous section, you can hire local chefs to teach cooking classes using seasonal ingredients, and give customers a discount on the ingredients they need to make the meal at home.
Or you can look for partnerships with local schools — maybe offer store tours to kids and provide information about healthy eating and cooking. You might assemble healthy meal kits and donate them to underprivileged families in your neighborhood. If your store has a cafe, think up creative deals like "$1 kids’ meals" on Saturday afternoons to drive family traffic.
Your POS system can send emails to customers to keep them in the loop about upcoming events. For example, send targeted emails to parents about your $1 kids' meals and encourage them to visit your store. You can also track basket size and purchasing trends around key demographics like families with kids, and use those insights to inform events and promotions.
5. Embrace E-Commerce
With busy schedules and a growing desire for convenience, more and more consumers are turning to grocery e-commerce for their shopping needs.
At a minimum, your website should include basic information like your location, hours, and departments.
But to provide an omnichannel experience, you want to promote weekly sales and deals, list special services like deli and butcher counters, and offer the option of ordering online for delivery or buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS).
Meeting shoppers where they are, whether in-store or online, is key for modern grocers. Embracing e-commerce lets your customers get their groceries in a way that works for them. Integrating your POS with e-commerce allows you to manage online orders efficiently and seamlessly merge online and in-store inventory.
Grocery Store Marketing: Over to You!
With creative thinking, your grocery store can break the mold of traditional food retail marketing. Partnering with local producers, hosting community events, and running contests are just some of the ways you can keep things fresh and engage shoppers.
The grocery industry is rapidly evolving, but you can thrive in today’s competitive landscape and stand out from the competition with some creative thinking and the ideas above.
To help implement and track marketing campaigns, we recommend a POS system designed for grocery stores.
Markt POS equips independent grocers with detailed sales insights and inventory management tools to inform marketing strategies and provide a stellar customer experience. From targeted promotions to loyalty programs, we have everything you need to attract new customers — and keep current customers coming back.
Would you like to find out how Markt POS can help you track promotions, identify buying trends, and optimize your product mix? Schedule a demo today to see how our point of sale solution can help take your marketing to the next level.
