Big Y Foods—a regional supermarket known for its experimental approach to marketing—is offering a deal through Groupon, a first for large grocery stores.
"For us, it's just a way
to test another medium," Harry Kimball, director of database marketing for the Springfield, Mass.-based grocery chain, tells Marketing Daily. "It's a way for us to get the message out, and tie it to
our loyalty program. We want to know if our customers will respond, and we want to give them another way to buy groceries and shop in our stores."
The first test is for a newly introduced
Shellfish Grill Pack, including lobster tails, mussels, and clams, which sells for $39.99 and is being offered at a 40% discount for $24. After the shopper buys the Groupon, they enter their Big Y
Express Saving Club membership number, so the Shellfish deal is electronically loaded onto her loyalty card. The deal is automatically credited when she checks out at the supermarket.