Beef Gets a Digital Retail Upgrade
Digital shopper marketing platform Chicory has teamed up with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) on a digital effort to raise the profile of beef to U.S. food retail consumers and accelerate e-commerce growth of beef products at Kroger and Kroger banners, Walmart Grocery and Albertson/Safeway banners.
To accomplish both goals, "Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner." leveraged Chicory’s Digital Shopping Aisle experience for two media campaigns, as well as shoppable recipes on BeefItsWhatsforDinner.com.
“At a time when more people are shopping online than ever before, this partnership has allowed us to jump into the world of e-commerce and encourage consumers to enjoy delicious beef for dinner,” said Bridget Wasser, senior executive director of product quality at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff. “Beyond the media campaigns, the shoppable recipes take the work out of dinner from beefy meal ideas, to shopping and grocery delivery with the click of the mouse.”
Chicory’s first-to-market Digital Shopping Aisle solution enables commodity-focused groups to equitably represent beef manufacturers, while executing an effective shopper marketing and contextual commerce campaign. "Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner." is utilizing Chicory Premium in recipe ad units to “own” ingredients via in-line units and “pairings” ads to feature products within related content in order to promote beef products in contextually relevant recipes on over 1,500 recipe sites, including Taste of Home, Creme de la Crumb and Fork in the Kitchen.
Consumers are shown ads that are shoppable at either Kroger and Kroger banners, Walmart Grocery or Albertson/Safeway banners based on retailer geography. Consumers who click on the Walmart Grocery or Albertsons/Safeway banners shoppable ads are driven to Chicory’s unique Digital Shopping Aisle, showcasing the available beef products needed for the recipe, such as ground beef, steak and roasts, at a retailer.
The Digital Shopping Aisle randomizes the available products that the consumer sees, ensuring a truly equitable experience for each brand and product. Here, shoppers may choose their preferred brand and add the product to their digital shopping cart for a seamless checkout experience. Consumers who click on the Kroger or Kroger banners shoppable ads are driven to customized Kroger landing pages with the various available cuts of beef to make their choice.
“We’re so pleased with this partnership and the unique ways that Beef is leveraging Chicory’s shoppable media solutions, including Digital Shopping Aisle, and shoppable recipe technology,” said Yuni Sameshima, Chicory’s CEO and co-founder. “This partnership provides a solution to solve the challenge of executing an effective shopper marketing campaign while offering equal visibility to the beef brands available at the retailers featured in the campaign. The utilization of Chicory’s shoppable recipe technology on the roughly 1,000 recipes on BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com solidifies Beef’s commitment to implement a holistic contextual commerce strategy that ultimately leads consumers to buy more beef.”
The partnership will also provide a seamless way for BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com to lead users from inspiration to purchase through a commerce-enabled recipe checkout experience, Recipe Activation. Using Chicory’s shoppable recipe technology, users can purchase all ingredients needed for any of the recipes on BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com instantly. Once shoppers click on the “Get Ingredients” button under a recipe, they will be prompted to enter their zip code and select their preferred grocery retailer. Shoppers will then be redirected to that retailer’s site with all ingredients needed for their selected recipe already in their digital basket for easy checkout.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart operates more than 11,300 stores under 56 banners in 27 countries, and e-commerce websites, employing 2.2 million-plus associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while Walmart-owned Sam's Club ranks No. 9 on the list. Kroger is No. 3 while Albertsons is No. 8.
