ShopRite Partners on ‘Smart Fridge’
Northeastern supermarket cooperative ShopRite has partnered up on a new initiative that will allow its customers do to their shopping right from their home kitchen using a new “smart fridge.”
ShopRite has partnered with MasterCard to integrate its popular online grocery shopping service, ShopRite from Home, with Groceries by MasterCard, an app that comes pre-loaded in the new Samsung Family Hub refrigerator and allows consumers to order directly from the fridge using a built-in screen.
Shopping from the fridge
The state-of-the-art refrigerator, which debuted Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is due in stores in May. ShopRite customers will be able to use the appliance’s integrated tablet to order groceries from the comfort of their own kitchen by scheduling in-store pickups or at-home delivery, with a few simple taps on the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator.
Using the Groceries app’s secure, easy-to-use interface, customers also have the ability to add products to their ShopRite shopping basket and pay online.
“ShopRite is a supermarket leader in digital commerce, making it easy for our customers to shop for their groceries online with our ShopRite from Home service,” said Joe Sheridan, president and COO of ShopRite parent Wakefern Food Corp.
Items are added to a cart and the final shopping list is approved with a 4-digit pin, providing control over household purchases. Items are then paid for in a simple, single checkout experience that accepts any U.S.-issued credit and debit cards. Orders are delivered directly by the merchants and are not dependent on a third party or concierge service, making shopping more efficient.
The Groceries shopping cart will also learn a family’s shopping habits, making personalized suggestions on items and brands. New features will continue to roll out, including recipe and video integration. As the rollout continues in 2016, additional grocers will be added to the Groceries app through MasterCard’s partnership with MyWebGrocer, which provides e-commerce and digital marketing solutions for more than 130 grocers across the globe.
“In a world where every device – from the phone to the refrigerator – is connected to the Internet, the ways in which consumers interact and transact with their favorite brands are changing,” said Betty DeVita, chief commercial officer, MasterCard Labs. “We’re developing compelling, safe and seamless commerce experiences for consumers across channels and devices as we continue to eliminate the boundaries between how we shop and how we pay.”
Extended partnership
The innovative partnership is part of ShopRite’s slate of consumer-friendly digital tools such as ShopRite from Home, www.ShopRite.com, the ShopRite Mobile App, and other online and offline health and wellness initiatives, all designed to help customers eat well and live happier and healthier lives.
“By partnering now with Groceries by MasterCard, we can make life even more convenient for our customers with this latest innovation in on-demand grocery shopping,” Sheridan said. “This new technology incorporated into the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator allows families immediate access to our ShopRite stores the moment they run out of food or need ingredients for a recipe or planned meal.”
Since its launch in 2002, ShopRite From Home, which allows customers to shop online and either pick up groceries at the store or have them delivered home, has made ShopRite the nation’s fifth largest online grocery retailer.
Groceries by MasterCard was developed in partnership between MasterCard Labs and Samsung. At launch, consumers will be able to shop and select their needed items and favorite brands from leading online grocer and key integration partner FreshDirect, as well as ShopRite.
MasterCard has also developed a companion mobile app for Groceries, which allows multiple members of a family to add to a single cart from a device of their choice. At home, consumers can also use the mobile app to scan barcodes on products for easy additions to the online shopping cart.
“Just as Family Hub changes the way we interact with our fridge, the new Groceries app will change how consumers shop,” said John Herrington, SVP, general manager of home appliances, Samsung Electronics America.
New engagement channels
Groceries by MasterCard is creating a new channel of consumer engagement for launch partners FreshDirect, MyWebGrocer and ShopRite.
“Since launch, FreshDirect has been on a mission to get consumers great, fresh food with less friction,” said Jodi Kahn, chief consumer officer, FreshDirect. “This new technology speaks directly to that mission, giving consumers a new, seamless way to shop for groceries right from their own kitchen.”
“Commerce-enabled devices like the Family Hub refrigerator represent an unprecedented opportunity for our customers because it puts them right where the consumer path to purchase begins: in the kitchen,” said Eric Healy, president of MyWebGrocer. “We look forward to leveraging the open, API-centric capabilities of our Digital Experience Platform to advance our partnership with MasterCard and enable grocers and CPG brands to capitalize on the way in which the IoT revolution will transform the grocery shopping experience.”
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Keasby, N.J.-based retailer-owned cooperative Wakefern Food Corp., which includes more than 250 ShopRite supermarkets throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland.