Who Won The Week Pt. 11
In our eleventh outing, we visit zip code 46204 in Indianapolis. This zip code has a population of ~9800 and its characteristics of high median income ($88k) and a high rental percentage (81%) indicate younger, white collar households.
The Contenders
We selected three banners in this zip code; Kroger, Whole Foods and, a regional banner, Needler's Fresh Markets - owned by Spartan Nash. Of these three banners, only Kroger runs a printed ad, the other two are digital only. While saving costs, running a digital weekly ad does have the combined disadvantages of reduced offer quantity and lower offer density. Although, Needler's does manage to pack in the promos in their front page this week.
| Banner | Ad Week Start | Ad Type | HQ Zipcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kroger | Wednesday | Print/Digital | 45202 |
| Whole Foods | Wednesday | Digital | 78703 |
| Needler's | Thursday | Digital | 49315 |
Who Won
Kroger's front page won the week on promo breadth (40% of promos selected) and customer interest (52.5% of customers selecting a promo). It's only interesting promo that helped it secure the win was the Raspberries/Blackberries Digital Deal. The other top promos that helped it secure the win came from national brands, these prices reflect the banner's scale rather than its merchandising prowess.
Key Takeaways
Buying power counts for a lot and Kroger's weekly ad is evidence of that. However, we believe that there is an opportunity to win share from Kroger with smarter use of data combined with a willingness to break with a formula-approach to the weekly ad. As you can seen below, the Kroger machine has standardized its ad layout. Just as laziness helped code-breakers crack the WWII Enigma code, DecaSIM can help Kroger's competitors exploit the weaknesses of Kroger's weekly ad to drive baskets and share.
