Montreal, September 10, 2013 – Today, Metro unveiled its digital ecosystem (mobile and web) following development that required 18 months of work. This first for Quebec food retailers enables the company to take a major step in implementing its personalization strategy, marked by the launch of the metro&moi rewards program in 2010 and the introduction of personalized and mass digital coupons last June.
“With the rapid transformation of retail in the digital world, purchasing habits in the food industry are changing, and we are determined to stand alongside consumers in a personalized way as things evolve.” said today Marc Giroux, Vice-President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Metro Inc. “Our digital ecosystem (mobile and web) was designed to facilitate customers’ purchasing cycles, to give them more inspiration and savings and develop an even more personalized relationship with them that takes their needs, tastes and lifestyle into consideration.”
An ecosystem that makes life simpler
The digital ecosystem developed by Metro, which combines a website and an app for iPhone mobile digital devices, allows users to manage their purchases before, during and after their trip to the grocery store.
BEFORE: The consumer can find a store, consult the flyer, receive personalized promotional offers (in the form of coupons), get a weekly menu suited to his/her needs and based on the discounts found in the flyer. He or she can then use the recipes, videos and helpful hints to plan his/her purchases which will be added onto a grocery list as he/she navigates through the site and app. Users will be able to complete their shopping list as they navigate through the website or the app. Discounts and coupons included on the website and the app allow deals to be the quickly identified while planning the family food basket.
DURING: The consumer can access his/her personal grocery list, weekly menus, discounts found in the flyer and available coupons using his/her iPhonei mobile digital device and use it at the checkout to redeem the coupons.
AFTER: Once the consumer arrives home, he/she can browse the metro.ca recipes and access all the food-related content and the preparation page of their recipes.
The new Metro website is more user-friendly, more intuitive, richer, better integrated and, most of all, more personalized. Users will be able to synchronize their grocery list with the My Metro app, and in sharing their metro.ca account, all family members will share the list. Users who are also metro&moi members can use their iPhonei mobile digital device at the checkout as their metro&moi card, and redeem their personalized coupons. Users can also use their phone at the checkout to redeem their personalized coupons. The My Metro app is offered free of charge at the App Storei online store at AppStore.com/MyMetro.
Digital: Laying the foundation for more relevant consumer engagement
As a result, Metro strengthens its position in the food distribution industry by providing more innovative and personalized tools designed to simplify the life of consumers. In fact, metro.ca, which provides more than 4,500 recipes, is already the most frequented food retailer website in Canada with more than 700,000 unique visitors per month (comScore, June, 2013). Metro Facebook fans page now have 250 000 and 99,000 respectively in Quebec and Ontario, making Metro the most popular grocery retailer on Facebook in Canada.
“Our ecosystem is a powerful and promising tool that we will continue to develop. Today we are laying the foundation of our infrastructure which will support our future digital initiatives.”, added Marc Giroux. According to a Nielsen study (Canadian Consumer Shopping Behaviour Report - March 2013) on household grocery shopping activities:
In Canada, 30% of the population visit a website before going grocery shopping, making the web the 3rd most popular source of information, following flyers and cook books. (emarketer, December, 2012).
Mobile devices are also tools used during the purchasing process, as 62% of mobile devices in Canada are smartphones and that figure is expected to reach 100% by 2015 (comScore, December, 2012). Additionally, traffic from mobile devices (including tablets) on metro.ca has almost doubled over the past year. Metro created a mobile application for iPhonei, because 75% of visits to metro.ca from mobile devices (including tablets) come from Applei devices.
Metro inc.
With annual sales of over $11 billion, METRO INC. (TSX: MRU), founded in 1947, is the only major Canadian food distribution company to have its head office in Quebec. Along with its affiliates and franchisees, METRO INC. employs in Quebec and Ontario over 65,000 people, whose mission is to satisfy their customers every day and earn their-long term loyalty. METRO INC. operates a network of almost 600 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as over 250 drugstores under the Brunet, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.
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Marie-Claude Bacon
Senior Director, Corporate Affairs Department
Metro Inc.
mbacon@metro.ca
514 643-1086
Source: Metro
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