Stater Bros. Launches Online Product Tasting Initiative

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Brief description of the dive:

Stater Bros. Markets partners with Mercatus and Swish Brand Experiences to launch product sampling program for online grocery shoppers, according to Monday’s announcement.
The initiative enables the grocer and its brand partners to run “targeted, on-demand and measurable product tasting campaigns” designed to enhance online experiences and generate additional revenue for Stater Bros.
The partnership is the latest attempt by the Southern California grocer to streamline its online business as the grocery industry continues to personalize the shopping experience.

Diving Insight:

By integrating its Mercatus-powered digital shopping platform with Swish technology, Stater Bros. aims to transform its product tasting service into an e-commerce revenue stream.

Swish’s technology targets ads to shoppers based on their purchase history and offers samples of products from similar categories, increasing the likelihood that samples will turn into sales, according to the announcement. The Sponsored Product Sampling program will provide retailers with greater revenue opportunities, CPGs with more effective marketing campaigns, and customers with a better online shopping experience, Swish said in the announcement.

“The Swish sampling platform gives our CPG partners an efficient way to reach the customers who are most valuable to them. It’s also a great opportunity for us to provide added value to staterbros.com shoppers while minimizing the impact on our store staff,” said Denise Singler, vice president of integrated marketing at Stater Bros. in a statement.

Singler said the retailer’s previous attempts to offer product samples via e-commerce were “ineffective” and burdened its in-store fulfillment teams.

Stater Bros. launched its online grocery platform under its own brand, using Mercatus technology in 2021. In September last year, Mercatus and Swish entered into a partnership to make it easier for retailers and consumer goods brands to sample products and provide them with real-time, first-party feedback.