By Kelli Windsor, Senior Director, Digital Communications, FMI 
Earlier this year, the grocery circular made headlines as several companies announced changes to their print and digital circulars. As food retailers and suppliers test new methods for communicating with shoppers many of us industry observers are asking what’s next for the grocery store circular?
The Food Industry’s Take on Effective Shopper Communications Vehicles
The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2023 surveys food retailers and suppliers about their business practices. The recent report finds that in 2022, Facebook promotion, in-store signage and digital circulars were the three most utilized customer outreach vehicles by retailers and suppliers. However, the perceived effectiveness of these communication tactics varied. For example, only 27% of food retailers and 36% of suppliers report Facebook promotions to be very effective.
For the digital circular, 36% of food retailers and 41% of suppliers report this tactic to be very effective in reaching shoppers. For the print circular, effectiveness was reportedly similar with 38% of food retailers and 21% of suppliers saying it is an effective consumer outreach tool.
The Future of Grocery Store Circulars
We know from our U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends research that shoppers’ definition of value has expanded to include more than just price, embracing quality, convenience, relevance and experience. This means shoppers seeking value both online and in-store weigh several variables when grocery shopping. For the food industry, this shift in consumers’ definition of value means they’re finding new ways to cater to the omnichannel shopper.
The food industry is testing new customer outreach tactics like digital circulars, shoppable social media ads and even shoppable recipes. As the industry experiments with these digital promotion channels, it is natural for some of our traditional outreach tactics to be adjusted. However, as food retailers and suppliers both report in our survey, the effectiveness of these new communications tools is still being evaluated and no one solution has risen to the top.
Our members know their audience; they’re prepared to take an omnichannel approach and create favorable user experiences that deliver on shoppers’ expanded value matrix.
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