Two of the biggest challenges facing grocery retail in 2018 will be millennials and mindfulness. With unlimited technology literally sitting in most customers pockets, mindfulness is going to be one of the biggest trends in 2018. Pew Research Center has predicted that millennials will surpass baby boomers as the largest living adult generation in 2019. This is changing the landscape of how grocery stores market themselves and do business. Price and quality are very comparable nowadays and millennials look to support causes when they shop. Visibility into the practices of businesses is the clearest it has ever been, so customers (mainly millennials) are now holding stores and companies accountable socially and ethically. 80% of consumers believe that businesses must play a role in addressing societal issues. So what does this all mean for grocery stores?
Two words: Cause Marketing. What is cause marketing? Cause marketing is when a company partners with a charitable organization to address a social or environmental problem. 91% of Americans want more products to support causes. So what can you do? AWG has the partner for you. Apples for the Students is a program that not only promotes store loyalty but also provides schools with the educational items they so desperately need. If 91% of Americans want more products to support causes, then this program benefits a huge number of people. Apples for the Students is a program that rewards schools for every single item bought. Parents, teachers and community members do their grocery shopping at your store, save their receipt, and then turn the receipts into the participating school. After the life of the program, all the receipts are submitted to Apples for the Students and the school receives 1 redemption point per dollar spent ($10,000 in total receipts equals 10,000 redemption points). The schools can then redeem items such as art supplies or even I-pads from an online catalog. Your store will then be billed for 1% of total receipts redeemed by the school or schools you support. Schools aren’t the only ones affected by being under funded; teachers are also hit where it counts, their pocketbook.
While class size has consistently grown over the last decade, funding has remained stagnant. Since 2007, cost of school supplies has raised 88% for elementary, 81% for middle school, and 68% for high school. Teachers have been picking up the slack when the government doesn’t properly fund them or their school. Several different articles claim that teachers, on average, spend between $500 and $1,000 of their own money every school year. Some of these teachers even have to purchase basic items like pencils, paper and notebooks. Apples for the Students has the potential to take some of the financial burden off the teachers and schools in your community.
If this sounds like a program you would like to be involved in contact Conor Middleton.
[email protected] or 913-288-1673
