Cub Foods has upped its mobile and digital initiatives around its My Cub Rewards program so that consumers can find and redeem deals more easily.

Cub Foods has added additional mobile and digital coupon options to its iPhone and Android application that can be redeemed in-store. My Cub Rewards members can load coupons and offers that they find online or via the company’s app directly onto a virtual loyalty card.

“At Cub, we are always looking for ways to make the shopping experience faster and easier for customers,” said Luke Friedrich, spokesman at Cub Foods, Stillwater, MN.

“Providing customers with the ability to load manufacturer and Cub store coupons to their My Cub Rewards cards helps our customers save even more money, plus it saves significant time at checkout,” he said.

How it works
Cub Foods’ program leverages an account to let consumers browse through offers that are found in two sections of the site and app: Coupons and Weekly Ad Specials.

Once a consumer finds an offer that they want to save, consumers need to click the “Save to My Card” button, which will push the coupons to the digital loyalty card.

The coupons can then be redeemed by either showing a mobile device at the point of sale or through Apple’s Passbook that pulls in a digital version of the card.

Grocery chains have significantly ramped up their mobile efforts in the past year as more consumers expect to interact with both consumer-packaged-goods brands and retailers from their smartphones and tablets.

However, the tactics marketers are using vary dramatically by brand.

For example, Kroger is making a big push with personalized mobile coupons (see story).

Trader Joe’s on the other hand is going a different route with an app launch earlier this year that played up Facebook as a way for consumers to share and discover deals (see story).

Passbook within Cub Foods’ app

Racking up digital efforts
In addition to the new features, the Cub Foods app also lets consumers save 5 cents for every $50 gas purchase, and members receive 10 cents off each gallon of gas for enrolling in the program.

Moreover, consumers can make custom shopping lists that also sync with the loyalty card via the app.
SuperValu-owned Cub Foods originally rolled out the mobile app in 2012 primarily as a hub for weekly deals and locating nearby stores (see story).

While Cub Foods has already been offering mobile coupons for manufacturers, the addition of Cub Store coupons is designed to appeal to a wider group of consumers that makes the deals more accessible.

“As we continue to grow the digital coupon program and help our customers save even more money on groceries, we will be looking to add even more exclusive digital offers customers can find only at Cub,” Mr. Friedrich said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York