Save Mart Supermarkets’ Save Mart and Lucky stores launched a mobile application that integrates rewards with a program that simplifies the in-store shopping experience by allowing customers to plan meals, keep shopping lists and check for advertised items and coupons all before they shop.

Members of the new “Save Smart” and “Lucky You” programs will accrue airline-style points that can be redeemed for in-store rewards. The program comes as online grocery has been slow to take off in the United States due to the cost of establishing ecommerce operations for fresh groceries, particularly when deliveries over large distances are involved.

“Our goal was to create a shopping solution that added value and integrated into the lifestyle of Save Mart shoppers,” said Stacia Levenfeld, a spokeswoman for Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, CA. “Shopping begins at home when you plan your meals. We worked to create a solution that started with meal planning and ended at checkout.

“When they arrive at the store, it is a matter of selecting the items off their list and then all of the savings from their plan occurs instantly at checkout,” she said. 

Saving smart
Save Mart shoppers can use the “Save Smart” program at stores throughout Sacramento, the Central Valley and Reno. “Lucky You” will launch in Bay Area Lucky stores on March 18.

The company is donating $1 per new member registration to local schools during the first 48 hours of the new program, up to $25,000.

Starting with meal planning, ending at checkout.

To sign up for Save Smart or Lucky You, shoppers go to their local store and download the Save Mart or Lucky Supermarkets app through the Apple Store or Google Play. They also can sign up at www.SaveMart.com or www.LuckySupermarkets.com.

After the user downloads the program, he or she is asked to create a member profile that includes local store and basic identification information. Once the profile is established, rewards can be accessed.

As recipes are selected, ingredients are moved into a shopping list.

The user can search coupons for items on the shopping list and add them to an account.

Rewards points are valued at one point per dollar spent. Members can cash them in free items or dollars off future purchases. Once a reward is selected, it is added to an account.

When a shopper arrives in-store, coupons and rewards added to an account are automatically deducted at checkout as long as the items are among the purchases.

Other supermarket brands are striving to make grocery shopping more convenient for consumers.

In September, Whole Foods Market began allowing customers in 15 United States cities to use a mobile application to have groceries delivered to their door within an hour.

By ordering at Instacart.com or through San Francisco-based Instacart’s mobile app, Whole Foods customers could select their ZIP code, add items to a virtual cart, choose delivery within one or two hours or at a scheduled time and then check out.

Last month, Walmart expanded its test of online ordering for groceries, bringing it to three stores in Phoenix for the first time.

Safeway also has experimented with mobile and online ordering. Amazon also has made strides in the online grocery space through quick deliveries and an easy-to-use mobile application and site.

In August, Uber, the mobile application that allows users to order and pay for taxi service via smartphone, launched a test in its headquarters market of Washington of a service called Corner Store that allowed users to order from a menu of products that included toiletries, gifts and office supplies.

Loyalty program
Save Mart Supermarkets operates 217 traditional and price impact stores under the banners of Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, S-Mart Foods, and Maxx Value Foods.

Tailoring app to shopper’s lifestyle.

“This is Save Mart’s first loyalty program because the company does not believe in the two-tier pricing philosophy,” Ms. Levenfeld said. “This remains true.

“Our weekly ad prices remain available for all shoppers, even if they if shoppers choose not to utilize the new Save Smart or Lucky You programs,” she said.

Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York