Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2013 - 21

Longos. "E-Groceries come of Age"

In 2004, Longos Brothers Fruit Markets purchased the struggling e-commerce grocer, Grocery Gateway, seeing in the
money-losing enterprise a visionary concept. Today, Grocery
Gateway is thriving and proving an idea ahead of its time-
both Walmart and Amazon are preparing to venture into the egrocery field. What innovative business model was behind the
turnaround?
The first thing Longos did was to sell Grocery Gateway's
distribution center and begin picking directly from Longo's
Toronto-area stores. Under its store-pick model, staff begins to
fill orders once the stores close down in the evening. By 5 a.m.,
the first truck is ready to deliver. Ninety per cent of orders are
delivered the day after they are submitted.
"The store model works very well for a number of reasons,"
says Stephen Tallevi, general manager of Grocery Gateway. "If
you already own the stores, you don't have to invest in infrastructure. If you have multiple locations, you can be closer to
your customer base. And since stores have preselected their
produce, we are picking from the best."
Last year, Grocery Gateway began using a GPS-enhanced
route-planning system, which helps the company meet its
90-minute delivery window. Since installing the system, it has
improved its on-time delivery performance by 14 per cent while
increasing its yearly stops per paid hour number by 12.4 per
cent. Grocery Gateway also employs customer relationship
marketing (CRM) software to target online shoppers with offers tailored to their shopping characteristics.
Such efficiency is vital as Grocery Gateway has grown to
serve 50,000 customers per year.

gram. In print, four perforated do-it-yourself
styling cards were included as a special insert
in Glow magazine, and the program was also
featured in the Shoppers flyer. The television
show Cityline featured the program in its
"Fashion Fridays" segment
The Shoppers and Pharmaprix websites hosted "30 Ways to Beautiful Hair" online styling
hubs with interactive styling information. The
program also utilized Shoppers' Optimum loyalty program, offering bonus points for purchasing
three of the recommended Unilever products.
The campaign proved to be brilliantly successful: the hair care category experienced 9
per cent growth during the four-week period,
and another 10 per cent growth in the styling
category, reversing a 52-week decline. Longterm, it helped solidify Shoppers' reputation as
a leading hair care destination.
HMV Canada. "Re-Energizing its Brand"

The music retail landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade, perhaps more
so than any other retail segment, and yet HMV
Canada has not only successfully navigated this
evolving terrain but has also managed to reenergize its brand so as to remain a vibrant and
relevant part of the entertainment retail scene.
"HMV Canada continues to evolve to meet
the ever-changing needs of our customers,
while offering them an unparalleled music and entertainment experience, diverse product range,
and knowledgeable staff who are
passionate about the products we
sell," explains Elyssa Macri, marketing community manager for
HMV Canada Inc.
"As the home of entertainment,
HMV Canada continues to keep
music in the forefront by showcasing Canadian content and emerging artists. In addition, we conLongos' Grocery Gateway is changing the face of grocery.
tinue to explore new and trending
related products such as apparel, vinyl, and
Shoppers Drug Mart. "Partnering for Growth"
In a determined effort to become Canada's leading hair care gift and collectables."
While Macri explains that the demand for
destination, Shoppers Drug Mart partnered with Unilever to
CDs and DVDs remains strong, she notes the
produce the four-week "30 Ways to Beautiful Hair" program,
designed to help female shoppers quickly identify, select and company had embraced new technologies as a
purchase the products required to achieve their desired look.
means of supplying customers with the enterIn-store, consumers were drawn to end-aisle displays of Uni- tainment they demand and adding value to their
lever products, with do-it-yourself styling cards merchandised experience. The recent re-launch of Canadian
next to corresponding Unilever products that could be used to digital offerings is an example of efforts to conachieve one of the 30 different styles offered.
tinually adapt both in-store and online experiAn ambitious ad media campaign drew attention to the pro- ences to meet evolving consumer trends.

www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer | holiday 2013 | canadian retailer |

http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2013