This
might sound like a housewife, perhaps house-husband, but the Safeway mobile app
has been really helping me on saving money on groceries. The Safeway Just for U
is the loyalty program brought by Safeway. By adding the e-coupons into your
Safeway card(s), you can get the discount just like using paper coupon. The program
save the time to search and cut-out paper coupon, but customer could use both
e-coupon and paper coupon at the same time. Hooray for accumulate the
discounts! (Discount accumulation never happens in Taiwan. Can you imagine how
shocked it was when I learned there are things like multiple coupons or
additional 30% off for something that’s already 50% off?)
 |
| Safeway app on iPhone |
I’ve
found the mobile app extremely helpful to look up for nearest Safeway, the
weekly ads, and current discounts, and its navigation is pretty easy too. The
mobile app on iPad gives full spectrum of view on the merchants, which I like
the best. The app for iPhone is a bit harder to use, which the view is limited
to a few items per scroll. Somehow because there are two different e-coupon
systems, the Coupon Center and Personalized Deal, the coupon lists in these two
have to be view separately. On the other hand the mobility brought by iPhone is
very handy. Take the iPad out in Safeway is impractical and it adds extra
weight. (Been there, done that. Now I always write groceries list down first.)
iPad | 
iPhone |
On
the contrary, the use of Just for U portal through the main website is cumbersome.
The data list on the website is not automatically categorized like the one on
mobile app. For some reason I don’t know why I have had trouble on Google
Chrome browser, but worked fine on Internet Explorer. All the teeny-tiny bits
on lack of usability might just drive the valuable customers away from its
website. No wonder that according to Safeway CEO Steve Burd, mobile users use
Just for U 50% more often than those who are confined to desktop devices (Johnsen,
2012) .
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| Safeway website, Just for U on Google Chrome |
As
a student (who’s just trying to save money) I’m always paying attentions to
different grocery stores’ prices. Having these ads going paperless not only
helps me constantly updated, it also helps being environmental friendly. In
fact Safeway is even considering stop print its ad by end of 2013 (Zwiebach,
2013) .
With the combination of mobile app and loyalty program, Safeway has caught up
the trends and draw customers.
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Works Cited
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Works Cited
Johnsen, M. (2012, 7 19). Safeway's Just for U
loyalty card program will bolster sales through rest of year. Retrieved
from Drug Store News:
http://drugstorenews.com/article/safeways-just-u-loyalty-card-program-will-bolster-sales-through-rest-year
Zwiebach, E. (2013, 2 21). Just for U Could End
Print Ads: Safeway. Retrieved from Supermarket News:
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/just-u-could-end-print-ads-safeway
I use the Just For U app, too, but usually don't remember to open it until I'm in the store. At that point - deep in the store by the meat department - the 3G data connectivity is really poor and often I can't view my personalized deals or coupons. It's been a little frustrating. I wonder if along with developing the app they should have installed free WiFi access?
ReplyDeleteSome stores offer free wifi some others don't. Perhaps it's because each store's customer demographic? The Safeway beside University Village offer free wifi, and few months ago there was even a laptop for customers to use. The one on Brooklyn Ave. doesn't have wifi access.
DeleteIn this case for Safeway on Brooklyn Ave, where customer and by-passer flow are enormous, an open access of free wifi may not be a such good idea if someone misuse it.
Just my guessing.
Nice share, house-husband! I live across safeway but haven't tried their apps yet. I guess it's not the consuming habit I used to have in Taiwan since Taiwanese supermarkets seldom have those dramatic discounts.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's a total different experience. If it wasn't because my mom taught me about coupon in USA, I wouldn't know about these.
Delete