Email Marketing in 2025: Why Targeted Email Lists Are Your Secret Weapons

Ah yes, email marketing. With TikTok and Instagram Reels stealing the spotlight, it might feel like email marketing is old news. But don’t be fooled. In 2024, email users hit a whopping 4.48 billion (Statista), and 53% of small businesses named email as their go-to marketing strategy (Constant Contact). If you’re not in the game yet, you’re missing out—big time.

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Loyalty Lists

The first move in your email marketing strategy? Build an organic loyalty list of your existing customers. These are your ride-or-die fans, the ones who already trust your brand.

But here’s the deal: you can’t just grab emails willy-nilly. Consent is key. Before adding anyone to your list, make sure they’re on board. Here’s how to get those sign-ups:

• Website Sign-Up Forms: Make it easy and obvious.

• Offer Perks: Discounts, exclusive content, or VIP access in exchange for an email.

• Checkout Opt-Ins: Add a checkbox at checkout for customers to quickly join your list.

Building a loyalty list takes time, but the payoff is massive. With an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent (Statista), loyalty emails are worth the grind. Still, you’re probably wondering—how do I grow beyond my existing customers?

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Paid Lists

Let’s talk about paid lists. You’ve heard the pitches. You’ve seen the too-good-to-be-true offers. And maybe, just maybe, you’ve considered buying one. Don’t. Just don’t. Here’s why:

1. Sketchy Contacts: These lists are a gamble. Are the emails legit? Active? Who knows.

2. Platform Bans: Reputable platforms like Mailchimp and Constant Contact ban the use of paid lists. Break their rules, and you’re out.

3. Spam Nightmare: Sending to a cold, unverified list means higher spam complaints. That tanks your sender reputation, puts you on blocklists, and nukes your future campaigns.

To sum things up: paid lists are a bad idea. Period.

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Targeted Email Lists

So, if buying lists is a no-go and building loyalty takes time, what’s the answer? Enter: targeted email marketing through rented lists.

Here’s how it works: Companies like ours maintain proprietary lists of over 150 million verified, double-opt-in contacts. These aren’t just random addresses—they’re people who want to hear from brands like yours. Here’s why targeted lists are the ultimate power move:

• Pinpoint Your Audience: With 750+ demographic filters, you can reach exactly who you want. Dog dads in San Diego? Fantasy football fans in Philly? Done.

• Fresh Leads Only: We suppress your loyalty list to ensure you’re reaching new potential customers—not the same people you’ve already got.

• Stay Legit: 100% CAN-Spam & DMA compliant. Every contact has opted in—twice. We’re not here to spam anyone.

Worried about open rates or bounces? Don’t be. Our campaigns average a 12%-15% open rate and a 2% click-through rate—numbers that crush industry standards. Plus, our emails are constantly verified to ensure they land in active inboxes, and we guarantee zero bots.

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The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, you need both loyalty lists and targeted email lists to dominate the game. Loyalty lists keep your current customers engaged, while targeted email lists introduce your brand to fresh, qualified audiences. Paid lists? Forget about ‘em.

We make it easy to do both. From hosting your loyalty list to creating sign-up forms and running targeted campaigns, we’ve got you covered. Ready to see what email marketing can really do for your business? Let’s make it happen.

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Reach out today and let’s turn your email strategy into a sales machine.

Touch Your Supermarket Customers Digitally...

By Joel Albrizio

Do you really believe you have the secret bullet with the printed ad? Every metric we see every week tells us digital touches almost every potential customer. Digital is how the customer interacts with the outside world digitally.

If You See Your Customers With Flip Phones In Your Store Stick With the Printed Ad!

That customer that still has a flip phone will likely miss your digital ad or your eMail. I have these conversations with retailers every day. And yes, I love to sell. However, while I love to sell you need to sell.

Good Luck Going To Market With A Printed Ad You Can No Longer Afford!

Postal Rates Rise... You Can't Afford Shared Mail!

By Joel Albrizio

Here we go again...U.S. Postage rates are on the rise. Postal rates going up, paper and printing costs on the rise, labor costs increasing, none of this is good news for any retail supermarket.

Have you noticed how many retailers are adjusting their go-to-market strategies? Store closings, retail supermarket consolidation is everywhere.

The latest cost for retailers in addition to increased shared mail costs are increased markdowns along with slimmer going in gross numbers. During Covid so many retailers dealt with supply chain issues and so markdowns really had little relevance.

If the supermarket had what we needed we were would spend almost whatever it cost.

In reality, there is very little to work with from most sources with regards to weekly specials. If you have real cost reductions for your weekly ad stick with that program.

One realistic approach to cost cutting and greater marketing penetration is digital.

Marketing success is all about storytelling. Local ownership, customer service programs, locally grown....You must tell your story. Clear, concise and weekly. Touch your customers digitally!

E-mail, social media, digital signs, keep chatting with your customers. it's all about customer counts and basket size.

Your big box retailer next door will fight with price. However, they are nameless, faceless, plastic companies without any personality or local story to tell. You're the local retailer but if you are the only person that knows that it's meaningless.

Get out there and tell your story inexpensively with "Digital"

Shared Mail...You Can't Afford It!

Here we go again, the United States Postal Service is increasing your shared mail rates. Again & again the Postal Service has raised rates to unaffordable levels. So much so many zip codes no longer allow the option of shared mail.

Many Zip Codes No Longer Offer Shared Mail....Time To Switch To E-Mail?

Financially shared mail makes little sense. The greatest test for shared mail today is that as retailers eliminate print with its expensive shared mail delivery option retailers one by one eliminate zip codes as a part of their program.

Why pay over $100.00 per 1,000 to print and deliver circulars when e-mails directing consumers to your website offerings are available for $30.00 per 1,000 or less.

Connect The Customer To Your Website With Your E-Mail Blast!

Today's retailers have aggressive digital website offerings. Many supermarket retailers go as far as online shopping programs. How does the printed circular link or direct the consumer to your website....it does not.

E-mail your potential customer instead of sending the printed ad, and begin the process of driving customer counts as well as a growing basket size.

Watch Your Own Family As A Test

If you want to test digital penetration watch your own family this Memorial Day and how often they check their phones throughout the day.

Making the Transition: The Future of Marketing

By Gabriela Ferreira

Do you remember the 90’s? We used to read the newspaper in the morning while eating breakfast and watching TV commercials in between our favorite programs. We’d see printouts pinned to the bulletin board in the local grocery store. The newspaper would contain advertisements for local plumbing services and new job listings, the TV had innovative car commercials for the new Toyota Sequoia, and the printouts would have a tear-off with the phone number of the local electrician. These were popular marketing strategies several years ago and remained so until the digital wave washed over every industry. 

Technology has changed the world tremendously. It has become a crucial part of our lives. We use technology for almost everything: communication, transportation, education, cooking, entertainment, health solutions and so much more. 

Most consumers use their smartphones for everyday tasks and for entertainment purposes. The ways people consume media and shop have also changed. Many people have a streaming service subscription like Netflix or Hulu, and shopping online has become extremely popular on platforms like Amazon. 

As social media platforms became more popular, things began to evolve in the world of marketing. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter (now known as X), and TikTok have taken a large margin of space in digital marketing. Advertising campaigns are targeted to a specific audience and reach more qualifiable consumers. If you open your smartphone, you will see a multitude of advertisements tailored just for you. This form of marketing is advantageous to both the consumer and the seller. 

The digital age has undoubtedly taken over and the old way of marketing has become obsolete. It is essential for businesses to be able to transition from yesterday’s outdated marketing approach to a more modern, digital marketing strategy. The best way for a business to survive in today’s digital atmosphere is to constantly adapt with new ideas. It is important to recognize that what had previously worked in the past, might not always work in the future. 

Bad-Adz Digital has the knowledge, perspective, and experience to implement successful digital marketing strategies and we’ll make these transitions seamless for you. We offer email marketing, website building and hosting, social media management, and a suite of other services to help our customers succeed in today’s modern business world. With state-of-the-art technology and the necessary skills to support your business, we’ll help you thrive in this digital age.

Bad-Adz Giving Thanks

#Bad-AdzDigital #PreparedFoodPhotos #EmailLists #DigitalMarketing #Supermarkets #Grocery#WinnDixie #Publix #WesternBeef #UNFI #Supervalu #GrocersSupply #Symbotic

Buy Symbotic...Join Rick Cohen! →

By Joel Albrizio

Symbotic Is An Amazing Stock & At An Amazing Price!

Symbotic traded publicly on Nasdaq under the symbol "SYM" is automating the wholesale grocery industry before our eyes.

To all of us grocery supermarket and wholesale grocer junkies the name Rick Cohen is synonymous with success. Rick Cohen took a local grocery wholesale company, located in Worcester, Massachusetts C&S Wholesale Grocers to a national wholesale powerhouse with sales rumored to exceed 25 Billion Dollars!

So many of us at one time or another worked either directly for C&S Wholesale Grocers or as we did a long term vendor. So if you worked in any manner for C&S Wholesale Grocers you either directly or at some distance, worked for Rick Cohen.

Rick Cohen "Symbotic" Employs Game Changing Wholesale Technology!

Symbotic has changed how wholesalers worldwide will rethink go to market strategies. In essence disruptive technologies. As supermarket industry junkies Symbotic, now a publicly traded company is available as a stock purchase to all of us.

With the purchase of Symbotic stock Rick Cohen is now working for you! Imagine, with a few clicks on any retail stock platform you can essentially employ one of the greatest business minds in retail food.

The average person can be mutually aligned with the latest robotic technology in its earliest stages of public trading with a name we can trust.

So if you thought you liked working for Rick Cohen at C&S Wholesale Grocers, Google Symbotic...As a shareholder you will love Rick Cohen "Symbotic" working for you!

Check it out....Symbotic is in the early stages of changing our industry. While this is my opinion only, this is possibility the best bet since the early stages of Apple.

Symbotic...The Definition Of Disruptive Technology!

Giant Eagle...The Printed Ad Is Gone!

Giant Eagle Has Made The Anticipated Decision To Eliminate Printed Ads

By Joel Albrizio

First reported by Supermarket News, Giant Eagle will now move forward without the distributed printed weekly ad. The printed ad will be available in-store only.

As shown below Supermarket News conducted a poll to determine what industry professionals thought of the move to digital.

With 658 industry professionals participating 60% felt "Digital Is King".

At Bad-Adz Digital our clients agree. One by one over the years clients have transitioned to digital. Supermarket retailers can not properly access supply chain availability and or price with print and all of the long lead times before publication.

U.S. Mail costs, paper increases, fuel surcharges added to markdowns no longer supported by the grocery wholesaler essentially make print an advertising vehicle of the past.

The move to digital allows Giant Eagle the opportunity to subsidize ad markdowns with real cost reductions in an effort to drive retail sales.

Now Giant Eagle can respond to the market with last minute changes and challenge the competition with specials unavailable to the competition two weeks earlier when their newsprint ad was composed.

We congratulate Giant Eagle with it's eye on the environment as well. When the world is thinking "Green" and considering the environment an important part of each of our lives, it's hard to believe the printed weekly ad has much of a future.

Photo Credit Supermarket News

Retargeting: The Power of Placement

By Caitlyn Cornell

Are your social media efforts falling flat, unable to provide the return on investment that you so often hear of? Are you still trying to concoct that perfect viral post to skyrocket your brand but failing to launch? 

In today’s digital age, advertising can seem more complex than ever before. With an endless amount of placements to consider and big corporations spending billions in the race for top-of-mind brand awareness, it’s easy to lose sight of where your brand can shine within the clutter.

Perhaps the secret to measurable success is less about the allure of virality, and instead, rooted in the basics of messaging and placement.

Is an organic social presence enough?

Social media offers an opportunity for retailers to become more personal with their audiences, increase their brand awareness, and ideally, boost sales and revenue. Organic content is invaluable to the independent retailer, providing an opportunity to showcase your brand personality at no additional cost… but is it enough to see measurable results?

Paid ads can be incredibly impactful if they are well-targeted to the right audiences, highlighting products and services that they're interested in or searching for, and ultimately expanding your brand’s reach. The question remains— how do we identify these audiences? The secret is much simpler than you might think, and it starts with your customer list.

Joining forces for good

Surely your customer email list is sacred data; the fruits of the intense labor that is converting consumers into recurring customers. Each email address serves as an insight into the demographic makeup of your customer base, so why not harness its potential?

When we unite the efforts of email marketing and social advertising, the result is the reinforcement of your message, as it accompanies your intended audience from screen to screen, device to device. 

Through the computerized process known as hashing, consumer email addresses are encrypted and assigned a unique string of code. This code operates like an individual’s digital passport—  it tracks their online activity, collecting stamps like a trail of crumbs to mark their stops along the way.

Most importantly, the encryption is anonymous and secure, protecting the consumer’s privacy. 

How do we leverage this data?

Through Facebook’s display network, advertisers have the ability to create custom audiences of people who already know your business using sources like customer lists, website traffic or online engagement. Because these individuals have already engaged with your brand, your ads will be highly relevant for them.

Although Facebook privacy protections do not allow for the usage of plain text email addresses, the display network does accept hashed file data. Upon creation, your custom audience enters a “learning phase” in which each unique hashed file is used to identify a matching Facebook user profile. 

With this custom audience, we unlock the ability to maximize spend by delivering targeted ads to customers who are already familiar with the brand. Moreover, custom audiences can be utilized to capture data for new potential consumers through the creation of lookalike audiences.

The lookalike audience is somewhat of a data goldmine… Facebook’s algorithm leverages demographic information, as well as interests and behaviors from your source audience, or hashed customer list, to identify new users who share similar traits. When you utilize this lookalike audience, ads are delivered to the audience of users who look like your existing customers.

Perfecting your marketing recipe

With how often people use social media, a consistent presence on the right platforms can do wonders for your brand awareness efforts. It is also an important channel to build a strong relationship with the customers - contributing to increased brand loyalty.

While there is no guaranteed recipe for marketing success, the most lucrative strategies are crafted using careful attention to the data available and how it can be used to provide insight. When retailers utilize their deployment lists for cross-channel opportunities, the result is an integrated marketing strategy that carefully refines the target audience, maximizes return on spend, and ensures that your message is being placed in front of the consumers who are most willing to convert.

The Right Ingredients for Inspiring More Holiday Spending

By Amy Neale

With the holidays upon us, it’s a great time to engage shoppers with festive marketing. Rather than just sticking to the usual specials and “happy holidays” messaging, think about how you can tell a story and share ideas that inspire consumers.  This can help to increase basket size and build customer loyalty as they connect with you on a deeper level.

At Bad-Adz, we use a variety of techniques in our email marketing and social media posts to peak the interest of holiday shoppers. We use our recipe videos and images in combination with the local store specials, local products, and event happenings to become a one-stop holiday resource for grocery and meal planning.

The Christmas Feast photo below shows a festive holiday spread that can be combined with sale items such as chestnuts and spiral ham - right in time for holiday meal planning.  Giving people ideas to add to their menu, whether it’s homemade or from your own prepared foods department.

Christmas Dinner Photo. Find Holiday Food Photos available for licensing on preparedfoodphotos.com.

Tips to Inspire Spending During the Holidays

1. Ask engaging questions on social media, such as, “What is your favorite holiday dish?”. This can prompt responses and give you a chance to interact with customers in a very positive way. Add branding and your logo to the pictures you post so when they are seen and shared, you’re also gaining impressions and brand awareness for your store across the web.

2. Create related and personable content. For example, by using a series of pictures to spotlight employees' favorite mouthwatering dishes, you can create an Instagram slide post for people to flip through for ideas and share with friends. This helps to build your brand personality and connect with consumers. Another way is to post or respond to comments with related recipe videos, such as this Orange Glazed Baked Ham Recipe for all those spiral ham lovers out there. It will keep customers engaged with your content and add items to consumers shopping lists.

3. Combine ideas together so they are even more powerful and allow you to help consumers connect the dots. For example, these two drink videos can be used together with fun messaging and are a great way to inspire additional purchases. As people host for the holidays or visit friends and family, many are trying new things or looking for something extra special to share. People love to share ideas and photos of delicious food, your store should be joining in on the fun, you’ll be rewarded with loyal shoppers.

An easy treat for the kids…

and something special for the adults!

4. Connect your marketing. Find ways to coordinate your messaging across platforms and media. You can connect social content to emails by sharing relevant recipe videos and favorite meals in your next email campaign. GIFs are also a great way to add motion and excitement to your email. Including short preview GIFs of recipe videos are an enticing way to guide customers to click through to a video published on your website or social page. Make it easy for people to navigate from one aspect of your marketing to another, becoming a useful resource for consumers on all channels.

Feeling overwhelmed?

If you need a digital marketing agency to take your email and social media marketing off your plate, we’re pros at grocery store marketing. Give us a shot.

The Weekly Circular: What is Digital Distribution & Why Use It?

By Amy Neale

Grocery stores have traditionally distributed their ad circulars via print, both in stores and through newspapers. For a long time, this has been the very successful, go-to method of distribution to reach consumers.  However, physical distribution has dropped over time while becoming more expensive and less effective as consumer habits shift toward online media channels. Read our guide on Digital Distribution Channels below.

There are many ways to distribute or advertise your grocery store circulars and specials online, but what channels are the best for replacing or subsidizing weekly print distribution? Below is an overview of the various ways you can distribute your weekly ad online to help you decide. Spoiler: our top pick is email, see why below.

Digital Distribution Channel Guide

• Email Marketing

  This includes both subscriber lists and paid lists that you send emails to with your weekly ad content. Quality lists can reach new, relevant customers and distribute your ad to consumers located near your store. At Bad-Adz, our lists are CAN-SPAM compliant and dynamic, meaning they're constantly being updated with consumers who are interested in receiving offers.

• Social Media

  This includes both organic impressions and paid content. Organic impressions and engagement come from posting content or updates to your page or profile. Paid social ads help you to reach new consumers by showing up in non-follower feeds. You can also retarget consumers for multiple touchpoints when used in combination with email, website visitors, or online ads. The most relevant social media platforms for grocery stores are Facebook and Instagram.

• Search Ads

  These are text ads that appear in search results of search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Search Ads include Pay Per Click (PPC) ads and work by focusing on keywords that are relevant to your content. You'll show up in search results based on a bidding system. Other search ads are priced based on impressions. You can also select certain geographic locations, such as towns, and limit where these ads will appear.

• Display Ads

  These can be images, videos, or gifs that appear as banner ads on 3rd party websites or apps. For example, your ad may appear on a person's favorite recipe blog or meal-planning website. You can set ads to display in specific locations, but it is important to make sure these geographic locations are set up correctly within the ad network. Display ads have low click-through and conversion rates but are great for brand awareness.

• Digital OOH Ads

  Out Of Home (OOH) advertisements are displayed on outdoor digital media, such as digital billboards or signs usually located in public, high-traffic areas. There are also networked screens that you may see at the gas station pump or at malls. The cost of these ads is based on impressions and can be expensive.

• Digital Audio

  These ads are audio clips that are played before or in between digital audio content, which may be music, podcasts, or digital radio shows. They are generally 15-second clips. This type of advertising is more expensive than others, outside of Connected TV.

• Dynamic Mobile

  These can be static ads or rich media with video and/or audio components and can be targeted at consumers physically in a certain location or radius based on their cell phone signal (this is called geofencing). The ads appear in Mobile apps on the user's phone. Dynamic Mobile Ads can even be served up while a person is near or in a competitor's store.

• In-Stream Video

  These are video ads, usually 15 or 30 seconds long, that are streamed before, after, or during a streaming video. Some ads may be able to be skipped after 5 seconds, while others need to be watched in their entirety. These ads stream on YouTube and other video partners, depending on the ad network.

Top Pick: Email Marketing

Email marketing to lists of interested consumers located near your store is a great way to get market coverage most akin to print distribution, landing you on their digital doorstep at a relatively low cost compared to other online advertising options. These email lists can also be used as a basis for other advertising, such as Social Media and Display Ads, to gain multiple touchpoints.

A word of warning, not all email lists are created equal and there are a lot of one-time purchase lists that do more harm than good. Dynamic lists that are constantly updated with interested, double opted-in consumers and up-to-date contact information, are critical to the integrity of this type of marketing.

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If you need help finding the best marketing mix for your store, we’re happy to help you achieve the right combination of print, email, social media, online ads, and more.

Independent Grocers: Are you checking your Blind Spot?

By Amy Neale

Independent Grocers have seen immense profits and success over the last few years with the pandemic surging demand to an unprecedented level. While pandemic conditions haven’t been easy, grocers have navigated the challenges well. Unfortunately, it also kicked off the cycle below and dangers loom for the independent grocery store that doesn’t proactively reinvest in marketing to head off profit loss.

Pandemic Strikes: Demand Sores

As businesses shut down, consumers stock up on supplies and eat at home more. Marketing spending decreases heavily or is eliminated completely as independent grocers try to keep up with supply and labor issues.

Pandemic Today: Inflation Blind Spot

Inflation gives profits a large bump even as demand cools from pandemic highs. Consumers are also becoming more price sensitive with rising costs and looming recession. Units and market share begin to drop for independent grocers who don't reinvest in marketing and competitive merchandising. Cost of transportation, labor, and other fundamentals increase, while Big Box chains utilize marketing spend to gain market share from smaller retailers. The Fed works to get inflation under control by increasing interest rates and targeting higher unemployment. At the same time, fears of recession persist.

Cliff Ahead: Blind Spot Revealed

The Fed accomplishes lower inflation by continuing to raise interest rates and targeting an unemployment rate of above 5%. This results in an economic recession. Profits decline due to quickly tightening margins and lower inflation, revealing the loss of market share and volume of units sold. Margins are reduced by very strong price competition and increasing underlying costs, such as labor and transportation. Due to this, profits begin to drop faster than the number of units sold. Consistent marketing, purchasing power, and additional spending from Big Box retailers make it difficult to maintain and regain lost market share.

Savvy retailers who look ahead can offset the challenges of the recession by:

• Going Past the P&L by Monitor Lift Reports on the Top 100 Items

• Merchandise Effectively for Consumers’ Increasing Sensitivity to Price

• Reinvesting in Marketing Programs to Prevent Market Share Loss

Check Your Blind Spot, Prepare Your Marketing

Sign up for a Discovery Call to review your current marketing program and our marketing solutions to determine if we’re the right fit to help your store navigate what lies ahead.

Let's Chat!

Let's Chat - Fill out the form below and we'll be in touch soon.

Not Convinced? Learn more about the services we offer here.

Rob Gronkowski Fundraising For Kids

Rob Gronkowski Steps Up To Raise Money For The Luanne Elise Foundation...Dedicated To Children & Families In Need

In typical "Gronkowski" fashion Gronk stepped up this weekend to raise money for the Luanne Elise Foundation. While this foundation may not be the largest of its kind L.E.F. donated over 30,000 meals to children in need during Covid alone.

To better understand the foundation here is the link to the homepage below.

https://luanneelisefoundation.org

If your looking for a well meaning foundation to support please consider the Luanne Elise Foundation.

Best, Joel Albrizio

You’re already paying more for groceries and gas

Here’s where consumers will feel the next round of ‘sticker shock.’

So far shoppers have been helped by additional savings, but S&P expects things to change in the second half of the year.

Consumers may already be reeling from higher prices for things like groceries and energy, but S&P Global Ratings says inflation has more surprises in store.

“Packaged food and household products companies have yet to pass through all of

their price hikes, and so consumers will likely face more sticker shock before prices stabilize,” wrote Sarah Wyeth in a note published Thursday.

“As grocery and gas bills increasingly squeeze budgets, we expect that consumers will defer some expenditures and switch to less-expensive brands in the second half of the year.”

(Written by Tonya Garcia) Click Here to Read More

Publix E-Mails Your Customers...Not Only Theirs!

By Joel Albrizio

Most Grocers Send E-Mails To Their Customers...They Forgetting Real Sales Growth Is With The Competitions Customers....

So now we enter the digital reality of e-mail. Yes, it is here to stay. As we move away from print, most retailers think its great to save difficult to find marketing dollars with e-mail.

However, We Must E-mail The Competitions Customers...

If we spend all of our markdown dollars e-mailing only our customers we abandon the opportunity to grow through e-mailing our competitors customers.

Publix, for example has a sophisticated e-mail program. This employee owned super grocer finds a way to e-mail everyone. Publix dominates the retail space with a huge voice in the marketplace.

Independent retailers often times e-mail only the existing customer and give away the gross to the customers already shopping the store.

Markdowns Are About Growing Your Customer Base...

When you enter the "Going Green" arena and move away from print remember you must touch everyone. Leave no stone unturned nor any possible customer behind.

We are here to lead you through the digital process to an "Every Possible Customer" e-mail program.

Joel Albrizio Bad-Adz Digital

Valassis Increases Mail Costs In August

Driven In part By Postal Increases Valassis Raises All Mail & Shared Mail Costs Across The Board Effective August 29, 2021.

These increases are as follows.....

• Direct Mail Wrap: 4.3% price increase (postage/delivery only)

• FSI: 4% price increase (Service Fee only)

• Inserts (ASI): 9.3% price increase (4.3% postage/delivery and 5% Service Fee)

• Inserts (CSI): 6.8% price increase (4.3% postage/delivery and 2.5% Service Fee)

• Dynamic Postcard: $12.75/m price increase (driven by postage/delivery)

• Solo Direct Mail: increase depends on classification, format, and point of entry

Driven by unavoidable postal increases all shared mail costs will increase across the United States as of August 29, 2021. Together with increased newsprint pricing & diminished print readership print & mailing have become an unaffordable option.

With Covid retail sales receding and costs rising everywhere now may be the time to take a closer look at digital.

Good Luck as well get back to normal!

Customer Acquisition-Serious Expense

By Joel Albrizio

As Covid Related Sales Recede & Independents Ponder a Go Forward Strategy

Covid-19 merchandising planning & the resulting sales were nothing less than a horrible adventure. While most supermarket retailers suffered from the fears of a Pandemic as did their employees' retail sales and the profits associated with those sales were unprecedented.

So now, as the world transitions to the new normal the independent supermarket retailers find themselves on solid financial ground however, unusually content with Covid sales receding back to numbers we all witnessed in 2019.

Remember 2019 When Flat Was The New Good Sales Outlook

Customer acquisition costs for supermarkets are expensive. However, as an independent you have the sales today. Why not begin merchandising and do all that you can to fight for that business?

Marketing discussions industry wide week in and week out find content independent retailers, seemingly unconcerned with what might be next.

Well, what's next will be different than 2019. The big boxes are digital, in all channels. Retailers like Walmart & Amazon Prime communicate with the consumer and will fight for your sales every day.

Supermarket retail is so digital at the higher levels today Vlassis is likely to cancel all shared mail for Christmas week 2021. Now as an independent in the absence of a true engaging digital platform your opportunity to speak to your customer with a printed circular has been eliminated.

Do You Really Believe This Is Entirely By Accident?

You have the customer today. While you deserve much needed rest and those vacations it's time to fight hard for those retail sales while you still have the sales.

Walmart, Kroger & Amazon Prime won't be away or on vacation. They will not rest and chat about how hard they have worked. Big box retailers are engaged, digitally communicative and looking hard at every vertical to drive retail sales.

They Are In Fact Working Day & Night For Your Retail Sales

Let's surprise the big box retailers this time and hold on to those sales. The customer acquisition cost to get a consumer back once lost is insurmountable for the independent grocer.

Have A Great Fourth Of July!

Many have asked why I choose to write about what I see in the supermarket industry today and my ideas. At Bad-Adz Digital, PreparedFoodPhotos.com & Adlife we believe great ideas and the resulting branding will give new life and direction to any company. So for that reason we chose to open the discussion.

Yes, I understand I probably misspelled something or butchered the English language in a few places, the goal however was to open your minds to new ideas.

Joel Albrizio Bad-Adz Digital Bad-Adz Videos PreparedFoodPhotos.com

Don't forget to "Like Or Share" with your colleagues!

Grocers report steep sales drops

“Grocers report steep sales drops as people look to eat anywhere but home”

Check out this interesting article written by Krasdale Foods Inc. President and COO, Gus Lebiak, in which he discusses a decline in grocery sales for a post-Covid economy.

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/food-beverage/grocers-report-steep-sales-drops-people-look-eat-anywhere-home

Skipping Ads..Skipping Retail Sales

"We Live In An Age Of Immediacy...Digital Is Real Time"

Whether your the inspirational genius for Amazon Prime or the local neighborhood grocer, retail today is real time....period. 

So many retailers believe in skipping ads on those predictable off weeks while the big boxes coupled with the internet gurus pound away "real time" 52 weeks per year.

Advertising Perishables "12" Days In Advance?

Do we really understand ten to twelve days in advance what the right price on turkeys will be on Thanksgiving? Is the consumer going to purchase "Fresh" items 12 days in advance?Likely, the customer will not.

Does it make sense to skip an ad and leave the retail sales door open to the competition? Again, likely it does not.

Grocers for generations have lost a fortune in search of dominant perishable pricing on items like turkeys on Thanksgiving. So to save marketing dollars and offset those expensive markdown losses many retailers will skip one of the ads.

This Becomes The "Proverbial Two Week Ad" Retail Sales Bomb

Lost in the dollar savings translation is the loss of retail sales. Valuable top line sales that cover overhead costs and help to reduce shrink throughout all of our perishable departments. The very retail sales that could cover some of those huge holiday markdowns.

As decision makers we must acknowledge the cost of print distribution coupled with the inability to make accurate retail pricing decisions ten to fifteen days in advance of the sale. This is where the savings lies to remain in touch with the consumer, your customer.

This is especially specific to those category killer holiday perishable items. That said, we must become "Real Time" retailers. E-mail, web sites, Facebook, Instagram. Choose the channel you trust but real world real time you will not be printing it.

While Facebook will often be critiqued for information sharing, it is difficult to argue Facebook has the goods on consumer habits and your demographic information. Your potential customers information especially valuable to you.

Real time demographics that as grocers we need utilize to operate efficiently. If we are to compete we need to better understand how real time will become real sales geographically within our marketing area.

Try some of these digital sales channels and have fun. Great sales translate into retail fun.

Many have asked why I choose to write about what I see in the supermarket industry today and my ideas. At Bad-Adz Digital, PreparedFoodPhotos.com & Adlife we believe great ideas and the resulting branding will give new life and direction to any company. So for that reason we chose to open the discussion.

Yes, I understand I probably misspelled something or butchered the English language in a few places, the goal however was to open your minds to new ideas. 

Joel Albrizio, President Bad-Adz Digital, PreparedFoodPhotos.com & Adlife

You can license the below images and thousands more for commercial use at preparedfoodphotos.com

"3"​ Day Sales Drive Holiday Sales!

By Joel Albrizio

Holidays Are Coming With So Many "3" Day Marketing Opportunities

Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, MLK Day, Veterans day and on and on. We now live in a "3" and "4" day marketing cycle. We find the 7 day center store merchandising program remains successful while all of our perishable departments achieve significant sales penetration when introducing the 3 day sale.

Today we keep it fresh with that extra perishable push with every opportunity.

The average customer shops at least twice weekly for groceries. If we recognize that pattern and adapt our marketing efforts to accommodate the shopper we all win.

With Thanksgiving ahead lets imagine running a "3" day sale...Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. All of your competitors ads are on the street and your stores hit with your best offer for turkeys and all of your other holiday specials for your "3" day sale.

Thats just a smart way to go to market. Understand the competitions pricing and price your "3" day sale accordingly.

Meijer Drives Retail Sales With "3" Day Sales...

Like Meijer your perishable sales and margins can increase by shaking things up a little to attract that second shopping trip from your customers. Let's not miss a golden opportunity.

Let Bad-Adz Digital Help You Drive Retail Sales!

You can license the below images and thousands more for commercial use at preparedfoodphotos.com