Case StudiesHollister Super
Rosie, ShoptoCook, & AppCard Provide Omni-Channel Offering
Hollister Super has been the go-to independently owned supermarket of Hollister, California since the opening of its first store in 1983. Chang So, the current owner, joined the company in 2003, joining his father in running the family business. Since 1983, Hollister Super has added two more stores to their footprint, including one in the nearby town of San Juan Bautista by the name of Windmill Market. Hollister Super prides itself in their commitment and dedication to their shoppers and their community and in providing the towns of Hollister and San Juan Bautista with a fun, friendly place to shop.
A loyalty and rewards platform has been something that Chang and his team have always wanted to implement, but they lacked the bandwidth and energy to start one in-house. Many grocers face this dilemma. They know a rewards platform will benefit both their business and their shoppers, but simply don’t have the time or manpower to get one started on their own. That’s where AppCard’s platform comes in, complete with a Customer Success Manager who works hand in hand with grocers to implement promotions, discuss growth strategy, and answer questions along the way.
Chang says, “We’ve always wanted to do something like a frequent shopper program, but trying to do something like that in-house is always very difficult and very time consuming. One of the things that I just don’t want to have to deal with is all of the legwork to make just a good, not even a great, but a good, frequent shopper program. But AppCard, along with the C&S team, had an easier plug and play model which made it easier for us to implement. In addition, the C&S team and AppCard team held our hand along the way.”
Hollister Super had two main goals when it came to implementing a rewards platform: 1) reward frequent shoppers and 2) engage new shoppers coming in. Chang wants to emphasize the importance of keeping frequent shoppers happy and showing new shoppers why they should make Hollister their go-to grocery store. Some of Hollister’s main competitors include both smaller neighborhood markets and larger major chains. Hollister Super has found its niche in the sweet spot between the two: an independently-owned and operated store that truly cares about its shoppers.
Hollister makes it a point to truly care about their loyal shoppers. Shoppers who are part of Hollister’s rewards program through AppCard receive special promotions and sales personalized to their needs and shopping habits. As a result, Hollister AppCard members purchase 6 more items on average than non-AppCard members. Not only are shoppers happy with the rewards program, but Hollister management can see the benefit right before their eyes.
Another important aspect of Hollister Super’s relationship with AppCard is its integration with Rosie and ShoptoCook. Rosie, an Instacart Company, is the top-rated e-commerce platform for independent grocery stores. The mutual offering empowers Hollister to offer a consistent customer experience across all channels, making the shopper’s engagement simple and accessible at their preferred touch point (e-commerce, web, in-store kiosk, and more). This enables Hollister to be certain that shoppers are rewarded for their business and get to enjoy additional savings like coupons wherever they shop. AppCard is also fully integrated with ShoptoCook, whose kiosk provides a one-stop, easy-to-use coupon experience for shoppers in-store. These integrations provide an omni-channel offering using AppCard’s API to offer a consistent shopper experience across all touch points.
With inflation rising and other unpredictable factors that have impacted the grocery industry over the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what has led to a grocer’s success or demise. When asked how AppCard has helped Hollister Super remain competitive in a market that is tougher than ever, Chang So responded that he often looks at it wondering what would have happened if Hollister had not implemented AppCard when it did. In the midst of uncertainty, AppCard has helped Hollister remain competitive in the market and consistent for their shoppers. At the end of the day, Hollister has stayed a place for the community to shop—continuing the legacy that Chang’s father started nearly 40 years ago.
AppCard is a Member of the Intel IoT Solutions Alliance. A global ecosystem of more than 800 industry leaders, the Alliance offers its Members unique access to Intel technology, expertise, and go-to-market support, accelerating the deployment of best-in-class solutions. Powered by Intel CPU, AppCard J-brain ensures data is captured at the EDGE and transferred to the cloud where we run our machine learning and AI to guarantee that offers, rewards and campaigns are all personalized to shoppers and employees.
