Dive Brief:
- Stop & Shop has launched an "homegating experience” on its website for the upcoming 2021 Super Bowl in collaboration with CPG giant Procter & Gamble, the grocery chain announced in a press release on Monday.
- The homegating webpage spotlights discounts on select P&G products, recipe ideas curated by former Top Chef finalist Tiffani Faison and tips along with a curated soundtrack by retired New England Patriots player Troy Brown.
- The New England chain’s advertising campaign ahead of the game is aiming for a local feel by recruiting Faison, who owns several Boston-area restaurants, and Brown, who took home three Super Bowl rings for the Patriots during his 15-year career.
Dive Insight:
Super Bowl weekend, which typically brings in billions of dollars in food sales, will look different during the coronavirus pandemic, but Stop & Shop is still banking that its virtual experience will draw in customers shopping for individual household celebrations. The campaign also gives the chain the opportunity to showcase its revamped e-commerce site, which replaced the Peapod platform in August of last year.
Food and beverages purchases tend to make up the bulk of Super Bowl spending every year, and 2021 is expected to be no different, according to recent findings from the National Retail Federation (NRF). The NRF estimates from a survey of 7,882 adults that 186.6 million people in the U.S. will tune in to the Super Bowl this year, with 86% saying they plan to buy items specifically for the occasion, ranging from food to apparel to TVs, and a $74.55 average spend per person.
Stop & Shop is looking to dip into that boosted consumer spending with discounts on certain P&G products and the incentive of free delivery or free pickup for shoppers who spend $30 on select P&G products and meet the required online order minimums.
By recruiting a Boston-based restaurateur and a famous Patriots player to feature in the campaign, Stop & Shop is appealing to customers’ sense of community. The Ahold Delhaize owned chain operates more than 400 stores across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.
The campaign will also prompt Stop & Shop customers to donate an optional $5.50 at checkout to the Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund, which provides pandemic relief to restaurant workers.
