Giant Eagle has been partnered with Upside for a little over two years, and over that time, the grocer has seen some pretty incredible results. During a LinkedIn Live session at Groceryshop 2024, I sat down with Justin Weinstein, Giant Eagle’s Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, to talk about how his team has navigated the rise of the uncommitted customer and created new pathways for loyalty. 

Bringing customers “up that ladder”

One of the biggest challenges retailers face today is transforming "uncommitted customers” — shoppers who frequent multiple stores without strong loyalty to any one brand — to behave more like their most loyal ones. 

“Our goal is to bring customers up that ladder,” Justin said.

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With Upside, Giant Eagle has done just that, moving more customers from the least loyal segment into the moderately and most loyal segments. 

Driving myPerks loyalty sign-ups and member engagement

Another exciting outcome of this collaboration is the success of Giant Eagle’s myPerks loyalty program.

"62% of those customers who were not shopping with Giant Eagle previously have actually signed up for our loyalty program through Upside," Justin shared. “That’s a tremendous win for us that goes beyond the base economic case to how we grow market share and relevance within our markets.” 

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Upside goes beyond simply driving transactions. It’s about creating long-term relationships with customers by understanding their behavior and anticipating their needs.

“The more that we can be prescriptive and be predictive around how we're going to give customers value in the moment that matters most… that's really where the power is,” said Justin.

Building loyalty in today’s retail landscape

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, retailers must find new ways to engage customers and build loyalty. To thrive in a post-pandemic world, the key takeaway is clear: loyalty isn’t built overnight, but with the right approach, it’s possible to turn uncommitted customers into more regular — and even loyal — shoppers.

Watch the full talk from our LinkedIn Live from Groceryshop 2024.