Giant Eagle and Upside Partner to Offer More Personalized Value to Customers

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2024 –– Today, Upside announced a large-scale partnership with Giant Eagle, Inc., one of the nation’s largest regional food retailers and distributors. Following the completion of a successful pilot, Giant Eagle guests can now utilize Upside's highly-rated mobile app to access personalized cash back promotions at more than 180 Giant Eagle and Market District locations and more than 165 of its GetGo locations in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The partnership makes Giant Eagle the first retailer on Upside's platform to provide cash back opportunities in three separate categories: Grocery (Giant Eagle and Market District); Fuel (GetGo); and Convenience (GetGo).

Upside’s marketplace brings together a unique mix of retailers across categories like food and fuel that consumers need every day. This breadth of choice is what brings millions of consumers to Upside when they’re making decisions about where to grocery shop and ensures its retailer partners are top-of-mind when they’re deciding where to dine or fuel up.

“This partnership with Giant Eagle is an example of the ways we can influence a retailer’s profitability by helping them grow their customer base and increase adoption of their loyalty programs," said Tyler Renaghan, Upside VP of Grocery. "We’re excited to grow our relationship and find new ways to drive more people in-store."

Upside’s platform encourages customer loyalty, which was demonstrated during the pilot program with Giant Eagle. Nearly twice the users are now fueling up at GetGo and purchasing groceries at Giant Eagle, when they only shopped at one category or the other before the pilot. Upside users have weighed in on Giant Eagle’s decision to join the platform, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive:

• “I’ve been way more incentivized to shop at both the grocery store and gas station since downloading Upside and knowing they have offers for them.” — Marina, Upside user
• “I really like the quality & cleanliness Giant Eagle offers. I truly appreciate them being on Upside. It's another big plus for shopping at GE.”  — Penny, Upside user

This strategic partnership follows a successful initial pilot launched in September 2023. Since then, Giant Eagle added sites to the pilot in waves to monitor performance and validate impact.

• On the fuel side, Upside transactions have quickly driven a 2.2x sales lift, compared to similar non-Upside customers.
• In grocery, Giant Eagle stores are using the platform to engage new and infrequent customers that are typically hard-to-reach — 10% of Upside users are entirely new to Giant Eagle, and 40% are infrequent Giant Eagle customers that are now coming in-store more often.
• Additionally, 56.4% of the new/non-loyalty users that Upside brought in chose to join the myPerks rewards program during or after their first use of Upside.

These results exemplify the tangible benefits and business advantages that Upside's strategic approach and personalized offers bring to both retailers and customers alike.

“We’re continually looking for ways to meet new and existing customers where they are, which is why we’re excited to officially roll out this partnership with Upside,” said Justin Weinstein, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Giant Eagle, Inc. “Upside allows our guests to earn cash back while shopping at our stores, including our GetGo convenience store locations. This benefit stacks on top of our myPerks loyalty program and is another way we’re delivering on our promise to deliver value to our customers across all Giant Eagle brands.” 

Upside works with more than 100,000 retailers nationwide to help them reach new customers and convert them into regular customers. If you want to learn more or partner with Upside, visit www.upside.com/business.

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ABOUT UPSIDE

Upside is a marketplace that connects consumers with brick and mortar retailers through personalized offers. Since 2016, Upside’s AI-driven personalization technology has helped millions of people get more purchasing power on the things they need, and tens of thousands of businesses earn measurable profit. Billions of dollars in commerce run through the Upside platform every year, and that value goes directly back to our retailers, the consumers they serve, and towards important sustainability initiatives. For more: www.upside.com

ABOUT GIANT EAGLE

Giant Eagle, Inc., ranked among the top 40 on Forbes magazine’s largest private corporations list, is one of the nation’s largest food retailers and distributors, with approximately $11.4 billion in annual sales. Founded in 1931, Giant Eagle, Inc. has grown to be a leading food, fuel, and pharmacy retailer in the region, with more than 470 stores throughout western Pennsylvania, north central Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana.