It all starts with freshness and value
Giant and Stop & Shop’s Value Improvement Program (VIP) is designed to deliver on their promise to meet customers’ needs and expectations. Its aim – to reduce the cost of a family’s weekly shopping basket, while preserving the quality customers expect.
Based in the USA, Stop & Shop and Giant Foods have 162 years’ combined experience of serving customers with the best in grocery, dairy, meat, seafood and more. And their superior fresh produce draws in more customers than any other area. So when they launched the VIP program in 2006, not surprisingly, they began with fruit and vegetables. They wanted to improve product freshness and value, and offer new low prices every day.
“With VIP, we are responding to the core needs of young families: better prices, greater selection and genuine value across the board. ”
This meant making changes to ensure greater freshness of products, such as decreasing the delivery time from supplier to store and improving product handling and quality assurance. They also replaced weekly sales with low prices every day on a range of key fruit and vegetable products.
VIP goes further
Customers have been enjoying these lower prices and improved freshness since the fall. But Giant and Stop & Shop have not stopped at fresh produce, the VIP program continues to expand.
In December 2006, the stores launched VIP in the paper aisle with lower priced napkins, paper towels, facial tissues, paper cups and plates, food containers, sandwich bags and related household items.
Then in January, they unveiled new, lower prices in the baby aisle so customers can find lower priced diapers, baby food, wipes, creams and other baby care products.
“With VIP, we are responding to the core needs of young families: better prices, greater selection and genuine value across the board,” said José Alvarez, President and CEO of Stop & Shop/Giant. “This proves that we understand our customers’ needs and are still their supermarket of choice.”
Healthy Home
In March, VIP took a further leap forward with the introduction of a new product line, ‘Healthy Home’. “Customers have told us they want cleaning products that are ‘green’,” said José. So alongside lower prices on detergents, bleach and other cleaning supplies, the stores have launched a full range of environmentally-safe cleaning products. And in May, cereal products were added to VIP
More to come
Customers have responded enthusiastically to the lower prices and greater value. They see that one-stop-shopping can go hand in hand with great quality and value. And they can be sure that Giant and Stop & Shop will continue to rollout their VIP program, providing better quality and freshness, and reducing the price of families’ weekly shopping trips.