The Vitamin Shoppe increases efforts in omnichannel sales with in-store subscription enrollment

07-Dec-2017 - Last updated on 12-Dec-2017 at 18:18 GMT

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In an effort to gain more out of its new online subscription service, The Vitamin Shoppe has announced a partnership with platform provider OrderGroove to increase customer enrolment points, and streamline data between brick-and-mortar and online channels.

Using OrderGroove’s platform, The Vitamin Shoppe will be able to recruit customers at its 775 physical stores to enroll in its Spark Auto Delivery program at the cashier.

“Subscription programs have already been shown to drive repeat purchasing behavior and higher annual spend online, but eCommerce sales are still only 11 percent of overall shopping in the U.S.,” said Greg Alvo, CEO of OrderGroove.

Alvo added that the OrderGroove platform will allow The Vitamin Shoppe to use “every sales associate to cultivate closer customer relationships with subscription offers right in the store,” which he argues will help brick-and-mortar retailers build relationships with “ten times more potential customers.”

Other features from this partnership include using data to tailor offers through the VShoppe mobile app, and a streamlined subscription management interface for consumers to use via text message and online.

“Consumer goods, like vitamin and supplements, are great use-cases for subscription services. The next piece is perfecting the art of anticipating your customers' needs," he told NutraIngredients-USA.

"Many retailers understand their customers' interests and their purchase behaviors, but the new norm will be a retailer’s ability to intelligently predict when their customers will need to reorder again. Once they perfect this understanding, the retailer can truly make themselves indispensable to their customers' lives while helping them achieving their health and wellness goals.”

Betting on new sales strategies amid losses

The Vitamin Shoppe first announced the Spark Auto Delivery Program in August. With no enrolment or shipping fees, the service allows consumers to subscribe to products monthly, getting a product cheaper per unit compared to a one-off purchase.

Spark Auto Delivery program is one example of how the struggling vitamin retailer is trying to reinvent the way it sells products. Its past three quarterly earnings reports have been the weakest ones in recent memory—with last month’s report bearing news of its biggest loss since going public in 2009.

In response to its domestic slowdown, the retailer pushed overseas expansion heavily in the past couple years, including opening new stores in Latin America and starting digital business in China this year.

“OrderGroove is helping us activate valuable customer data in our CRM, eCommerce and POS platforms to create increased loyalty and engagement through customers enrolled in the SPARK program,” said John Hnanicek, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Innovation & Technology Officer at The Vitamin Shoppe.

“There’s a lot of talk about disruption in the retail industry, but not many examples of retailers taking bold steps to mitigate that disruption. The Vitamin Shoppe recognizes that consumer expectations have completely changed, so they've transformed their business to put their customers at the center, making it easy for those customers to stay engaged and in control across all channels,” Alvo added.