Connecting the Wellness Dots in The Grocery Store
By: Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, CFS, Chief Food and Product Safety Officer and Senior Vice President Food Safety, FMI
We live in an age of personalization. A shopper looking for Keto meal options and a shopper seeking blood pressure medicine both have the same end goal—a personalized grocery shopping experience that gets them the products they need and want. For years, food retailers have satisfied both shoppers by offering different services—nutrition counseling and pharmacy. Nowadays, simply having both services in your store isn’t enough.
Shoppers’ Integrated Health and Wellness Needs
According to the Power of Health and Well-Being 2020, when it comes to health and wellness, shoppers seek an integrated, concierge approach. Shoppers expect to do some of the work to create a personalized health and wellness grocery shopping experience, but they also need guidance and flexible options—especially when trying something new. Add in the complexity of shopping for a household with multiple members, each with unique health and wellness needs, and you begin to see why shoppers need someone to help them connect the dots.
The Rise of Grocery Health and Wellness Centers
The 2019 Retailer Contributions to Health and Wellness report finds food retailers are creating more integrated health and wellness programs that allow shoppers flexibility to personalize their experience. For example, 55% of food retail survey respondents say registered dietitians and pharmacists make referrals to one another and 42% make customer-specific recommendations together.
Dietitians and pharmacists are working together, creating a personalized health and wellness shopping experience, fostering trust and dependable customer service.
