SuperValu: Increasing store footfall with Real Rewards-powered SMS campaigns
Overview
SuperValu is one of Ireland’s largest and most successful supermarket chains, with over 200 independently owned stores serving local communities across the country. Part of the Musgrave Group, SuperValu wanted a mobile marketing programme that could deliver weekly special offers at both national and local level, while staying simple for stores to run and controlled from head office.
Results
Weekly offers delivered to Real Rewards customers at both national and local level
Mobile campaigns run easily at store level, even without dedicated marketing staff
Head office gained full visibility of messages, opt-out rates and coupon redemptions by store
Campaign reporting revealed a clear difference in spend between customers who received messages and those who did not
Behaviour-based mobile coupons used to target customers with the right offers at the right time
The Challenge
SuperValu wanted to use mobile to drive store visits and basket spend, but any solution had to work across 200+ independent stores with very different levels of in-house marketing capability.
They needed a way to:
send weekly offers to their customer base
support local targeting at individual store level
monitor and control outbound campaigns centrally to protect the brand
What SuperValu needed
To be workable across all stores, the solution had to be:
Simple to operate
Low cost, but capable of generating high ROI
Brand consistent, with head office approval
Fully data compliant
What we implemented
Phonovation integrated directly with the SuperValu Real Rewards system so messages could be sent only to customers who had given permission to be contacted on their mobile phones. This created a permission-based, loyalty-linked mobile channel that could be used nationally and locally.
Store-level execution, head office approval
Local stores used the platform to send SMS campaigns to their Real Rewards customers with weekly offers and local promotions. Because most stores do not have on-site marketers, the interface was kept extremely user-friendly so staff could operate it without formal training.
Every campaign was routed to head office for approval before sending, giving the central marketing team full control over tone, timing and brand consistency.
Keeping the database clean and compliant
An easy opt-out function ensured that:
customers could leave the programme at any time
the database stayed current
campaign credits were not wasted on inactive or opted-out contacts
From standard texts to behaviour-based mobile coupons
Once standard SMS offers had proven their value, SuperValu began sending mobile coupons targeted by purchase history. This behaviour-based approach allowed them to reach specific segments with tailored offers, increasing relevance and encouraging higher spend.
Business impact
By connecting Real Rewards data to SMS, SuperValu turned mobile into a flexible, measurable marketing channel that works at scale.
Flexibility to distribute messages and offers through multiple channels with minimal hassle for stores
Control for head office, with full visibility of all messages sent and opt-out and redemption figures for each store
Reporting that makes it easy to see a marked difference in spend between customers who receive messages and those who do not
More effective targeting, with behaviour-driven coupons and offers helping ensure customers receive the right offer at the right time
“The platform has proven to be very successful for SuperValu. It has delivered an increase in store footfall directly attributable to the targeted messaging campaigns. The team has worked with us to give the functionality we need for our business and always encourages us to test new ideas. I’m very excited by the potential we have to use Phonovation to increase the level of personalisation we can offer our shoppers.”
Want to connect your loyalty data to targeted, compliant SMS campaigns across multiple locations?
Talk to Phonovation about building a Real Rewards-style mobile programme that increases footfall and spend while keeping brand control at head office.