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US supermarket chain Kroger is currently testing ‘food prescriptions’ for shoppers: a program that will see in-store nutritionists help customers fulfill dietary recommendations from their doctors. The concept was born from the realization that doctors’ nutritional advice to patients is often vague, such as ‘eat better’. Kroger’s dieticians can make more specific recommendations tailored to customers’ budget, cooking skills and lifestyle. The program also integrates the grocer’s OptUP app, which assigns items in the store a nutrition-based point value and helps users track their health goals. 

Inspired? Here are the key ingredients Kroger used to cook up this trend-driven innovation:

Aisle-side assistance. What makes Kroger’s initiative extra-sticky? How the brand considered context. It’s a genius move to have a nutritionist present where consumers are buying food. Kroger is placing the right people in the right place to help shoppers stick to their diet goals and resist the cookie aisle. If your company has an arsenal of specialists at the ready, consider which locations would make their expertise extra useful; Indian e-tailer Myntra had tailors deliver customers’ clothing orders, so they could be altered on the spot if necessary. But you don’t need a human staffer on hand to deliver ultra-personalized, ultra-relevant-in-the-moment service; there are tech-driven solutions here, too. See how DnaNudge’s glowing wearable (literally) green-lights foods as shoppers browse grocery stores, based on their DNA profiles. In what thoughtful context could you place your experts (human or otherwise) to better serve your customers?

Track, optimize, repeat. Apple watches, Fitbits and the like first primed consumers to monitor every metric available in order to assess their fitness level, down to the very step. In turn, a new expectation emerged among the self-improvement obsessed: every other aspect of their health (their sleep habits, their periods, their jetlag, the list will only get longer!) must be equally trackable. And as Kroger deduced, this naturally includes diet. Even if your brand doesn’t fall within the confines of the health industry, consider how your company can help consumers track their goals and level up. What aspect of consumers’ wellbeing  – mental, physical, perhaps financial wellbeing like Visa  – can you help your customer measure and ace?


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