Dive Brief:

• Hybrid retailer Choice Market has teamed up with tech company Locai Solutions to offer an updated digital shopping experience for customers, according to a press release.
• Locai’s technology will power Choice Market’s mobile app, in-store kiosks and a new e-commerce website. The partnership will also support a new customer loyalty program.
• In April, Choice Market will launch its own delivery program using a fleet of electric vehicles, founder and CEO Mike Fogarty told Grocery Dive.

Dive Insight:

After looking at its digital experience and realizing it wasn’t seamless enough for shoppers, Fogarty said Choice Market set out to fix the problem. The new platform from Locai will offer a more unified experience across its website, app, in-store kiosk and delivery platform.

"The primary goals are to enhance the digital customer experience, to reduce our delivery expense and drive customer loyalty," Fogarty said. 

Choice Market, which sells groceries and made-to-order meals both in-store and online, will still work with third-party delivery platforms for customers who order from the website or through the app, but launching its own delivery program in April will offer a better fit for the company. Fogarty said third-party services are primarily designed for restaurants and limited SKUs rather than the 3,000 to 4,000 items Choice Market offers. The new program will allow Choice Market to broaden its delivery assortment, including alcohol. 

The company will also introduce a singular, points-based loyalty program that spans all platforms. Fogarty said this will help Choice Market reward shoppers for their purchases and will also provide the company with access to data, which can help it provide more personalized offers and adjust product selection and menu items based on customer feedback.

"The goal is this true omnichannel experience and we want to reward our customers for however they interact with Choice," Fogarty said.

Choice Market opened its first store in Denver in 2017 and a second store over the summer. Its third store, slated for 2020, will include prepared foods, organic produce, groceries, beer and fuel pumps. It will also serve as the primary fulfillment center for deliveries and will house supercharging stations for the company’s electric vehicles.

Fogarty has said he plans to open as many as 30 stores in the next five years. Choice Market is also rolling out automated vending machines that sell snacks, beverages and fresh meals. Two machines are currently operating at Denver's Mission Ballroom and a third recently opened at the city's new Housing Authority headquarters.