Dive Brief:

• Giant Eagle has partnered with Vous Vitamin and medical technology company Higi to create a virtual vitamin aisle, according to an emailed press release. 
• Higi digital stations at nearly 220 of the grocer’s stores allow shoppers to take Vous Vitamin’s five-minute health and lifestyle quiz for suggested product offerings and place orders for home delivery. 
• The offering comes at a time when grocers are boosting awareness and accessibility to vitamins and supplements as the coronavirus pandemic heightens people's focus on health and wellness. 

Dive Insight:

The Higi Smart Health Stations not only let Giant Eagle customers shop for vitamins, they also share healthy recipes from the grocer, provide educational resources and measure blood pressure, pulse, weight and body mass index. Shoppers can also self-screen for health risk factors like heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity. 

“By putting vitamin information just a click away as consumers go about their regular grocery and pharmacy shopping, Giant Eagle is now providing another important resource that empowers people to take charge of their health,” Higi CEO Jeff Bennett said in the press release. 

Based in Illinois, Vous Vitamin specializes in personalized, all-in-one multivitamins and “situational supplements.” The health and lifestyle quiz on the vitamin company’s website asks respondents about what they eat and drink; how active they are; and about any health issues, in addition to asking about age, gender and which region of the U.S. they live in, to then inform the proprietary formulas used to create the vitamin blends. 

In addition to Giant Eagle, Higi’s digital stations are available at Dollar General, Giant Food, Hannaford, H-E-B, Martin’s, Publix, Rite Aid, Sam’s Club, ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Wegmans stores, with a total of more than 10,000 nationwide. Higi claims that more than 61 million people have used one of its stations for more than 372 million biometric tests. 

Giant Eagle has a number of perks to incentivize shoppers to give the digital stations a whirl. Shoppers who use them can get 5% off their first and future Vous Vitamin purchases and those who are a part of Giant Eagle’s loyalty program can get rewarded for checking their blood pressure, according to the press release.