Safeway launches new couponing app

With new grocery stores going up in almost every neighborhood, food retailers are doing everything they can to get you to shop with them, instead of the competition.

Today, Safeway launched what it believes is the most innovative idea yet. It's competitive couponing with a digital edge, and you can bet Safeway's competitors are checking it out.
 
The new program, aptly named "Just for U" marries your Safeway Club Card to your smart phone, with an app that stores all the weekly featured ads, all in-store and manufacturer's coupons, your digital shopping lists, and individualized coupons just for you, based on your personally shopping patterns.

"That technology makes grocery shopping about as easy as  grocery shopping can get," said Safeway's Seattle Division President, Steve Frisby.

Frisby says it's all about savings and convenience. The virtual coupon program eliminates coupon clipping by storing everything  in your smart phone. Your deals are instantly loaded onto your Safeway club card. But what really has local coupon bloggers blogging is the personalized deals. Mommy blogger Amber Bustanoby of Lynnwood is already sold on that feature. Bustanoby runs a popular blog called "Coupon Connections."

"So all these deals are specific to me. I can get any variety of Safeway beans for 64 cents," said Bustanoby, pointing to the personalized deals on her iPhone screen.

"I can get spices for 69 cents. I can get fresh cucumbers for only 49 cents. Cucumbers are normally a dollar. That's a really good deal." Bustanoby continued.

Blogger Heather Kulper of Mill Creek printed her list online to test the savings without her smart phone.An extreme couponer, Kulper posts deals on her blog, "Because More is More."

"In order to get me to frequent the store, they're going to need to have offers that are applicable to me and my family. And with their personalized deals where they can watch my shopping habits online, they're going to know what I'm purchasing so I'm not going to have my email box or my phone pull up with a bunch of offers that don't apply to me," said Kulper.

With specialized individual deals, and everything you need in your smart phone, Safeway is banking on the cutting edge technology to get Safeway regulars and non-regulars alike to do more of their shopping in a Safeway, instead of the competition. Frisby says so far, sales patterns are promising.

Safeway says the "Just for U" program has been 2 years in the making and is Safeway's proprietary property.  The 14 mommy bloggers attending the program launch Thursday in Bellevue were each given $50 gift cards to do their shopping and say their savings ranged from 22 percent to as high as 70 percent.