Thoughts about Technology at Shaw's Supermarkets

As I considered a memo to a company CEO I wanted to find something that is comparatively low tech vs. most of the high tech companies we discuss in class.  Shaw's supermarkets jumped out at me because Shaw's (or another supermarket) is an experience that almost everyone has at some time or another, and the experience is largely unchanged from many years ago.  Yes there are now 60 types of crackers on the shelves instead of 4 (for more on the concept of too many products and choices I recommend "The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More" or a video summary here), and we have some self checkout lanes, but you still show up with your grocery list, go through the isles, pick what you want, checkout, load it into your car, drive home, and unload your groceries.

Looking at the industry, what differentiates stores and chains?  In my opinion two aspects, price and quality, decide where people shop.  I live less than a mile from a Shaw's and another

 grocer store, yet I shop at Shaw's because the quality is essentially close enough between the two and prices are lower at my Shaw's.  The brand name means very little to me however.  The slogan seen above "crazy about food" means even less to me. If Shaw's were to raise their prices, I'd take a left turn instead of a right and bring my business elsewhere.

Technology now in place at grocery stores is pretty limited to the ubiquitous discount cards where you scan your card and get products at a "discount" for having the card.  However, usage of these cards is generally limited to sending out some discounts when you reach a certain dollar amount spent - hardly a worthwhile usage of all the data they could be collecting.

So, I have a few thoughts on technology and supermarkets.

1) Discount cards - why is there not greater mining of the data there? This is a no brainer for most online companies.  Why am I not getting emailed recipes utilizing things I buy regularly, or suggestions of meals based on what I purchase, or suggestions for sides that go along with my purchases?  How about dietary tips based  on my purchases?  Where is the next level of analysis that I would actually find worthwhile and might lead me to shop at one store over another?

2) What else could they be doing with technology?  Lots.  How about meal recommendations based on what I purchase?  How about weekly menu suggestions tied into the delivery service where I don't even have to go to the store but my weekly groceries are delivered to my house.  Why not give me suggestions based on a diet I'm currently on and allow me to have those automatically delivered as well.  Where is my weekly list of suggestions for healthy meals or suggestions for beef based meals, or seafood meals, etc.  Why is there no connection between what I order and telling me how to best prepare meals with it?  If I'm planning to have friends for a dinner party, why can't we go onto the Shaw's facebook app and plan meals together while scheduling delivery of the ingredients?  Where is the option to deliver my 

"super bowl pack" of goodies and foods for the big game.  Why are these things not automated so that when I start to think about Thanksgiving dinner, I've already had an email from Shaw's with a list of ingredients I can one-click to order? Again I wonder, where are the extra value added services that would make it worthwhile for me to bring my business to one store over another? 

In short, what I'm really talking about is grocery stores moving beyond pure commodities to provide services.  We've discussed how it can be difficult for a product company to branch into services, but grocery stores aren't quite pure product companies and I think it could work.  Just a sampling of thoughts I'm having regarding Shaw's...comments welcome.