Is your New Year’s resolution to grow your business? Then your first action item is to create a solid grocery store digital marketing plan.
The number-one way that today’s customers discover new businesses is online — whether they’re scrolling through social media, browsing search results, or virtually wandering through a map of their neighborhood.
That’s why your grocery store needs a strong online presence. Grocery store digital marketing helps new shoppers find you, builds customer loyalty, and establishes your small business as a community staple.
In this blog, we’ll explore a few reasons why grocery store digital marketing matters — as well as some ideas you can put to work to boost your business in 2025.
Why Grocery Store Digital Marketing Is Key
If you want to grow your customer base in today’s ultra-competitive environment, a sound digital marketing strategy is essential. Big-box supermarkets and online retailers are carving out space in the industry, so you’ve got to actively market your store to attract and retain customers.
Neglecting marketing could be a huge mistake. Without an online presence and engagement through channels like social media and email, you risk losing visibility and failing to bring in foot traffic. These channels are free, too!
You can use grocery store digital marketing to:
- Promote seasonal products.
- Offer discounts on various products during the holiday season.
- Highlight unique and local products that set you apart from big chains.
- Nurture customer relationships and loyalty.
Your point of sale (POS) system is the best tool for launching and managing marketing campaigns. It collects data on inventory, customers, and sales — which enables targeted digital campaigns. Other features like integrated customer loyalty and customer relationship management (CRM) also help.
6 Easy Digital Marketing Tips To Put Your Local Grocery Store on the Map
The biggest misconception that many small grocery stores have is that mastering digital marketing requires fancy, expensive software or hiring a dedicated marketing expert.
We can say with confidence that this is absolutely not true. To build a healthy following for your digital marketing, you just need to do a few simple things consistently.
Let’s get into some actionable ideas you can start using today!
1. Implement a Customer Loyalty Program
If you haven’t leveraged a loyalty program in your store, you’re missing out. Some 55% of Americans use loyalty points to save money on grocery shopping. And with a robust POS system and integrated loyalty software, they’re easy to implement.
Getting customers to spend more so they earn points toward discounts or freebies is a great way to encourage repeat shoppers, but that’s just scratching the surface. Your loyalty program is also an excellent tool for direct marketing.
Once a customer gives you their contact information, you can track their purchase history and use that to send out personalized offers and discounts. To do this, simply look at your customers’ purchase history and filter it by time, specific product types purchased, average cart size, and more.
Here are some creative (and easy) ideas:
- Filter down to all customers who bought berries and fresh fruit in the last week to promote a buy one, get one (BOGO) offer on strawberries.
- Send customers who tend to do one big shop (i.e. customers who have a high average transaction value) a weekly list of your store’s best deals and clearance items.
- Find customers who’ve visited around lunchtime and send an offer for a meal deal at your deli (e.g. buy a sandwich and add chips and a soft drink for $2)
Sending out offers based on a customers’ actual purchase history is much more effective than a generic marketing message, and shows people that you’re paying attention to the things they actually care about.
Tracking your most loyal customers’ shopping habits is also an excellent source of information, giving you a peek into the departments and specific products that drive the most repeat business.
Setting up limited-time offers is a great tactic for selling off short-dated inventory or to entice people into an impulse buy with an unmissable bargain. While attractive signage is a great start, it only works on people who are already in your store.
Why not create even more buzz around your daily deals by promoting them on social media?
Take time every morning to post a highlight of your daily deals on Instagram. If you do this regularly, people will be encouraged to check in every day to see if your daily deals catch their eye.
Sure, you can send out a text message saying you’ve got fresh blueberries on sale for $2, but a bright and colorful video will make people’s mouths water in a way that a text message won’t.
Feeling creative? Share a video of an employee making pancakes with the blueberries. Whatever works! The most important thing is to meet consumers where they are.
Most small grocers won’t have time to make a video for every deal in the store, so use the reports on your POS system to narrow it down to two or three popular items.
3. Embrace Email Marketing
Do you collect email addresses during online or physical transactions? As long as customers opt in, they’ll love hearing from you about deals, promotions, and other store news that improves their shopping experience.
With the data you collect, you can integrate your POS software with a platform like Mailchimp to segment your customers based on past purchases and interests. But what do we mean by “customer segments”?
Here are a few examples of segments you might notice at your store:
- Commuters: Do you have shoppers who frequently make purchases around rush hour or after school? They might be drawn to deals on hot food and other convenient meal options.
- Weekly shoppers: Maybe you see certain customers tend to do big weekly shops instead of smaller trips. These buyers might be interested in more bulk purchases.
- Health-savvy customers: Some customers might go into your store because of your connections with local produce and organic food suppliers — send them announcements about new local products and seasonal produce.
- Bargain hunters: Many people look for a good deal and frequently take advantage of discounts and short-term sales. Keep these customers in the loop with an email on the best bargains currently available in your store.
Sending emails that speak directly to different types of customers keeps them engaged. This boosts how often they open emails and act on deals.
4: Highlight Your E-Commerce Integration
As consumer appetite for convenience grows, offering online grocery and curbside pickup is crucial. Creating a user-friendly webstore makes it easy to get an accurate view of your stock and check out. Better yet, giving customers an omnichannel experience helps set your store apart.
The foundation of a great online shopping experience is a compatible POS system. This will ensure that your inventory syncs between your physical and online stores and customer information (loyalty, purchase history, etc.) is saved no matter where they shop.
Most importantly, staff can manage and fulfill online orders seamlessly, generating packing lists for curbside pickup preparation.
You can also offer online-only promotions and discounts. Special discounts and loyalty perks exclusive to digital shoppers give customers more reason to buy online. Online-only discounts are an excellent way to move overstocked inventory, too, allowing you to drive more sales without having to stock your store shelves first.
5. Engage With Your Community Online
When most people think of marketing, they think of promo codes and big sales — but that’s just one small part of it. For small businesses, marketing is also a way to tell your story, establish your expertise, and build community.
Even if you’re not currently running an in-store promotion, it’s critical to stay active on your store’s social media channels and to send out newsletters. Many people are looking for affordable, healthier food options — so, use your marketing channels to share your knowledge and some fun tips.
Here are some ideas to inspire you as you plan out your social media posts:
- Highlight members of your team regularly. These introductions will make your customers feel personally connected to your small business and encourage them to stop by and say hi!
- Share easy recipes and create product bundles. Many people want to cook more or try something new, but don’t know where to start — so, show off some simple recipes they can make with seasonal produce and other products available at your store. If a recipe post is getting a lot of views, create a product bundle with all the ingredients.
- Give tips for selecting produce and meat. Grocers know a lot about what makes one steak better than another, or how to find the most ripe apples. Why not give people a walkthrough of your store and let them in on some expert tips?
- Showcase how your grocery store gives back. If your grocery store regularly donates to charity or hosts food drives, tell your social media followers about it. They’ll see how important your business is to the community — and they might feel inspired to donate, too.
- Spotlight your suppliers. If your grocery store sources inventory locally, it’s a great idea to emphasize this via social media. For example, if you sell produce from a nearby farm, you’ve got a great opportunity to post about the importance of eating locally.
Most importantly, don’t just copy what the big-box stores down the street are doing. People shop local because they want to make connections with real people, so don’t be afraid to show off your personality and lean into your passions.
6. Enhance Brand Visibility by Focusing on SEO
Our last bit of advice is one of the most important.
As mentioned, the majority of people find new businesses online, even if they intend to visit those shops in person. This means creating an easy-to-use and informative website, along with keeping your online business profiles up to date, is a must — even if you do the majority of your business in person.
Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the various tactics a business uses to show up higher on search engines like Google. When someone searches for “grocery store near me,” search engines scour the web for relevant information. The more relevant information about your business is out there, the more likely it is to show up.
If you want some more in-depth tips on grocery store SEO, check out our recent article on the topic.
Here are a few simple steps to boost your store’s online visibility:
- Update your Google Business Profile with your website address, contact information, and store hours (including holiday hours).
- Offer online sales directly through your website instead of redirecting visitors to a separate webstore. This ensures that search engines see your store website and webstore as a single business.
- Encourage happy customers to leave you reviews on Google, and respond to reviews regularly to show that your business is active.
- Make sure your website is up to date, includes location-specific wording (e.g. “an organic grocery store located in city name, state”), and is mobile-friendly.
SEO is a complicated topic, but even small changes have big impacts on your grocery store’s visibility.
Use Your POS System To Implement Grocery Store Digital Marketing Ideas
With the power to expand your reach and build customer loyalty, grocery store digital marketing is a key factor for small business success.
But to reap the benefits, you need the right approach — including a POS system to power your marketing efforts.
If you’re looking for a POS system to take your grocery store to new heights in 2025, look no further than IT Retail. IT Retail is an all-in-one solution designed with the needs of small business grocers like you in mind.
Our POS system includes digital marketing integrations, along with all the other tools you need to manage your thriving grocery store, including robust inventory management tools, speedy checkout functions, and detailed reporting and analytics.
Learn how IT Retail can level up your grocery store by scheduling a personalized demo today!
by Sarah Hartsell
