What's on your list?
BEEF IN ONLINE SHOPPING BASKETS from the Beef Checkoff Program While the number of people shopping online for groceries was already growing, the COVID pandemic launched e-commerce popularity into hyperdrive. When COVID brought the world to a screeching halt, 67 percent of consumers ordered groceries online. And even though people are getting back to more normal routines with work, school and play, the ease and convenience of buying groceries online has kept 63 percent of consumers continuing with online shopping habits, with nearly half saying they will continue to use pick-up/delivery for groceries in the future. The good news for beef is that consumers are becoming more comfortable shopping for fresh beef online as well. More than 40 percent of consumers purchase fresh beef when ordering groceries online, which is up 18 percent compared to May 2020. Consumers are also happy with their online beef purchases, with 82 percent of consumers satisfied with the Ground Beef they received. Based on these changing buying behaviors, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor of the Beef Checkoff, is focusing on e-commerce as a way to connect with consumers where they are shopping and encouraging them to add beef to their carts. NCBA has developed several successful Beef Checkoff-funded programs promoting beef to online shoppers. In November and December 2021, NCBA partnered with Sam’s Club to promote beef and the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand during the holidays on the retailer’s digital properties. Holiday beef digital ads were placed on the Sam’s Club website and app directing consumers to a page where they could add beef to their shopping cart. Almost 40,000 consumers interacted with the ads, and those ads drove more than $8 million in beef sales with 8.6 percent new buyers to the beef category. The return on ad spend for the campaign was $41.72, which means that for every Checkoff dollar spent on the project, nearly $42 was returned in beef sales. In addition, the effort was supported by 14 state beef council partners which helped increase the overall reach and impressions and also brought additional beef sales to individual states. Promoting beef through online shopping platforms also complements other promotional efforts. For example, 58 California Cattleman July • August 2022
when the Federation of State Beef Councils, on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, partnered with Daytona International Speedway to sponsor the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. In February 2022, promoting beef to consumers at home reached a broader audience and extended the positive beef message beyond NASCAR fans. Funding provided by 13 state beef councils made an e-commerce campaign with Kroger possible, which drove the beef message home for families while they were shopping for groceries online. The Kroger Beef 300 promotion in January and February generated more than 5 million impressions and resulted in $982,000 in beef sales. With 45 percent of purchasing households new or lapsed beef shoppers, the effort also inspired those who haven’t purchased beef online to put beef in their online baskets. Efforts encouraging consumers to buy beef online go beyond the retail level by targeting foodservice as well. A recent partnership with McDonald’s and Door Dash yielded big results for beef. During the first week of November 2021, McDonald’s promoted two beef offers on the DoorDash delivery platform and utilized the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. logo, which paired well with the famous golden arches in this national campaign. Ads featuring the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. logo appeared on mobile app and website versions of the DoorDash homepage and McDonald’s store page. McDonald’s also promoted the offer heavily through social media channels such as Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
