2023 PDL eCROY

page_01.indd 6

11/6/23 11:27 AM

page_02.indd 6

11/6/23 11:27 AM

The Griffin Report of the Northeast Congratulates

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year Boosted by ‘incredible head start,’ PDL keeps driving tech forward

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator Peapod Digital Labs (PDL) drives the digital and eCommerce innovation, technology and expertise for the retail brands of Ahold Delhaize USA – Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Co., Hannaford Supermarkets and Stop & Shop.

Originally known as Peapod Online Grocer or simply Peapod, the company was founded in 1989 and operated independently until Ahold USA acquired the company in 2000. Peapod closed in February 2020. The decision enabled Ahold Delhaize USA (ADUSA) to focus on expanding the position of its brands along the East Coast, according to a press release at the time.

Known now as Peapod Digital Labs, the Chicago-based grocery eCommerce company – The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year – executes ADUSA’s strategy of enabling the local brands to be an omnichannel leader in their respective markets.

These capabilities include leveraging a proprietary cloudbased platform to create uniformity across ADUSA brands; a culture based on caring for its people; close partnerships with each retail brand; and the creation of a robust in-store picking app and native mobile apps that improve the online purchasing experience for associates and consumers.

Keith Nicks, executive leader of PDL, has nearly two decades of experience within the retail industry. Many of those years have been in various roles with Ahold Delhaize USA. He reflected on the advancement of technology in the grocery industry and what Peapod Digital Labs is doing to bring digital engagement to its retail partners.

Speaking first about how his career has changed, Nicks said customers today engage more with retailers.

“We make decisions around the customer. I think if you spend any time within Peapod Digital Labs and get visibility into how we prioritize and make decisions, you will see that our focus on the customer is alive and well. Our decisions are customer-driven, even when we’re making decisions to generate fuel for the business.

Whether it’s the experience, assortments or pricing, that fuel is leverage to reinvest back into the customer. Other companies might say they prioritize the customer, but you will see it in practice every day at PDL.” – Keith Nicks Executive Leader of Peapod Digital Labs

Peapod.indd 17

“It’s changed considerably. I can remember when I started inside of digital, grocery eCommerce wasn’t prevalent,” he said. “It didn’t really exist outside of a few pure paid-play players.

“If you think about what we classify as digital engagement, customers who come to digital properties engage. Whether it’s looking at weekly ads, downloading coupons or engaging in loyalty programs, they are transacting online. That didn’t really exist when I first started in this Keith Nicks space.”

Websites were an afterthought back then.

“The website was more of a newsletter,” Nicks recalled with a laugh. “Customers didn’t have the ability to create an account and sign in because there was no value in doing that. That’s certainly much different today.”

He then reflected on a general question, “People used to ask me, ‘Is it required to be a great grocery retailer, do you have to be a great tech company?’” Nicks said his answer to that question now is much different than a few years ago.

“If you asked me that question in 2016-17, I’d say, ‘No, you don’t have to. But technology is a nice place if you choose to leverage it to differentiate.’ That answer has changed,” Nicks said. “In order to be a great grocery retailer, you have to be a great tech company. Because when you look at the consumer base and how they engage digitally, it is a big part of the consumer experience.”

Paul Yang, PDL’s director of mobile engineering, pointed to an industry standard that about 40-50 percent of consumers engaged digitally in 2016. That number is now about 80 percent.

In the mid-2010s, Peapod Digital Labs made a Please see page 18

11/6/23 11:10 AM

18

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

From page 17

commitment to provide a comprehensive eCommerce strategy. That commitment, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, propelled the company and the industry toward omnichannel offerings.

“When you looked at our great local brands, there was a comprehensive strategy from an eCommerce perspective.

As we got inside that research and spoke to consumers, that eCommerce strategy turned into an omnichannel strategy.”

The omnichannel strategy led directly to the creation of Peapod Digital Labs.

“We said, ‘Where do we need to focus a lot of time and energy to bring that strategy to life?’ That goes back to the birth of PDL because we did digital and eCommerce. That’s where we had to spend a lot of time, building those capabilities required to bring an omnichannel strategy to life.”

Continuing to address the emergence of technology in the grocery space, Nicks said key industry changes created pressure on how to scale eCommerce capabilities.

“Food is very emotional because you’re nourishing your family. Consumers, for a long time, didn’t like didn’t like the idea of having a stranger select their groceries – particularly in the fresh departments.”

The COVID-19 pandemic broke down that last barrier of consumer trust.

“The other demarcation moment was certainly the pandemic,” Nicks said.

Consumer relations are at the core of the grocery industry. When customers are in-store there are certain standards that must be met to gain market share, according to Nicks. These include improving in-stock positioning, customer service, checkout experience and cleanliness.

Likewise, when entering the online grocery business, fundamentals such as engaging customers, product transparency and capable technology are a must for success.

While many grocers were attempting to implement technology infrastructure Parag Shah

during the pandemic, PDL provided its retail partners a leg up in their respective markets.

“We just had an incredible head start in managing that type of business versus other grocery retailers that had no experience,” Nicks said. “Creating technology capabilities is one thing. We were strengthening the foundational pieces … that gave us an incredible head start.”

PDL is strengthening its foundation by creating a universal platform for its retail partners by moving its internal systems to a cloud-based platform that promises uniform technology across the ADUSA retail space, according to Amit Shah, chief technology officer.

Nicks explained that this platform, along with new native mobile apps, are what set PDL apart from other online grocery retailers.

“Some folks would take on this omnichannel strategy and say, ‘We want to be an omnichannel retailer. We lack the capabilities to be an online retailer, so we need to build those.’ That is the foundational build of the technology.

There are certainly capabilities to go along with that,” he said.

“From an investment perspective, I would say once they get those built, then the investment kind of changes. It becomes more a run the business.”

That is not the mentality at Peapod Digital Labs and Ahold Delhaize USA. “We’re going to continue to invest in our consumers,” Nicks said. “What are their pain points? What are their influences? Then also, the associates inside of the store making it easier, more efficient for the work they do to serve customers.”

The company is working to improve the lives of its associates through PDL’s proprietary online order fulfillment picking app.

According to Barb Miles, the app’s group product manager, the picking app is utilizing the new cloud-based platform and AI to streamline the picking process.

It also improves the onboarding time of new associates for PDL’s grocery partners by building on a simple design and Joanna Crishock

“They provide us capabilities with a culture of constant improvement, continuous improvement and innovation. Not a week goes by we are not engaged with them in enhancing customer experience or associate experience. We are constantly working on that side. … They’ve also been able to recruit talent across different industries … that brings us a lot of outside-thebox capabilities and thinking that propels us further.”

– Parag Shah VP, Center Store Merchandising and eCommerce Growth The Giant Co.

“PDL truly does want to partner to find, tackle difficult problems together. They fundamentally are ingrained in our business. Their knowledge of the customer, their knowledge of how to look at the customer in unique and different ways … is best in class and helps us get better every day. And that’s something that we do together. We collectively sit at the same table together to solve the tough problems that all retailers face.”

– Joanna Crishock VP, Marketing and Commercial Planning The Giant Co.

Peapod.indd 18

integrating widely used touch screen features, according to Senior Design Manager Tom Roof.

Peapod Digital Labs partners with the Ahold Delhaize Retail Media team to bring an omnichannel experience to the partner brands’ advertising partners. AD Retail Media is a group within PDL that connects its customers to the full path of purchase across all the partner brands, according to Margit Kittridge, advertising technology lead, Ahold Delhaize Retail Media Team.

“Our capabilities include connected TV, online video, offsite display, social media, digital out-of-home and other eCommerce platforms,” she explained.

While AD Retail Media works inside of PDL, the goal of both organizations is to provide the best experience for its customers.

“That’s really how we go to business. It’s all in service of delivering for our brands, which ultimately means we’re delivering for customers.”

Likewise, he said PDL has maintained a “startup culture” for its own associates.

“Which is very difficult in a very large organization. And if you spend any time in PDL, you would say for sure we’ve maintained that. That’s quite important that we maintain that,” he said.

The office culture is boiled down to a simple word, “fun,” according to Theresa Funk, director of communications and PR. “One of our corporate values is humor,” she said. “And I think that regardless of what we’re doing, we bring humor and levity and fun into the work. Even when the work is hard and the days are long, we’re still going to have a good time. We’re going to make connections with each other.”

Nicks noted that PDL’s culture also emphasizes individual achievements.

“We spend a ton of time on understanding our contribution, to not only Ahold Delhaize, but also understanding our individual contribution,” he said. “We all say that we see our fingerprints on our work. … The reason why that’s important is, there are some places you go to work at, and you can’t say that. It’s something we keep very top-of-mind.”

Continuing to speak to the company’s culture, he never gives himself credit for what PDL has been able to accomplish.

“Even as the senior leader for PDL, I don’t get to say, ‘Here’s what our culture is going to be.’

I participate in our culture with the rest of the associates within Peapod Digital Labs. We’re not fearful of failure, we run toward it because we know we learn from failure. It allows us to take the next risk, which can translate into a win.”

Technology continues to be an integral Please see page 24

Evan Harding

“The significant growth that Ahold Delhaize has gone through inside of our omnichannel business, to be able to stay ahead of the customer inside of their behavior, their actions and their activity and be able to offer them great value and services is the No. 1 factor that PDL deserves to be named eCommerce Retailer of the Year. … To be the engine across five or six brands, and do that in an excellent, excellent manner is remarkable. And they’re just good people. They do good work. The skill set that they provide inside of their organization for us across the different services they offer has been excellent.”

– Evan Harding Director of eCommerce, Digital and Media Food Lion

11/6/23 5:42 PM

ding

Peapod.indd 19

11/6/23 11:10 AM

20

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

Cloud-based platform key to continuing innovation across network

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator Peapod Digital Labs has improved its overall technological offerings by moving to a company-wide cloud-based proprietary platform.

Under its parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, PDL is responsible for the eCommerce offerings of each of the five retail brands under the ADUSA umbrella – Food Lion, Hannaford Supermarkets, The Giant Co., Giant Food and Stop & Shop. Moving its internal infrastructure to a cloudbased platform allows PDL to scale innovations quickly across the brands, according to Amit Shah, chief technology officer.

Chicago-based Peapod Digital Labs, The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year, was able to implement its cloud-based foundation in just three months thanks to its partnership with Microsoft and the greater Ahold Delhaize brand. Shah said PDL used a framework developed by the European arm of Ahold Delhaize to bring the platform to the United States.

The need for a cloud-based platform became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shah said network traffic across the five brands grew “roughly six times,” with PDL and its ADUSA brand partners seeing three times the typical amount of customer penetration.

“It all came to us in a very short span of time. And that required us to scale the platform to quickly and reliably to ensure that we are always up and available for Amit Shah

Peapod.indd 20

our customers. And all of that became quite challenging in a physical environment,” Shah said.

The company needed to reimagine what the future of grocery was going to be. PDL learned quickly that consumers’ preference for digital engagement was going to linger post-pandemic. The company had to enhance its capabilities to match consumer interest, according to Shah.

“It’s a unique culture that we have been able to cultivate within Peapod Digital Labs that is focused on innovation, really strong engineering and a diverse set of backgrounds. These come together to form a very solid foundation … We have really strong talent within the culture within PDL that is constantly innovating, pushing forward. That’s what I think sets us apart … I’m greatly proud of the team that we have built over the years, and where we’re headed as an organization. I think it’s exciting.”

– Amit Shah Chief Technology Officer “We needed a scalable, reliable, secure performance platform. And to deliver that and stay focused on innovation and delivery, we wanted to reimagine what that underlying platform could look like,” Shah said.

Cloud-based was the obvious choice.

“That gives us a lot of flexibility to scale very quickly,” he

said. “That allows us to try modern technology very quickly.

We wanted to deploy things very quickly to get it in front of customers, experiment, learn and adapt from customer feedback. And all of that requires us to have the capability that cloud enables us.”

It also was going to require new processes. Peapod Digital Labs couldn’t take a “lift and shift” approach, where the company would just shift its platform to cloud-based, Shah said.

Luckily, PDL had the right people for the job.

“We need to think about our people. We need to think about our process … PDL was already well-placed from a talent perspective. We have always been an engineeringfocused organization. We have a rich history from that perspective,” he said.

“Innovating, building and providing cutting-edge solutions to drive the grocery business forward is PDL’s main goal. And many tech organizations face an issue of supporting its functionalities. Instead, they should be focused on innovation and improving its operations.”

The new cloud-based system not only provides scalability but also a more secure network.

“Cloud allows us to apply the security framework and standards … That is something [that] is built by design, versus we’re trying to think through and layer it on afterward. Security is central to it. And then scalability, performance and reliability are a big deal. As we build new capabilities, we know the underlying platform will scale on demand.”

PDL was confident in the platform’s effectiveness Please see page 24

11/6/23 11:13 AM

age 24

Peapod.indd 21

11/6/23 11:12 AM

Peapod.indd 22

11/6/23 11:13 AM

Peapod.indd 23

11/6/23 11:14 AM

24

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

BOOSTED From page 18

part of the grocery industry. PDL has been working within the digital grocery space for decades, and it looks now into the future to connect its partner brands with their customers.

“We don’t look at it as a sprint. We look at it as a marathon,” Nicks said. “And digital is a core piece of the consumer journey, no matter where the consumer transacts – whether it’s online or inside our stores. We’re continuing to invest and inside those investments [is] the consumer.”

Peapod.indd 24

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

“PDL is firmly grounded on the customer. They’re firmly grounded in being tenacious about what a solution is with us. … They do it with a mentality of solving and being part of the solution. That’s where they separate themselves. That’s where we come together. That’s where we have strong alignment.”

– Daren Russ VP, Omnichannel Operations The Giant Co.

CLOUD-BASED From page 20

Daren Russ

and security thanks to the foundation created by Ahold Delhaize. This process is known within the company as “inner-sourcing.”

“The idea is that we build something to reuse within the enterprise … We take pride in it … that inner-sourcing model has been championing in bringing this forth, bringing this to life really fast,” Shah said.

PDL is continuing to innovate and collaborate across Ahold Delhaize USA brands. The company hopes to explore other ways to utilize the cloud-based platform. From a U.S. perspective, personalization is the key going forward, Shah said. Innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data application science in fulfillment and consumer trends continue to be priorities for the technology company.

11/6/23 11:15 AM

Ahold ny as

in the model his to

across xplore a U.S. Shah arning sumer mpany.

Peapod.indd 25

11/6/23 11:14 AM

26

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

PRISM platform brings omnichannel offerings to ADUSA customers

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator Peapod Digital Labs, The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year, is transitioning all Ahold Delhaize USA brands onto its proprietary PRISM platform.

The integrated platform enables all of the retailers’ loyalty and eCommerce capabilities. Four out of the five brands have been shifted to the new platform, according to Amit Shah, chief technology officer. The most recent was Food Lion.

The PRISM platform has been in development for several years as a joint venture with another ADUSA arm, Retail Business Services. PRISM works tangentially with PDL’s internal cloud-based platform and new retailer-specific native mobile applications being developed to create a unified platform and improve Carrie Brewster

“We don’t stop. We’re continuing to grow. We’re continuing to innovate every single day. We’re integrating new and exciting technology. That brings a lot of excitement to the teams that are working. Plus, it’s great for our customers because we are continuously improving … and making it better.”

– Carrie Brewster Director of Product Management

Peapod.indd 26

customer experience. The customer-focused platform is an improvement on the previous one due to its eCommerce functionality, according to Carrie Brewster, director of product management.

“Our platform for each brand was very loyalty-focused,” she said. “You collect coupons, you could interact with your loyalty programs, basic functionality, but there was no inventory. No eCommerce function whatsoever. [PRISM] is about taking two major types of capabilities, the loyalty side and the eCommerce side and bringing them together.”

ADUSA wants each local brand to be an omnichannel leader in their respective markets, and Chicago-based PDL is ADUSA’s technology provider to enact that mission, according to Keith Nicks, executive leader.

Customers can use the PRISM platform in-store and online. Utilizing AI, PRISM brings up-to-date inventory information to customers through the native mobile apps.

Brewster said consumers can use omnichannel benefits, such as finding products in a specific aisle.

“It’s not just adding those capabilities in eCommerce.

Also adding the ability to give them more information up front before they go about their shopping experience. They’re more satisfied as an end result,” she said.

Before being brought aboard the PRISM platform, The Giant Co., Stop & Shop and Giant Food did not have eCommerce capabilities, according to Marlon Chatman, senior director of software engineering. As there was not a comparable system in place, the three Marlon Chatmon

brands were first to be brought onto the PRISM platform in 2018-19.

“We do a great job of representing multiple ideologies of brands and bringing them to a unified system of software. … [Our retailers] don’t have to worry about five entities that they’ve got to build on a platform, a white-label platform …

We do such a good job at it … I think that’s one of the biggest reasons I feel where we’re really deserving of this award.”

– Marlon Chatman Senior Director of Software Engineering Bringing on Food Lion was a major milestone, Shah said.

Previously, the grocer had partnered with Instacart for its eCommerce offerings before launching its own website and mobile app with PDL in 2019, according to Evan Harding, Food Lion’s director of eCommerce, digital and media.

“In June of this year, we moved to PRISM, creating a more integrated experience for customers to not just shop online, but engage with the brand,” Harding explained.

He said the new customer experience has been “unbelievable,” especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think COVID accelerated some of that growth that we’ve seen … the adoption of customers to shop in-store and online, the growth is in the thousands as far as percentage.”

Please see page 28

11/6/23 11:16 AM

age 28

Peapod.indd 27

11/6/23 11:15 AM

28

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

Artificial Intelligence is part of eCommerce ‘every step of the way’

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator Peapod Digital Labs has been using artificial intelligence since its inception.

The term “AI” has gained prominence in the last few years thanks to a variety of reasons, according to Jateen Patel, SVP of data and analytics. Popular applications such as ChatGPT have created a “fervor” in the tech industry at large, he said. However, AI boils down to a system’s ability to mimic human behavior.

“AI means building a computer program that does something we normally associate with human intelligence,” Patel said.

“Computers are much better at Jateen Patel processing and retaining huge amounts of information or data than we are. And they have the capability of easily identifying patterns that makes them potentially very powerful.”

One of the traits I think we have to continue to emulate is just having simplification in the customer experience on the eCommerce platform.

We are checking everything, ‘Did we give them a good assortment, selection? Did we give them good prices? Were they able to log in seamlessly?’ I think the core of our foundation is solid. Yes, there are many bells and whistles, but we stand on the customer’s ability to get the products they want in a timely fashion. It’s something we’ve done well and will always continue to focus on.”

– Jateen Patel SVP of Data and Analytics The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year, PDL is the technology provider for five Ahold Delhaize USA grocery banners. The eCommerce company uses AI in many of its offerings, including delivery route optimization, improved in-store picking and demand forecasting, with more on the horizon.

Karin Chu, VP of data science, broke down the work PDL

From page 26

Speaking to the pandemic, Namratha Radhakrishnan, senior director of digital transformation, said PRISM was key.

“If not for PRISM, I don’t know what the customers would do. Because PRISM is this integral retail shopping experience,” she said. “Otherwise, … the eCommerce web and mobile web shopping Namratha experience would not have existed if not Radhakrishnan for PRISM. It was a must.”

Radhakrishnan continued by saying the platform’s innate ability to track inventory and provide order alternatives for consumers was invaluable.

“And that continues. The importance of substitutions, customers want information and their order as soon as possible. It’s great that already existed as part of PRISM, and we are able to leverage that,” she said.

Peapod Digital Labs is continuing to improve PRISM. Eventually, its proprietary cloud-based internal system will be the main foundation for the platform. The cloud-based system allows PDL to scale innovations, improve technology offerings and improve consumer loyalty across its retail partner brands, according to Chatman.

Peapod.indd 28

does into three broad groups. The first is improving the customer value proposition. Personalization, brand recognition and customer relationships are key, she said.

Patel explained what PDL is doing to engage with consumers via AI. “We’ve done a lot of work to really expedite our eCommerce, our value proposition as it relates to recommendation engines for customer experience …

Firstly, we recognize them straight away … We’re able to recommend [items] from the get-go. What we think that they Karin Chu could like. If there are out-of-stocks, we can provide substitution alternatives,” he said.

“First and foremost is our commitment to our customers. Our commitment to customers has not changed, and you can see that in the various innovations that we continue to deliver … We’re infusing various touch points to empower our customers and associates … Our culture and our people are truly our greatest assets. This is one of the best places I’ve worked at, and I stand behind that statement.”

– Karin Chu VP of Data Science Likewise, PDL is in the process of launching native mobile applications for each of its ADUSA retail partners.

These apps continue to personalize the customer experience with AI through coupon offers or suggested items during the checkout process, according to Paul Yang, director of mobile engineering.

The second group Chu described is PDL’s efforts to improve efficiency across its partner brands’ business.

“From a fulfillment perspective, we need to be able to forecast what the customer will want,” she said. “We need to have those recommendations, that personalization …

Then we know – whether they are online or in the store – every step of the way whether those recommendations are working.”

Peapod Digital Labs is taking consumer trend and forecasting data and applying it to other business operations

“The biggest thing is how we can better represent our software so it can grow faster. I think as you get to scaling, there are certain sub-problems we’ll resolve. Whether it’s machine learning, data science, carts, checkout – there’s always ways to optimize those pieces. There’s a lot of cloudnative solutions out there that we’re not able to leverage if we’re not embedded in that cloud space,” he said.

A cloud-based system will also lower operational costs, Radhakrishnan said.

by utilizing AI to predict online and in-store traffic, manage inventory, provide appropriate staffing information and create an overall better eCommerce experience.

“Imagine we take that [data] one step further. We take those forecasts and plug them into the inventory, staffing optimization or the click-and-collect in the store … It is a connected ecosystem from both the customer side, as well as using that data to help us drive efficiency. The use cases just explode from there,” Chu said.

The company is also using the data to create better online delivery order routes, reduce total picking time for pickup and delivery orders, improve fulfillment efficiency, reduce and predict shrink, reduce and catalog inventory errors and provide nearly real-time out-of-stock information to customers, according to Patel.

The final group Chu described coincides with the industry-wide effort to implement sustainable practices and provide sustainable items.

She said there are other projects that PDL is committed to that don’t necessarily fall into those categories, but they cover the three main objectives of all projects related to AI. Using AI in its operations is a journey for PDL. Describing AI as a “long-term investment,” she said AI forces PDL to continuously adjust how data is used.

“There’s a lot of upfront investment that has to be made and having it in place forces you to consider the use cases,” she said. “How are you going to measure the outcome of your use cases and furthermore, the data that is either being used or generated? How will that be applied to you?

How will you manage that data?”

ADUSA’s overall goal for all of its companies is to delight customers.

“If we’re not doing that, we shouldn’t be here,” Chu said.

Answering all those questions is the best way for PDL to bring about ADUSA’s goal.

“It really forces the organization to be very disciplined in terms of thinking about their strategy, their vision and how they should invest in growth … I don’t think there’s ever going to be an end where we say, ‘That’s good.’ AI is a constant evolution,” she said.

Improving AI use for the grocery industry will require a steady stream of “clean data.” This is data that is structured, repeatable and has minimal anomalies, according to Chu. As AI learns from clean data, it will be able to improve performance.

“Going from our existing facilities to cloud is very costefficient,” she said. “When you have to scale buying all those servers and expanding … it’s much, much cheaper up there in the cloud.”

Cloud systems are also more secure and reliable, she said.

Hannaford Supermarkets will be the last ADUSA brand to be brought onto PRISM. The transition process is expected to begin sometime next year, according to Brewster.

“The partnership that we have across the product team, the technology team and across the brands [is special]. There’s a great partnership. The brands define what they want and what their customers need. Then the technology team partners and says, ‘This is how we’ll deliver this.’ Without that, I don’t think we would have been able to accomplish any of this.”

– Namratha Radhakrishnan Senior Director of Digital Transformation

11/6/23 5:44 PM

THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST • OCTOBER 2023

29

Native mobile applications crucial for ADUSA’s omnichannel mission

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year, Peapod Digital Labs is launching new native mobile applications to improve the customer experience for its retail partners.

As the technology and eCommerce provider for Ahold Delhaize USA, PDL is in the process of launching apps designed specifically for each individual retailer, according to Mahesh Sahni, director of Mahesh Sahni product management, mobile.

The Chicago-based company began launching the new apps at the start of this year. Beginning with The Giant Co. and its subsidiary, Martin’s Foods, PDL has launched apps for Food Lion, Stop & Shop and Giant Foods. The applications are built completely in the native code languages of mobile operating systems, increasing speed and overall performance and improving operational efficiency across the retail partner brands, Sahni said.

The goal is to implement ADUSA’s omnichannel grocery mission. Paul Yang, director of mobile engineering, said the new native mobile applications are key to achieving it.

“We want to enhance the mobile user shopping experience,” Yang said. “If they want something, they can use the mobile app to get the groceries they want. Customers can choose to go to the store or wait at home to have the product delivered to them at the right time for them … Our mobile app is the enabler.”

The previous setup was a web experience that had been

customized for mobile. With native applications, PDL’s retail partners can provide modern customer amenities such as mobile pay, curbside pickup and online ordering and an overall seamless experience, according to Sahni.

Describing the rise of technology in the industry as a “digital acceleration,” Sahni said the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped PDL’s road map to provide omnichannel solutions for customers.

“Mobile capabilities like enhanced payment methods – hardly any websites and mobile apps had Apple Pay – now, it’s table stakes,” he said. “EBT online emerged in the portfolio of companies. The pandemic made that a necessity. Now, Please see page 32

“We keep enhancing our development process, focusing on customer experiences through the PRISM platform and the overall eCommerce experience. We’re trying to be the leader in the omnichannel grocery shopping experience.

Through that, we’ve improved our engineering and development processes to make sure we address these omnichannel experiences. We improve day by day, every release, no matter if [it’s] bi-weekly or monthly release, we address key critical customer experiences.”

– Paul Yang Director of Mobile Engineering

costthose there

e said. and to ected

Peapod.indd 29

11/6/23 11:16 AM

30

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

Built in-house, proprietary picking app ‘puts the control’ into brands

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator Chicago-based Peapod Digital Labs is modernizing its entire technology offerings for the retail partners of Ahold Delhaize USA. Utilizing its new cloud-first platform alongside its proprietary eCommerce platform, PRISM, the technology company is improving the eCommerce experience. And for these and other technological advancements, PDL has earned The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year award.

The picking app is focused on building a best-in-class Order Management System centered on operational efficiency, associate and customer satisfaction and order accuracy. Leveraging the strengths of three ADUSA PFS platforms and modern technology practices, the scalable, easily understood system has improved customer service, associate retention and eCommerce profitability, while also driving the overall sustainability goals of PDL’s retail partners, according to Blaine Whitestone, senior director of channel development.

“We really set out to create a bestin-class platform to get consistency in eCommerce fulfillment, and also be able to have some configurations that can be brand-centric,” Whitestone said.

Blaine Whitestone

“The customer is at the forefront of our decision-making, as well as associates … PDL does a great job – and our teams do a great job – of focusing on long-term strategy … We are ambitious and realistic. Our teams are extremely diverse and experienced. We have folks who are very technical, very product-driven … When we work on projects, we have a 360-degree view of what the outcome is going to be and what the best approach is. I think that’s important. That sets PDL apart.”

– Blaine Whitestone Senior Director of Channel Development Since its launch last year, the picking app has reduced out-of-stock and non-fulfillment errors by 33 percent and staff training time by 50 percent. At the same time, it has improved pick rates by 16 percent and an overall production improvement of up to 3 percent, according to Barb Miles, the app’s group product manager.

The application consists of two systems. The first is the facilitator’s application, which gives a “window into all of the things happening during the day,” Miles said.

“And during the picking cycle of everyBarb Miles thing – from how many orders in each “The thing that sets us apart is the research that went in before we built the tools, like interviewing front-line associates. We were given the freedom to build something better. When you have something that is from the top down, you don’t get as much insight or as much success as we’ve seen.”

– Barb Miles Group Product Manager

Peapod.indd 30

pickup window; what’s in each one of those orders; who’s picking it on the floor; how far along are they; what is their picking rate; what are the out-of-stock rates; what is the amount of out-of-stocks subbed, as well as the overall day progress throughout the system,” she explained.

The facilitator’s app also provides review options for the subbed or out-of-stock marked items.

“If after an order has been staged and the potato chips are marked out of stock, we have the ability to go in and issue a repick of that item because the Lay’s guys just came and stocked the shelves,” Miles said.

The second system is the associate’s picking application, which guides the picker through the order process. The app is designed to be intuitive, while providing pickers with the most efficient route to complete the order.

The two systems are designed to work as an ecosystem, according to Tom Roof, senior design manager.

When designing the picking app, feedback from associates was paramount, Roof said. Finding what they liked about the previous application was the first step in improving efficiency.

“We essentially started from the beginning and created a new experience using all the latest technology, whether it’s for the website or for mobile, to create an experience that simplifies every step,” Tom Roof Roof said.

“When it comes down to the end, it’s all about the customer. Knowing their order and giving it to them. We worked on a brand-new tool that was about the final action, which is fulfilling an order.”

– Tom Roof Senior Design Manager The new application uses multiple data points, such as store layouts and inventory information alongside proprietary AI tools, to streamline the entire picking process.

“You’re going into two different places to do this one thing. Let’s combine all these things into one place. It’s a whole new architecture for how [pickers] would look at an order and handle it,” Roof said.

Roof said the new picking app is “just overall easier” compared to the previous one. “Anything you need to handle about that order can be taken to the order page.”

Miles explained that the app builds on common functionality to onboard quicker. Using simple touch screen mechanics on the wrist-mounted tablet, associates can easily see multiple points of information.

“It’s intuitive. When you look through the process, you don’t need to have things explained. It’s using the same functionality of any smart device,” she said.

The picking app provides simultaneous information for picking paths, as well as simultaneous order fulfillment, according to Whitestone.

“It tells the associate exactly what item to go to, and the location of that item in the store,” he said.

Miles added, “We also have the ability to get things in batches. Rather than shopping one order at a time, [associates] shop multiple different orders.”

PDL’s picking app will direct the associate to pick up multiple items in a general area, such as center store, before directing them to move to another location. Items also are listed in a specific sequence to maximize efficiency. Utilizing information gathered across the OMS ecosystem and store layout information, the picking app generates an optimal path for each order, Whitestone said.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have become more accustomed to grocery pickup and delivery.

The further from the pandemic, consumers are expecting less wait time, easier substitutions and more information regarding their orders,” Whitestone said.

Some locations around the ADUSA spectrum offer order pickup in as little as two hours. However, regardless of how an order is placed, shoppers are expecting access to the total store assortment.

“The strength of in-store fulfillment is that [the picking app] enables consumers probably 95 percent of what’s available in the store online,” Whitestone said.

Customers can control their substitutions through real-time updates, recommended alternatives and more information.

“It’s all about putting the customer in the driver’s seat,” Whitestone said.

For associates, the app uses AI to offer the best alternatives available for an item if the customer does not specify.

Customers can confirm or deny any substitutions made by the associate prior to pickup.

The benefits of the new picking app boil down to PDL’s brand-centric strategy. The company is unique in that each of its customers – the ADUSA retailers – requires something a bit different. The programs being designed must be flexible enough to work within each individual brand, market or store, according to Miles.

As an example, Food Lion is the only retailer with real-time chat between associates and customers. These types of functionalities only come from software that is made specifically for retailers, instead of software that is purchased, Miles said.

“When you do an off-the-shelf-type product, you always are building your processes to meet the application,” she said. “Whereas when you build in-house, you have the ability to build the application to your process. It puts the control into the brands.”

Whitestone added that the overall ecosystem helps Peapod Digital Labs continuously evolve and improve fulfillment capabilities.

11/6/23 11:17 AM

ck up before so are ilizing store ptimal

THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST • OCTOBER 2023

31

Retail Media Team offers easy activation, standardization to advertisers

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator Peapod Digital Labs is making it simple for business partners to connect with the Ahold Delhaize USA brands.

PDL aims to turn prospects into customers through its Ahold Delhaize Retail Media Team, which connects customers with consumers through multiple channels, including Connected TV, online video, onsite and offsite displays, social media, digital out-of-home and sponsored product ads on eCommerce platforms.

“We enable these capabilities in close partnership with our retail media technology partner, CitrusAd, powered by Epsilon,” said Margit Kittridge, advertising technology director for AD Retail Media Team. “Our white-label AD Retail Media reporting and insights platform helps us to deliver our AD Retail Media mission: easy activation, whenever, and Margit Kittridge bringing our scale, standardization and ease of buying to our AD retail portfolio.”

It is the AD Retail Media Team’s goal to provide a simpleto-navigate media network in a marketplace that has become flooded with competition. The company’s unified platform offers real-time reporting dashboards that bring both onsite and offsite media reporting into a single user interface.

“The unified platform creates a seamless and easy point of engagement with our advertising partners … Since so many new retail media networks are launching, it is a very complex marketplace right now. It is our goal to create the

easiest retail media network in the industry,” Kittridge said.

Citing direct feedback and blind case studies, she said advertisers are “very excited” about the platform.

“It’s been great feedback from them … they see our new tools and how we help them drive new capabilities which, ultimately, drives sales volume and share growth,” she said.

Kittridge gave a specific example of a study on utilizing video and display together to drive sales and improve brand awareness. It found that using both yielded a 70 percent higher response rate versus solely using displays, according to Kittridge.

Chicago-based Peapod Digital Labs, The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year, also shared two other case studies that collectively exhibit 5.6 million total impressions, about 5,500 total clicks and an increase in both category share and online sales, among other positive KPIs. Standardization is the AD Media Team’s current priority.

At the time of this reporting, the Interactive Advertising Bureau had recently released its retail media measurement standards, and PDL was working to meet them. However, it was already aware of how important standardization was to advertisers.

“One thing we consistently hear from our advertisers is

requests for measurement standardization. And we agree with the request,” Kittridge said.

“We are participating in the IAB Retail Media Committee and are proud of the progress made to date. We take this very seriously. And so, we are going to incorporate these measurement standards into our unified platform in addition to all of our measurement and analytics capabilities.”

PDL is always focused on customer satisfaction. The ADRMT platform keeps advertisers as updated as possible on KPIs through its self-service analytic reporting capabilities alongside other campaign management tools.

“An advertiser can go in and check whether campaigns are delivering and [get] a full report at any moment of time,” Kittridge said. “The unified platform is keeping our advertisers updated as their KPIs swing throughout the day and they can manage their daily budgets and, ultimately, make all the decisions they need in order to reach their own specific KPIs and goals.”

There are plans to increase the number of self-service tools in the future. Advertisers will also see results broken down across the ADUSA retail partner brands – Food Lion, Hannaford Supermarkets, The Giant Co., Giant Food and Stop & Shop – if they partner with multiple retailers.

have livery. ecting mation

order f how o the

icking what’s

rough more

seat,”

ternapecify. de by

PDL’s t each ething e flexket or

with These hat is hat is

lways ,” she ability ontrol

helps fulfill-

Peapod.indd 31

11/6/23 11:21 AM

32

OCTOBER 2023 • THE GRIFFIN REPORT OF THE NORTHEAST

2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year

At Peapod Digital Labs, ‘fun’ culture thrives on levity and diversity

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator The culture of Peapod Digital Labs, The Shelby Report’s 2023 eCommerce Retailer of the Year, is defined by its people strategy.

The technology provider for all Ahold Delhaize USA brands aligns its culture with that of its parent company, according to Theresa Funk, director of communications and public relations.

“The AD strategy talks about creating a culture that thrives, where everybody grows and where the organization evolves and our teams collaborate,” she explained.

But PDL takes that a little further.

“Culture to us is about how we retain talent,” Funk said. “How do we help them thrive? How do we create programming Theresa Funk with learning or with DEI that aligns with our values … that creates an environment that employees want to stay at and want to continue working at? As everybody in the organization grows and our organization evolves, we look at our people.”

One of PDL’s corporate values is humor. That’s why the word “fun” pops up frequently when talking about the company’s culture. The main office in Chicago has a game room and a music station. Every Wednesday, a companywide meeting begins with a curated playlist.

“We bring levity, joy, and positive energy into our workspaces, because having fun builds a sense of togetherness, enables risk-taking, and sparks new ideas – PDL is just a fun place to work.”

Caroline Masullo, head of omnichannel marketing, said the connection between employees extends beyond normal work hours.

“PDL has a culture that encourages people to get to know each other on a personal leve and starting from a foundation of respect,” she said. “That connection comes first because it enables us to make difficult decisions together and create meaningful roadmaps.”

“I think the personal connections and mutual respect we have for each other as colleagues is one of the key reasons our company is so successful.”

Masullo shared that her team’s relationship outside of work improves everyday operations.

From page 29

we must have that as part of our ecosystem. The digital acceleration of mobile applications is providing a seamless experience.”

The new applications are being launched on PDL’s proprietary platform, PRISM, which provides the basis of all loyalty and eCommerce offerings for ADUSA brands.

Building the new apps through this platform allows PDL to use improved mobile technology to increase overall performance, according to Yang.

“We are seeing much higher mobile device users … we are developing the right experience and using the specific iOS, Android framework for that seamless experience and help customers,” Yang said.

Bringing all the ADUSA brands onto the PRISM platform allows PDL to effiPaul Yang ciently scale its new offerings as well as bring the best omnichannel experience to customers, according to Sahni.

“We want to have one platform deployed across all the brands,” Sahni said. “This gives us the flexibility to conduct user research in different geographical locations across the

Peapod.indd 32

“We will step out of the office and volunteer together, and it’s just those meaningful conversations and those moments outside of those difficult business decisions and meetings that I think are really important. It brings a reality and transparency,” she said.

The culture of connectedness and humor provides tangibility to another key company pillar – diversity, equity and inclusion.

“DEI is foundational to creating a Caroline Masullo culture where our employees thrive. And we know from looking at statistics, an environment with diverse employees is going to create better ideas. It’s going to create better experiences,” Funk said.

At PDL, diverse employees can be “their best and whole selves.” Having a diverse workforce allows the company to tackle problems differently, Masullo said. As the omnichannel arm of the ADUSA brands, the technology company requires viewpoints from many different people to effectively tackle all the needs of its retail partner brands.

“It takes a lot of different types of expertise and a lot of flexibility in terms of … capabilities and management styles that have to come together in this sort of ecosystem in supporting these five unique brands,” Masullo said.

“The different types of diverse candidates, expertise, backgrounds and areas of passion definitely are best utilized in this very decentralized environment.”

“In addition to providing state-ofthe-art technology and the teams to power the eCommerce platform of the great local brands of all Ahold Delhaize USA, PDL is a great place to work. It truly endorses culture, diversity and respect.

That sets the tone for everything we do. … I feel the culture has a great impact on the outcome of our work. The environment makes us feel encouraged to share ideas and collaborate.”

– Margit Kittridge Advertising Technology Director AD Retail Media Team

East Coast and apply those learnings to all the brands.

“We’re building the PRISM platform with capabilities like personalized content, monetization, curbside pickup.

And bringing these to a native app allows us to execute an overarching strategy to collaborate and utilize the synergies across brands in the most easy, scalable template.”

Yang added that the company’s internal migration to a

“We have an unwavering commitment to the culture that we have built for our employees that believes in empowerment and empathy. The culture we have here allows us to fail fast and fail forward and make those changes in a much quicker succession to improve the customer experience. It guides us to do more of a team collaboration … and strong support from leadership.

That allows us to lead the way with technology, innovation and focus on user research by getting into the shoes of our customers. … With human experience and customer-centric approach, we are given the competitive edge.”

– Mahesh Sahni Director of Product Management, Mobile DEI plays a role in the company’s recruitment. Funk said PDL works alongside diverse groups to bring tech talent from a variety of sources. At the time of this reporting, she and her team were preparing for NextUp Summit 2023 in the company’s hometown of Chicago.

“It’s about these deliberate and intentional connections with groups where we believe that talent is,” she said. “[At] NextUp, we will have the chance to implement our strategy of going where the talent is. We have a very deliberate strategy around how we attract and recruit talent.

PDL attended the Afro Tech Conference last year, as well as Women Impact Tech this year, and has a partnership with Fairygodboss.

cloud-based platform is providing more security for mobile users and easier access to information across PDL’s retail partners.

According to Sahni, about 75-80 percent of all digital interactions are through the applications or mobile web.

He said the company has already seen traffic increase, due in part to technology trends and consumers’ desire for easy-to-access information.

The applications are constantly evolving.

PDL is continuously gathering feedback from users, with updates occurring about every two to three weeks, according to Yang.

Sahni said the company gathers user feedback from a variety of sources, including internal app mechanics, app store reviews, crowd testing and the retail partners themselves.

That puts the native apps in a constant feedback loop, Yang said. The apps have been well received. Some common positive feedback includes easily accessible coupons and weekly ads, personalized homepages, showing past purchases and an improved online ordering interface.

11/6/23 11:18 AM