A leading grocery retailer reimagined its merchandising approach to better capture affinity-based demand, organizing the store around how customers identify, live, and shop, rather than traditional category silos.
Despite strong traffic, the retailer faced stagnant basket growth and missed opportunities to connect with high-value shopper segments (e.g., health-conscious, multicultural, value-seeking, and premium-oriented households).
The retailer introduced an affinity-led merchandising model, clustering products across categories into curated ecosystems aligned to specific shopper needs and identities. Examples included “Better-for-You,” “Family Value Meals,” and “Global Flavors,” integrating fresh, center store, and prepared foods into cohesive, solution-oriented displays.
Digital personalization reinforced in-store execution, with targeted offers and content tied to individual preferences and purchase history.
The impact was material. Basket size increased 10 percent among targeted segments, trip frequency rose 6 percent, and category cross-penetration improved significantly. Private label gained share within curated ecosystems, enhancing margin mix.
Most importantly, the retailer established a scalable, insight-driven model, translating customer identity and intent into precise merchandising execution, unlocking incremental growth beyond traditional category boundaries.