Coles is teaming up with global publisher, News Corp, to target shoppers as they plan their next meal or dinner party.
The supermarket is set to merge its digital content, including recipes and meal tips, with News Corp’s Australian website, Taste.com.au.
A Coles store locator tool will appear on every page of the News Corp website, with recipes matched to the retailer’s weekly specials.
Coles’ online shopping list function is being merged with 26,000 of Taste’s recipes across its desktop, mobile, and social platforms.
Grocery shoppers will also be targeted with Coles offers and coupons on 120,000 of the website’s recipe and shopping printouts each week.
This means Taste’s two million readers will be pushed towards the supermarket’s product as they source recipe ingredients.
Recipes and tips by Coles’ celebrity chef, Curtis Stone, will also be published.
Coles’ publishing motive
Coles and News Corp’s content partnership comes as smartphones become increasingly important in the grocery space.
Simon McDowell, marketing and store development director at Coles, says the partnership is a response to the “rise of the digital kitchen”.
“We know our customers are using digital devices in the kitchen to both browse through delicious inspiration, but also for very practical purposes, like shopping lists and managing the household food budget,” he says.
In a 2012 survey, the Australian National Retailers Association found almost 40 per cent of people are using smartphones and tablets to help them shop.
According to Sprint Mobile’s Moment of Truth Survey, around 60 per cent of shoppers under the age of 65 use their smartphone to shop the grocery store.
News Corps’s portal is billed as Australia’s top performing food and lifestyle brand and the top paid food and drinks app.
Almost 60 per cent of Taste’s users are the main grocery shopper.
“With all those recipes and ideas, it’s no wonder the site is such a success when you’re standing in the supermarket aisle making that 4pm decision,” wrote Kirsty Dollisson in Inside Shopper last month.
“Mobile advertising [is] a powerful and effective tool for brands to connect with a shopper on their way to purchase.”
Other retailers that have been significantly exploring the power of publishing include Net-A-Porter, Asos, and local pure play, The Iconic.
Gucci’s parent company, Kering, this week launched an online fashion and lifestyle magazine, K, in both French and English.
