To launch SkipExpressLane, a new type of grocery service, we helped Canadians tackle the biggest issue facing the extremely competitive and oligopolistic grocery category and its consumers in 2023. By turning real-time pricing data into personalized grocery recommendations on what to buy and what to leave on the shelf, Inflation Cookbook helped Canadians take inflation out of their cart, without compromising on health.

With the average family saving upwards of 20.3% per week and 21 380 new accounts on SkipExpressLane, Inflation Cookbook is a testament to the transformative power of data and creativity working together for the collective good.

Inflation – particularly in grocery items – has left Canadian families in a precarious position. With prices fluctuating constantly and little understanding of what drives the volatility, it has become near impossible to manage food expenses while maintaining a healthy, nutritious diet. In turn, many families are being forced to choose unhealthy, lower-cost foods. And in 2022, over 8 million Canadians skipped meals, forced to choose between essentials like food, rent, medication, and clothes. Foodbank usage also skyrocketed, increasing 425%.

Meanwhile, grocery retailers were making record profits and quickly became public enemy #1, as everyone blamed them for price volatility and accused them of opportunism.

It was a bad time to launch a new grocery brand. But that was our brief.

Our brief was to launch SkipExpressLane as an innovative alternative to traditional grocery options, by creating awareness about the new service and getting Canadians to sign-up and try it.

Canada's grocery landscape is dominated by only five major players (who control 80% of the market), which has resulted in a highly concentrated market with limited competition. These big retailers hold significant sway over pricing, making it challenging for consumers to find substantial savings. This was exasperated by historically high inflation and food insecurity, for which big grocers were heavily blamed in the media, as their profit kept raising.

As a new player in THAT category, SkipExpressLane knew it had to provide value before asking anything of consumers, if it were to stand a chance to stand out.

In this context, Inflation Cookbook offers a refreshing alternative that empowers Canadians to make informed decisions about their grocery purchases. By providing real-time price information and personalized healthy meal options, Skip aimed to democratize access to pricing information and promote cost awareness. Inflation Cookbook encourages a more competitive landscape than the Canadian grocery market has seen in years. This, in turn, has the potential to drive positive change, as major retailers may need to adapt their strategies and pricing models to retain consumer loyalty in the face of an increasingly informed and price-savvy customer base.

SkipExpressLane was facing challenging market conditions from all directions:

- It was an unknown brand, with a new business model, trying to enter one of the most tightly controlled and uncompetitive markets in the world.

AND

- At a moment of all time high hostility towards grocers because of inflation and food insecurity.

In that context, SkipExpressLane needed to disrupt the market and show up as a force for good, before it could ask consumers for anything. With inflation being the biggest issue facing the category and its consumers, it decided to help Canadians tackle it, no matter where they shopped for groceries.

But how could it take on unprecedented inflation, impacting the entire category and the entire country?

SkipExpressLane had unique product. But it was a unique insight that would shape the entire approach, and make all the difference

Our Insight :

Inflation moves to rhythms too complex for humans to comprehend, much less predict, and leaves them worried, grasping for an elusive sense of control.

So while prices are bad. Uncertainty is the real enemy.

Price volatility is influenced by so many complex, invisible and unpredictable factors from supply chain disruptions to weather events half-way across the world, wars, energy prices and even religious holidays (lamb prices soar at Easter and Eid el Fitr), that it’s impossible for a human to make an informed choice even with the best intentions.

Not only were Canadians struggling to make every paycheck go further, they never know what to expect in the grocery aisles. The mental load of planning, budgeting and re-budgeting in an unpredictable world was immense.

If SkipExpressLane wanted to have an impact, it had to help Canadians get back a sense of normalcy at the grocery aisle.

Inflation Cookbook is a digital grocery shopping tool that tracks real-time food pricing data to help Canadians get inflation out of their cart. It addresses the complex challenge of price volatility in the industry. By harnessing real-time data insights, the platform tracks weekly price fluctuations of 400+ key ingredients across all major retailers and 80+ locations nationwide.

The core creative idea lies in its ability to transform real-time data on price volatility into actionable, budget-conscious options for consumers. Providing this invaluable information to Canadian families while grocery shopping allows them to make informed decisions that lead to significant savings and healthier meal choices. This inventive approach disrupts the grocery industry pricing strategies and creates a lasting impact on the lives of Canadian families, amidst historical inflationary conditions.

IMPACT FOR CANADIAN FAMILIES

Inflation Cookbook‘s impact on Canadians’ grocery bills is undeniable, allowing a family of four to save, on average, 20.3% on their weekly cart . This reduction in grocery expenses demonstrates Inflation Cookbook's effectiveness in empowering consumers to make informed, budget-conscious, healthy decisions. From April to December 2023, it is estimated to have generated over $21.8M in total savings for Canadian families.

BUSINESS IMPACT FOR SKIP EXPRESS LANE

During the campaign period, Inflation Cookbook directly referred 21 380 new users (accounts created) to SkipExpressLane, adding up to more than $4.3M in customer lifetime value and revenue for the business.

EARNED MEDIA AND PLATFORM USAGE

Inflation Cookbook gained significant attention as soon as it was launched, with over 400 million media impressions and 355+ articles published within the first week alone, which allowed it to capture a sizeable following (28,600 weekly users), a testament to its widespread resonance.

Canada's grocery landscape is dominated by only five major players, which has resulted in a highly concentrated market with limited competition. These big retailers hold significant sway over pricing, making it challenging for consumers to find substantial savings.

As a disrupter in the category, SkipExpressLane had to challenge the way the category operated, by empowering consumers with access to the right data, at the right time to make their decisions.

Inflation Cookbook offers a refreshing alternative that empowers Canadians to make informed decisions about their grocery purchases and encourages a more competitive landscape than the Canadian grocery market has seen in years. This transparency has the potential to drive positive change, as major retailers will need to adapt their pricing models to retain consumer loyalty in the face of an increasingly informed and price-savvy customer base.