When it comes to national brands and promotions, Hawaii residents usually get the short end of the stick. Just check the fine print of most TV commercials — “Prices higher in Hawaii and Puerto Rico,” goes the standard disclaimer. (Heck, the fact that we’re finally getting a Bath & Body Works store was headline news.) So if anything, it’s at least notable that national grocery chain Safeway has chosen Hawaii as one of the first markets (behind South Dakota?) to try “Just For U,” a new “personalized savings” program that adds an online component to its Safeway Club Card loyalty program.
I was among a number of bloggers invited to review the “Just For U” program — see reviews by Donna, Nat, Paula, Kailani, and Liza — but took forever to actually try it… largely because I try to avoid supermarket grocery shopping. (It’s nothing personal, but our bustling household lives off Costco bulk shopping and a giant freezer.) And now that I’ve made my first “Just For U” shopping trip, I don’t know if I’ll make another one.
The program requires time and patience, and could use a few tweaks. But for Safeway regulars who are web savvy and regular coupon clippers, the savings could be worth the effort.
And if you take the effort to comment on this post by Wednesday, Aug. 4, you could win one of two $50 Safeway gift cards, courtesy Safeway and DEI Worldwide, its social media marketing partner.*
A Penny for Your Personal Information?
Grocery shopping lists are probably among the most personal data sets out there. Your supermarket knows when you’re trying to avoid getting pregnant, when you think you might be pregnant, when you’re expecting, and when you have a baby. Your receipts reveal when you’ve got a cold, when you’ve got indigestion, and when you’re constipated. And supermarkets know how valuable this information is.
A “loyalty card” helps them build a detailed profile of individual shoppers, as well as track the buying habits of a neighborhood, a city, a whole region. Of course they’ll give you discounts on hundreds of items. It’s a small price to pay for the information they get in return. And to be sure, lots of people oppose this form of data collection.
Me? I have no problem with it. Then again, I’ve been pretty liberal with my personal information since discovering the web and starting an online journal over 15 years ago. I make regular use of Google and Facebook and other “free” online services, and I know that I’m getting those services in exchange for letting them analyze me and show me ads.
So one reason “Just For U” piqued my interest was because, in theory, it would allow me to more directly benefit from the information I’d already been giving Safeway over the years. They still win, of course, since I’d just be buying more groceries. But the “Just For U” program lifts the curtain a bit to see what Safeway’s algorithms think I want. And if the system is right, and throws in a few more cents off? I’ll take it.
Or at least, I’d like to.
How It Works (In Theory)
To start using “Just For U,” you set up an account with an e-mail address and register your Club Card on the Safeway website. No card? No problem. I haven’t carried my Club Card for years, using only a phone number at the register. (Heck, the phone number on my card is from six years ago. I sure hope the person who has the number now doesn’t shop at Safeway.) You don’t even need a computer, as Safeway says you can use a computer and printer at the store’s Customer Service desk.
Once set up, you get access to a Coupon Center, Personalized Deals, and Your Club Specials. The Coupon Center just seems to be a co-brand of Coupons.com. The other two sections are where the magic is supposed to happen. “Personalized Deals” are based on your purchase history, and should be different for every user. And “Your Club Specials” are items that you’ve purchased that are also Club Card specials at “the store where you do most of your shopping.”
The first deal you see? One dozen eggs, free, just for signing up. Some deals are one-time only, and some are unlimited within a time period. As your browse each section, you click “add” to “load” deals onto your Club Card. Although the “Personalized Deals” are the marquee feature, I found the “Your Club Specials” section to be the most interesting. Or, at least, the most clearly tied to my purchase history. I ended up adding more items from that section, as that section had items I’d buy at Safeway anyway.
Once you’ve added the deals you want, you can print out or email yourself a shopping list. And within 30 minutes, Safeway says, your card (or phone number) will get you the discounts at the store. With my shopping list loaded up on my iPhone, I headed out.
How It Works (In Practice)
Much as we love Costco, buying perishables there can be hit-or-miss, so neighborhood supermarkets still play a part in stocking our fridge and pantry. And while Safeway is the furthest of the supermarkets from where I live in Mililani, we do make the trip now and then for specific items. Which is to say, most of the time, I’m in and out of Safeway in five minutes, tops.
As a result, shopping with a “Just For U” list took a lot longer than I expected. Part of it was being a poorly skilled shopper, of course, but it occurred to me that the program also meant most shoppers would have to carry two shopping lists instead of one. The website could make itself considerably more useful if they would allow users to type in their own items, even if they don’t come with discounts. Heck, a free-text field could still net some pretty interesting data for Safeway’s marketing gurus.
But today, at least, my shopping trip was driven by my personalized offers, and not by what I actually needed (which is certainly a good thing for Safeway if it happens for other shoppers). Following my emailed shopping list, I wandered the store, hunting down my deals.
I didn’t do very well.
The free dozen large eggs featured on the site (and in every print ad) for “Just For U”? Not in stock. Another woman who caught me frowning at the empty shelves sighed, “Those are always sold out.” Now, free eggs are a great incentive, but they become a disincentive when shoppers can’t get them. I’d suggest Safeway drop its next full-page newspaper ad and buy an extra Matson container of eggs instead.
The half gallon of store-brand Lucerne milk for $2.29? Also sold out, in every eligible variety. Had this been a regular shopping trip, I probably would’ve just grabbbed a more expensive brand. Perhaps that’s the point?
Next up, Barilla pasta for 96 cents. My shopping list said, “12-16oz, Selected Varieties.” And as I stood before the pasta shelf and its many, many varieties, I wondered exactly which ones were “selected.” Since we needed some rotini, I grabbed a 1-lb. box, and hoped for the best.
Suddenly, my wife called. Could I get some Yoplait yogurt? The ones she just bought at Safeway last week were almost a month expired. “Sure,” I said, promising to check the expiration dates. I remembered that one of the “Just for U” deals were for Yoplait yogurt, so I launched my web browser on my iPhone to “add” it to my cart.
Ian Lind had been stymied by the “mobile version” of the Safeway website (which detected his iPhone and sent him to a largely useless, stripped-down version), so I went straight to the “Just For U” login page. For a moment, I was happy to discover that I could log in into the system… but once inside, I still couldn’t see or do anything. I don’t know if it was a Flash issue or just a bug (all I saw was glowing copy about printing coupons with Coupons.com), but I was miffed to find that “Just For U” was something I could only really use at home.
I did have better luck with the rest of my “Just For U” list. A box of eight Nestle Drumsticks for $6.49 and a package of Nabisco Chips Ahoy for $3.14 (both said to be at a “Personalized Price”), and a few bags of C&W petite frozen vegetables for $2.99 (a “Club Price”). I struggled a bit to double-check the item names and package sizes, but this is a hassle scissors-wielding coupon shoppers already know well. I then headed for the register, punched in my phone number, and waited for my receipt.
Success. I did get every item on my “Just For U” list for the advertised price (so I did pick a “selected” variety of pasta). The total savings for my trip? A little over $3.
Time Is Money
If I were a coupon clipper, I’d probably be impressed. And whenever I do shop at Safeway, I do enjoy seeing my total Club Card savings, even without the “Just For U” boost. But I couldn’t help but think that the time and energy I spent choosing and “adding” my discounts, then hunting them down in the store, was worth way more than $3.
The geek in me liked the technology, the personalization, and the “shopping list” builder. I hope mobile support is coming, as well as a way to add non-specials to your list. But the transition from the virtual store to the real one was pretty rough. (Ian had a similar experience.) For all the information Safeway already has on me, the basic Club Card discounts are enough. I think it would take some pretty generous discounts — more than a few cents off, if not free eggs — to motivate me to use “Just For U” regularly.
* Safeway offered bloggers one gift card to give away, and one card for their review, but why not double the prizes? As with my Plantronics BlueTooth Headsets, I’m obviously not great with “sponsored reviews.”
I’m still testing this program out myself. I agree with you about spending time just to add things to my card. For the length of time that I have been part of the program, I probably only logged into the site twice. I still don’t understand what the advantage of this would be versus what they currently have going. That is to have things on sale, swipe the card, get the savings. The only part that intrigues me is where you get additional savings for products that you buy frequently. I’m waiting for that to kick in to see if its significant.
sweet! I’ll comment. Safeway isn’t as close as it used to be, but I still make a stop in there once a week to check out their deals. I’m interested in trying the program… And of course, It would be super cool if I won a gift card. =)
Oh makes even me want to try it. i do like the Kihei Safeway better than Kahului one,but i am not a frequent shopper,but thanks for the insite of this new way to shop there. great overview .aloha
We don’t have a Times or Foodland in Kapolei so we stop into Safeway for our non-CostCo items. I wouldn’t mind a gift card at all. :-)
The coupon section of Just for U works for me because coupons.com and similar web sites don’t. I can’t get their printing software to work. Safeway coupons don’t need special software. I’m not much of a coupon clipper but if I was then Just for U would be a time godsend. For me, it takes more time than it’s worth but I still use it…when I remember to. Isn’t Safeway supposed to send an email when the personalized deals are updated? If not, then going back to the site week after week and seeing the same deals will get very old very fast. Oh, and I did get my eggs on the first try. When I got them home I noticed the exp. date was one week later!
Sue, I share your frustration with Coupons.com, and I do like that I was able to use “Just For U” without printing anything. Save the trees! I just wish the site worked on mobile devices, so I can “add” items while in the store.
Fran, I hear you. We in Mililani are lucky to have a Times, Foodland, and Safeway. I generally like Safeway’s selection and prices better, anyway, so they’d get my business even without “Just For U.”
Ali, looking forward to your review. I, too, am happy with what the Club Card already does for my bottom line. Perhaps I don’t shop at Safeway often enough to get a knock-my-socks-off “personalized deal”?
Safeway promotes “Just For U” as a time saver, but they make you hunt through 3 separate lists of offers (Coupons, Personalized Deals, and Club Specials), and those don’t even include all the weekly specials that are in the newspaper flyer. There should be only 1 list with the best of all 4 sources of offers, and (as you suggested) it should be searchable. I won’t waste my time on it again.
I couldn’t get my card to synch with the program. Tried a number of times.
Ryan – did you try to add the yogurt at the Just For U kiosk at the store?
mahalo nui for the giveaway and the honest review. i’ ve seen the monitors set up at safeway but can’t be bothered to set up this just for u and connect it to my safeway card. judging from past prizes and promotions, safeway isn’t really interested in helping me save more $$ so i don’t have a lot of faith in this new deal.
Thanks for the review. I’m a Safeway coupon clipper so this program may work for me. I didn’t know Hawaii is the first state to test this out.
Wow this sounds like a cool program.. and I shop at Safeway a lot since it’s right near my place!
Ryan,
I’m a big coupon clipper and savings chaser, and I have to admit that the Safeway Just For U program is not that enticing.
I signed up right away because of the dozen eggs (heck, I go through a dozen in about 5 days or less!), however found the program too confusing.
I think that Safeway’s problem is offering too many options at the same time.
For example, have you noticed at the bottom of your receipt, where it says something like “you have earned 1 out 8 points towards your next free sandwich”? I have bought all kinds of sandwiches there yet to figure out how exaxctly you get these points!!!
I find the cards that they mailed a couple months ago much better. The ones that had the $5 off your next $50purchase on one side and a couple coupons on the other side around a meal idea on the other. The deals were really good and a lot of the stuff was fir free (as long as you meet a $10 purchase). The whole thing had a purpose: make an inexpensive meal. That talks to me better than 60 random coupons.
Also I completely agree that the “12-16oz, Selected Varieties” footer is confusing, heck! even some friendly store clerk at the Kapahulu store knew which one was the correct one!
My senior father jumped on board with this surprisingly quickly. I helped him quickly select and add deals to his card, and off we went.
We got the free eggs. The other deals were fairly nice too. However, similar to your pasta story, we hit a snag on the “A&H Toothpaste” which, even though we selected the right size, did not match the deal. We were later told that “it didn’t include the ones with baking soda,” which sends a WTF flag straight up..
They need to start specifying UPC codes or something!
Thanks for the detailed review! I also have had trouble printing coupons.
Our Safeway is a pretty horrible store. I don’t usually go there because I don’t find them to be stocked well and they don’t seem to have the sale that other stores in the area have. I will go there when I’m close by it if I need some things though, and I do get the circulars. There is a Giant that is a little further out, but a much nicer store. I tend to go where I like to shop rather than where is convenience. Of course, you don’t have that luxury!
I just used Safeways’ Just For U yesterday. It was the 2nd time I’ve tried it. If I had to choose only one reason why I like it, it’s a greener way to save. And save I did. I saved a total of &73.91. Per Safeway, I saved 47% off of my groceries! I was so proud that I thought of making a scrapbook page for it. I agree that the email list I got on my iPhone could be alittle more user friendly, but just like everything, it takes alittle getting use to. So far I love it and the Kapahulu Safeway always has eggs.
Ugh, too much work for too little savings. I reality appreciate you taking the time to review this new process Ryan. It will probably keep me from trying it. I live in Maryland, and avoid Safeway because they consistently have the highest prices in town. My suggestion for Safeway: keep it simple. Require me to use my club number (I too do not carry my card, and am using a phone number from 7 years ago) to enjoy weekly specials, then reduce evey item to it’s lowest profitable price for every club customer. Why should I pay more for an item simply because I don’t purchase it frequently? Perhaps if the price was lower, I would try it, like it, and begin purchasing it more often. Until Safeway lowers their prices across the board, I’m afraid I’ll continue driving past them on my way to Giant.
I haven’t really looked into the details of it yet.
I don’t need a shopping list. I’ve never bought that much stuff at one time. I have my 15 items I buy every time I go to safeway and they rarely vary. But since moving here, I have been very annoyed by the sold out products there. Eggs!! they are always sold out, as is half&half and my fav candy, jelly beans… I’m getting used to seeing whole missing sections on shelves now, but when I first moved here, I thought it quite strange. Then I had to remind myself we are 3000 m iles out in the ocean and some boat has to be bringing those damn eggs in. But I’ll play with it at some point if I can save a little more $
I really liked that I got free eggs without even knowing my wife had signed us up. I also agree with you that the ‘private’ information isn’t as big of a deal, since I was using a club card already — they know what I buy.
A functional mobile site and more applicable shopping list would make this service better.
Denise, good point, I suppose I could have used the in-store computer for an on-site “add.” But that’d would’ve also added more time to an already extended shopping trip.
Damian, David, good point that the multiple coupon sections can be overwhelming. A single list, maybe prioritized by the degree of discount, would be much more compelling.
Joyce, I’m glad it worked for you! Saving almost half off your bill is nothing to sneeze at. Perhaps my problem, as I noted, is that I only buy one-off things at supermarkets these days.
I shop at safeway once or twice a month, when combining my shopping with Times and Costco. Costco is too big for 2 people and the other places fill in the gap. I like that I don’t have to have the coupons with me and just use the card, in my case my phone number. I just have to be proactive and know that I have to purchase certain items before I go in. I think the system will get better as it grows and knows your shopping habits to have a predictive shopping list of specials
A friend of mine used to be a store manager for Bath & Body Works, and she said there was a guy who used to come in once a month from Honolulu to buy up a whole lot of inventory to resell back in his store!
We currently have only 1 Safeway on Kaua’i which is far from where I live, but I think it would be cool to check out this just for u stuff when I move back to O’ahu. I wonder how good their algorithm for choosing deals for you is…
I like that you can add coupons without having to print them, I’ve never been a fan of the clipping business. It’d be more amusing to be able to see your purchase history online.
Probably the most painful sign-up / authentication experience I’ve had in years. And I’ve had a club card for what feels like a decade.
Data mining at its worst. With so much personal information out there, do I really want to give even more for the chance that I might save a few pennies here and there? Not this time.
Suprised everybody is hating it so much. Any chance to save is a good thing in my eyes. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will next time I go down to Kihei.
our family goes the opposite of ryan… we go very small for local foods (admittedly, on the mainland). but, i’ve also really enjoyed the farmers markets and local food manufacturers when i’m in hawaii.
Farmer’s markets in Hawaii are awesome. Super fresh food that didn’t have to travel thousands of miles to get here. But I’m gonna try out this “Just for you” program.
What? That Plantronics review and contest you had was awesome! ;)
My wife is a diligent coupon cutter and wasn’t overly impressed with Just for U. Just not enough savings for the items we regularly buy, even on basics like juice and milk.
The ease of use of the Club Card is great on the other hand, especially when they can look up your info based on your phone number.
I agree with Brian’s comment. Make this program dead simple to use and get the best prices.
I enjoy going to my neigborhood Safeway, they always have a friendly smile, the isles are wide, and when they have something advertised for sale it’s also in stock. I just signed up for “Just for you” and liked the savings so far.
I signed up for “Just For You (JFY)” and never saw veggie burger-type products in the coupon sections. However, when I went into the store they were on sale. I went back into JFY but still no veggie burger coupons. No love for the vegetarians???
I signed up after reading blogger Paula Bender’s review. I, too, am not too concerned about how they use my shopping history and was interested in how personal the specials would be in matching my interests. First set featured a few varieties of ice cream, so I guess it works pretty well. The trouble, like Ian Lind encountered, was at the store. They couldn’t seem to find me in the system when I tried to include the free eggs in a regular shopping run. I left the eggs and tried again later. Still couldn’t find me, but they let me take the eggs. I still get the e-mails and the specials, but not sure if I want to risk embarrassment at the checkout or hold everyone up while they “look” for me on their system.
Thanks for all the comments! The winners of the gift cards are (thanks to Random.org) funhiguy and Sarakata! I’ll be in touch!