Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. (AWG) has collaborated with the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on two data research projects for the 2024-25 school year.
These initiatives supplement AWG with sophisticated analytics, strategy recommendations and an AI dashboard. At the same time, participating students gain valuable, real-world experience, enhancing their career prospects.
Now in its fourth year, the partnership brings together AWG Brands, AWG’s private brands program, with the data science skills of the university’s master of science in business analytics (MSBA) students to address grocery business opportunities in innovative ways.
“Connecting with college students through AWG’s internship program and through yearly partnerships, such as with the University of Illinois, provide valuable opportunities for both AWG and the students to grow and learn together,” said Patrick Reeves, AWG’s chief human resources officer. “We appreciate their dedication and enjoy the chance to cultivate future business leaders.”
Guided by Professor Ashish Khandelwal, who oversees experiential learning projects for the MSBA program at Gies Business, student cohorts studied two different consumer-focused areas of the AWG Brands business.
As a mostly business-to-business entity, AWG still strives to gain consumer insights. One cohort analyzed seven years of data from AWG’s Save-A-Label program.
Started in 1987, Save-A-Label allows member retailers to give back to local nonprofits and schools. In an effort to continue to evolve this program for member retailers and their consumers, the student cohort analyzed trends among geographic regions and nonprofit classifications, which resulted in a machine learning dashboard designed to improve predictions of donation source and timing.
“Working with AWG was a great experience,” said Flavien Marwin Patrice Foreste, who led the Save-A-Label project team. “We had the opportunity to apply data analytics and machine learning to solve a meaningful real-world challenge. It was both exciting and rewarding.”
The other cohort analyzed two years of email marketing data to suggest optimal times and content that would resonate most with readers. By taking a deep dive into open rates, link clicks and other data sets, the students were able to recommend email strategy adjustments that have already been implemented by the AWG Brands team to drive business improvements.
The partnership is structured to be mutually beneficial, providing MSBA students with real-world experience by working on live projects that impact AWG Brands’ business strategies. The students will enhance their data-science skills and develop business needs such as meeting preparation, insight summarization and presentation skills.
At the conclusion of each research project, students present their findings to AWG teammates in a formal presentation. In exchange, AWG benefits from fresh perspectives and cutting-edge analytical techniques and tools.
“Beyond the interesting insights the students are able to bring to light, I really enjoy collaborating with them to hear how they’re approaching different situations throughout the AWG Brands business,” said Kate Favrow, AWG Brands’ director of marketing and brand development and Gies Business alum.
“The grocery business is complex, and there’s so much data to harness. Working with the students allows us all to focus on real opportunities and bring about new solutions to help AWG Brands continue to succeed for AWG member retailers.”
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