RSA America, a retail intelligence and engagement platform for independent grocers, and URM Stores, the Spokane, Washington-based retailer-owned wholesaler, announced growing adoption of their partnership, with 75 URM-affiliated grocery stores now live on RSA’s platform, including locations under the Super 1 Foods, Family Foods and Harvest Foods banners.
Since the partnership’s May announcement, the companies have secured and deployed 43 exclusive digital coupon offers from major consumer brands, giving participating grocers more ways to deliver savings and strengthen loyalty. Further expansion is planned throughout URM’s network of approximately 265 independent grocery retailers in the Pacific Northwest, reflecting what the cooperative calls a “no retailer left behind” philosophy.
Scaling through the wholesaler
The model works through the wholesaler rather than store by store: RSA gives participating retailers a common foundation for understanding shopper behavior, targeting engagement and measuring what drives sales, while each grocer retains control of its own customer relationships and first-party data.
“Through URM’s partnership with RSA, we gain access to digital tools and brand offers that would be difficult for individual stores to secure on their own,” said Erika Sams, CEO of Harvest Foods Marketing. “We also gain a better understanding of what matters to our shoppers, helping us make our programs more relevant to the communities we serve.”
“Wholesalers already sit at the center of the independent grocery ecosystem, with relationships that can help bring retailers, brands and technology together at scale,” said Ravi Achanta, CEO of RSA America. “That gives retailers better information to guide their decisions, brands a measurable way to reach shoppers, and wholesalers another way to strengthen the value they deliver to their members.”
Former URM digital leader joins RSA
RSA also has appointed Thomas Olson as director of sales. Olson joins after eight years with URM Stores, most recently as digital marketing and e-commerce manager, and has served on the ROFDA Retail Media Networks Committee. “Wholesalers play an important role in closing that gap because they already understand the retailers they serve and can help create the scale needed to make those capabilities more accessible,” Olson said.
RSA serves more than 250 retailers in 1,500 storefronts, reaching more than 7.2 million shoppers in 41 states, according to the company. Founded in 1921, URM and its subsidiaries employ more than 3,000 people serving independent grocers throughout the Inland Northwest.
Related: URM Breaks Ground On Super 1 Foods In Post Falls, ID