CARLISLE, Pa. — Ahold USA’s banners are seeking to leverage new digital programs to connect with shoppers both in its stores and online.

The digital growth strategies are being rolled out at the Stop & Shop, Giant Food, GIANT/MARTIN’S, and Peapod banners, include significant investments in new digital tools, the company said. Those tools include relevant digital coupons, new websites, mobile app improvements and a new recipe center.

“Through the introduction of new technology, Ahold brands are able to offer more savings, faster shopping, and a more transparent connection with their customers,” said Matt Simon, vice president of loyalty and digital marketing at Ahold USA.  “Since the implementation of their digital growth strategies, Ahold brands have seen record-setting engagement, activation and redemption.”

According to Simon, the following milestones have been achieved across all four Ahold brands:

• The addition of 1 million new digital users over the last year.
• A 179% increase in new “Load to Card” digital coupon activations.
• The introduction of new, responsive brand websites, which lead to 20% growth in year-to-date web traffic over last year.
• A 76% increase in monthly app users and a tripling of mobile app downloads.
• Over 1 million social media followers across platforms.

Ahold brands have made it easier for their shoppers to find and utilize coupons to maximize savings, the company said, noting that it now makes it easy for shoppers to load digital coupons to their loyalty cards with the push of a button. The Load to Card program, including bonus week events, has exceeded expectations with a total of over 174 million digital coupon activations in 2017 to date at Ahold brands. Customers also receive exclusive digital savings offers by email.

Ahold has also partnered with Flipp on an improved the digital circular experience the lets customers quickly clip relevant items, browse bonus buys, add items to their shopping lists and even load coupons directly onto their loyalty cards.

To make meal planning easier, Ahold has made more than 3,700 recipes from Savory Magazine, its exclusive monthly periodical, available via the Savory Shopping Tool. All Savory recipes displayed online on the brands’ webpages include the option to transfer ingredients directly into the customer’s Peapod digital shopping cart.

“Today, the consumer does not just shop one way. She’s finding meal inspiration online and either filling her grocery cart in the store or virtually,” said Peapod chief marketing officer Carrie Bienkowski. “Our brands are able to meet her busy lifestyle and support any way she wants to shop by offering shoppers the option to shop in brick and mortar stores, select grocery pick up at more than 200 locations or opt for at-home delivery via Peapod.”

Ahold USA says it is also responding to consumers’ desire for transparency. This year Ahold Brands launched a new YouTube video campaign, called “Fresh Stories.” The series was created in an effort to provide meaningful, transparent information to customers about the food they purchase, according to the company. It contains a library of more than 30 videos about fresh product suppliers that have been viewed over 15 million times this year alone.  As an example, “True North Salmon: A Partnership for Sustainable Seafood” has been viewed over 200,000 times.