Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Uncategorized category.
Launched Tulsa.Grocio.com
Tulsa now has it’s own local Grocio mini-site.
This is our debut local site and many more will follow (some later in the day). Initially, these will give shoppers immediate access to local bargain information like circulars and coupons. As soon as our grocer partners are on board… we’ll launch the big enchilada.
~Gerald
Beta.Grocio.com is Now Open
We’ve made a substantial amount of progress on the comparison shopping side of Grocio.com. To the point now we’re opening the Beta to all shoppers. Grocio’s beta will remain open right up to launch and will see frequent updates.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
1) Limit your comparison shopping to 74114 zip code (and surrounding Tulsa area). While you certainly can check your home zip code (and I’d encourage you to do so) you won’t be able to select grocers to comparison shop. If we’re missing grocery store locations for your zip code… please let me know via email, Get Satisfaction or even here at this blog.
2) The product database, while large, is incomplete. We’ve loaded ONLY food items at this point and no cleaning or hygeine products. Also, when you shop for something like “Cheerios” we’re not yet presenting varietals (or sizes, colors, etc).
3) The pricing database is NOT accurate. Please, don’t expect a $.18 two liter of anything 
We’ve randomized the pricing just to gain a sense of how things scale and to tune for response time. Repeat, these prices are not accurate. Don’t rely on them for your shopping trips until we issue the all clear.
4) There are no coupons loaded into the shopping database just yet. My hope is to create some test coupons so as to show how the whole thing would work. Right now, I’m on vacation and have four little kids climbing on me routinely for fun and attention. But, I’ll get to it soon.
Have fun and please let us know what you’re experiencing (good and bad). You’ll find we’re super responsive to feedback and give your suggestions a lot of thoughtful consideration.
Frugality and CC Interest Rates
Maybe not everyone’s been through the grind of accumulating a big load of personal debt. Lot’s of people have. Even MORE people are experiencing what FrugalDad blogs about…
See, he didn’t have a whopper of a debt load. He was doing it right. But, get this, his credit card company sees fit to jack his interest rate 18% in one month. Yes, he was notified. Yes, he missed the opt out (which, btw, closes the acct). But, that’s precisely the end effect anyway.
Why do issuing companies do this? I don’t get it. Are they in the business to keep customers or are they in the business to perpetually replace them? It’s not like there aren’t a lot of options. Seems to me they’d be working double hard on customer service and retention.
In this day and age when a business operator ought to know who their good customers are from their liability customers… why would you drive a good customer away? Furthermore, why would you bring on the added ill-will of the blogging world? Truly weird.
Grocers Geek Out Too
At the National Grocers Association convention this week it was clear as an Aspen stream… Grocers definitely have their geek in the “ON” position.
Twitter came up in every marketing oriented session I was in. The Chief Marketing Officer of Coca-Cola North America was really getting poked and prodded over mobile’s effectiveness. At one point the CEOs of IGA and Conrad’s were talking about tweeting each other.
Loyalty cards… The take away here is there’s a right way to do these. Everything else is just some variant on a license to spam. There’s a move on to tie these to your phone, your OpenID… lots of things.
“Green”, “local” and “sustainable” were huge. From bags/totes to veggie wash to enviro-friendly containers.
Coupon use is expected to really outperform. High expectations on the digital side of that equation. Some neat concepts floated on the exhibition floor.
There were two standouts though. The first was the Pan Osten self checkout station. Guys, this is a unit Jordie from Star Trek would absolutely jam on. There was a competition to see who could go (accurately) from basket to bagged in the fastest time. The best time was in the 1 1/2 minute range. It was a LOT of fun and proves self-checkout IS doable and very reliable (even at full speed).
The other cool thing I saw that really stood out was ShopToCook.com This is a KILLER kiosk system. You go into the store with NO LIST… & it helps you id your entrees, deserts, whatever and prints your shopping list as well as where to find items on the store aisles. Pretty slick stuff.
Lots of new products introduced. But the sad news there is all the industry intel is saying in this economy people are sticking to what they know and are either buying in smaller unit sizes (6 packs as opposed to 24s) or in bulk when it’s on sale (cases of tomato soup as opposed to individuals).
Was a ton of fun and am looking forward to going back on ‘010
42 States. Now Focused On Tulsa Area
Grocio’s 50-States bonus round for the registration contest ended at midnight last night. And, what a round it was! We started with 12 states and closed the round with 42. Connecticut just squeaked in under the wire. It would still be a lot of fun to be able to say we have shoppers in all 50 states. If you have friends of family in any of the following states who would like to save significant, easy money at the grocery store send them our way! (Hawaii, Montana, the Dakotas, Iowa, West Virginia, Rhode Island and Vermont).
Now, we’re focused on signing up as many Tulsa area shoppers as possible. This will also be a triple credit round which means for each new shopper registered the referrer will receive 3 points towards winning the $200 VISA gift car -or- donation to charity.
This bonus round expires November 1 and is cumulative – any points you have to this point are added to.
Pitching & Launching Update
We’re just about dry on midnight oil around here and have LOTS to show for it.
Pitched the Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards judges in a 5-minute pitching round. It went great! The local paper, The Tulsa World, had nice things to say and yes… the launch schedule was announced: Tulsa market in November 2008 expanding well beyond that in 2009. The key to the expansion will be a Series A round of funding. If you are (or know of) an Oklahoma startup… please consider i2E as a venture partner.
If you’re interested in participating in our beta please send me an email.
Posting here is going to start picking up in frequency. Will be offering screen shots next. Hope you’ll check back often.
I’m A Foodie
It’s totally true. I have a love affair with food. I love experimenting in the kitchen. I love messing around with textures, flavors, presentation. I’ve totally got it bad. My favorite challenge right now is preparing something everyone in the family will eat as frugally as possible. (Jeff Smith, where are you when we need you most?)
Recently I found two online sources of inspiration: First is http://food.alltop.com/ and all I can say is holy shmoly! Second is http:///www.foodista.com/ and all I can say to that is jeeminee! Yes, there are a bazillion food sites out there. Yes, it’s unfair to exclude so many good ones. Ain’t nuthin fair ’bout the kitchen my little chickpea! THAT room is so not a democracy.
Trust me, if you’re a foodie like me… those two will keep you in style for a Good. Long. Time.
Bon apetite!
