US grocery wholesaler and cooperative Associated Food Stores (AFS) has partnered with Birdzi to bridge the technology gap for its network of member retailers.  

With Birdzi’s customer intelligence and engagement platform, AFS can offer personalised engagement and customer insights across its corporate and independent member supermarkets. 

The retail cooperative plans to roll out Birdzi’s shopper analytics platform, personalised ads, coupon flyers and audience engagement tools first.  

It will then deploy Birdzi’s VISPER personalisation engine, expected to be operational in time for the 2024 holiday season.  

The platform will offer AFS corporate and member locations features such as automation and personalisation. 

Through an automated, AI-driven process, VISPER will strategically generate custom promotional offers for each shopper using AFS’s and member retailers’ entire store catalogues.  

Birdzi’s comprehensive analytics suite will provide AFS with the sophisticated tools needed to compete effectively in today’s market. 

The insights gained from Birdzi’s platform will allow AFS retailers to understand customer behaviour and campaign performance in depth.  

This will enable them to tailor their strategies and meet the specific needs of each independent AFS member location, whether in evaluating the success of a promotion or the impact of a pricing strategy. 

Associated Food Stores marketing vice-president Jason Sokol said: “Early on, we recognised Birdzi’s unique ability to enhance AFS’s customer engagement and foster loyalty across our network of member retailers. 

“The flexibility of the Birdzi platform enables AFS to customise engagement strategies for individual stores, allowing both us and our members to operate with greater efficiency in today’s competitive grocery landscape.” 

Associated Food Stores, which was established in 1940, serves 450 retailers across the Intermountain West.