Progressive Grocer Awarded for Website Relaunch

Progressive Grocer has been awarded “Best Niche Website” in the 2018 Nichee Awards for the redesign of its website, progressivegrocer.com, which relaunched in August 2017.

One of 17 recipients across the same number of subcategories – five of them under the Digital Awards category – Progressive Grocer accepted the award March 6 in Louisville, Ky., during the Super Niche Media Event, three days of workshops and presentations that cover creative business strategies for niche media brands. The event is produced by Niche Media, a Sacramento, Calif.-based resource that helps publishers generate more revenue via print, digital and events.

“The Progressive Grocer brand has always represented the finest in content to guide retailers on the products and trends that will keep them ‘Ahead of What’s Next,’” said Katie Brennan, brand director of Progressive Grocer. “Our website redesign reflects a look and feel that is modern and incorporates a responsive design that makes PG engaging and easily accessible on all devices.”

Further, the site's “authoritative look and prioritization of the day’s top news make it a comprehensive and essential resource for the grocery retail industry,” added Jim Dudlicek, editorial director of Progressive Grocer.

To create the new progressivegrocer.com, the developers placed paramount importance on continuing the brand’s 95-year tradition of focusing on the most important part of the brand: its audience, said Matthew Giambrone, systems architect at Ashday Interactive Systems, a Mesa, Ariz.-based development studio, who also worked with PG’s internal team to create the redesign.

“In web development, it is easy to get lost in a morass of ‘tech for tech’s sake,’ which can alienate and overwhelm readers, especially when dealing with vast amounts of content,” Giambrone noted. “So we attempted at every stage – from earliest conversations to user experience design, to architecture and implementation – to think first and foremost about the individual readers.”

The development team’s goal was to create a digital experience that, for readers, feels “deceptively simple” – one that empowers the audience with content they want, but doesn’t force them to work hard to get it, Giambrone said. And thankfully, along the way, the team also was able to streamline processes for editorial and technical staff, as well as grow value for advertisers without compromising the primary commitment to readers.

“Websites: We all have them, and so the Best Website winner really has to stand out,” said Kristi Dougherty, VP of marketing and programs at Niche Media. “The judges were looking for clean design, intuitive menu options and content layout, and integration to the brand’s other channels like magazine, newsletter, events and social media. Our winner definitely delivered, plus they’ve developed their own proprietary algorithm for content sorting – wow, take that Google!”

Added Giambrone: “It was an exciting thing to be a part of and a real honor that the site has been recognized by Nichee.”