Fresh Thyme Upping In-Store Education at Shelf

Grocer will be 1st to roll out Merryfield’s Learn & Earn program

3/9/2023

Fresh Thyme Market shoppers will start seeing the specialized tags of Merryfield's Learn & Earn program this spring across all of the grocer’s stores.

Fresh Thyme Market will be the first retailer to offer the Learn & Earn program powered by Merryfield Rewards, which uses business management software Cornerstone’s Smart Shelf Tag technology to boost in-store consumer engagement and influence point-of-purchase decisions via in-aisle branded digital content and exclusive incentives and rewards unlocked with a smartphone. Fresh Thyme shoppers will start seeing these specialized tags this spring across all of the grocer’s stores.

“We’re thrilled that Fresh Thyme Market has chosen Learn & Earn to engage and educate their in-store shoppers,” said David Mayer, founder and CEO of Boston-based Merryfield. “Fresh Thyme Market has been a leader in adopting Smart Shelf Tags, and now, by implementing Learn & Earn, they’re demonstrating a commitment to helping shoppers make more informed buying decisions in-store while enabling brands to provide digital content and exclusive offers.”

As a participating retailer in the program, which first rolled out last December, Fresh Thyme Market will display Learn & Earn in-store signage and QR codes at-shelf for participating brands. Scanning QR codes with any smartphone camera instantly reveals product information and educational content, and now, through the Merryfield app, shoppers can access new exclusive incentives and money-saving offers to encourage them to buy that product on that shopping trip.

“We first added Smart Shelf Tags with its enhanced QR codes to help our shoppers make better-informed buying decisions in-store while allowing our supplier partners to provide digital content to best present their products to our shoppers,” noted Jonathan Lawrence, Fresh Thyme’s VP, center of store. “Through Learn & Earn, we’re now able to pair digital in-store education with exclusive at-shelf digital promotion tools and a new consumer-facing program promoting healthier choices and making wellness more accessible to more people.”

Because Learn & Earn is facilitated through the Merryfield Rewards Network, CPG brands taking part in the program at Fresh Thyme will have exclusive access to a growing suite of consumer activation and insights solutions. This real-time holistic view of consumer purchases offers CPGs unprecedented visibility into consumer preferences and decision-making in the store.

“Merryfield’s partnership with Fresh Thyme goes beyond in-store education and incentives,” observed Mayer. “Our Merryfield team wants to make it easier for people to know which brands and products are right for them and their families. We’re enabling people to discover healthier options with less work while connecting them to incremental savings. Our team saw the same kinds of values, beliefs and intentions for consumers with the Fresh Thyme Market team — it’s about the people. We couldn’t be more fired up to bring Learn & Earn to the Fresh Thyme Market shopper community.”

Learn & Earn participation is open to all natural and conventional products and brands throughout the store.

With 71 stores in 10 states throughout the Midwest, Downers Grove, Ill.-based Fresh Thyme Market is No. 91 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.