The Fresh Market has a reputation for in-store excellence, and now it’s trying to replicate that same feel for the digital experience.
That’s according to Emily Turner (left), chief marketing officer at The Fresh Market, who spoke at Supermarket News’ Grocery Next conference in Itasca, Illinois, which runs through Friday. Matt Van Gilder (right), vice president and principal of omnichannel at Des Moines, Iowa-based consulting firm NexChapter, moderated the discussion.
“[We’re trying to] figure out how we can bring that same warmth and hospitality and personality to some of our digital channels,” Turner said.
Email marketing remains a core focus for the Greensboro, North Carolina-based brand because it’s what customers engage with most, she said. With open rates consistently above 50%, the grocer sees email as more than a transactional tool. That’s because The Fresh Market isn’t just selling, it’s curating an experience, making the communications feel like a personal invitation, not a promo blast, she said.
“Our emails really resonate with our guests,” she said. “They're pretty long because we put a lot of content in them, but the content that we have is rich. It is valued by the guests, and they engage with it in a way that still amazes us to this day… we literally get complaints if our email is late or if we take [a promotion] out.”
While email remains a key driver of customer engagement, the retailer is also exploring ways to improve its mobile app. Much of the content there gets overlooked, Turner said, because users often arrive via email links and skip directly to products—limiting opportunities for discovery and inspiration.
“We imagine that you're going straight from looking at an email into ready to buy, and that's just not how people shop, so it's a big opportunity for us,” she said.
Beyond email and app improvements, The Fresh Market is investing in social media storytelling, including shoppable recipes and TikTok-style videos aimed at engaging customers with fresh ideas and solutions.
“We want to meet customers where they are—and increasingly, that’s on their phones, scrolling through content that inspires action,” she said.
One of the brand’s creative partnerships is with Chef Anna Rossi, who puts a new spin on dinner recipes. It’s about getting the content in the right format to grab attention, Turner said.
As part of its broader digital transformation, The Fresh Market is also testing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its paid media efforts. The current proof of concept focuses on one-to-one targeting that goes beyond personalization, incorporating demographic data and media consumption habits to deliver messages at the right moment.
“The extra bit that we especially love about it is that it uses generative AI to then ultimately to match that guest, because that's one of the sticking points,” Turner said.
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