From Mass Marketing to Me Marketing

How Real-Time personalization is Redefining Grocery Retail

Supermarkets have always known the power of a good promotion. But walk into most stores today, and you’ll still find the same blanket discounts, paper circulars, and loyalty card deals sent to everyone, regardless of who they are or what they actually buy.

But as highlighted in Supermarket News NZ’s recent feature, “One Size Does Not Fit All: Real-Time personalization in the Aisle,” shoppers now expect more.

Online shopping has changed the way people think about retail. Consumers are used to being recognized, understood, and guided toward what feels right for them. And now, they want that same experience when they walk into a physical store.

For retailers, this shift isn’t just about keeping up with trends. It’s about keeping up with people. Those who can bring true personalization into the aisle will earn something far more valuable than a single transaction. They’ll earn loyalty in a market where holding onto it has never been harder.

From “Everyone” to “Each One”

In traditional retail, promotions are built around categories and demographics like families, students, or young professionals.
Real-time personalization is about moving from those broad strokes to an “N=1” world, where every shopper becomes their own audience of one.

The concept isn’t new. What’s new is that it’s now operationally possible.
Advances in AI, data analytics, and smart shopping technologies make it feasible to tailor the in-store experience to each customer in real time.

This is how it looks –
A shopper walks into a store. Her smart cart recognizes her loyalty profile, recalls her past purchases, and immediately tailors offers as she moves through the aisles. When she scans a pack of pasta, the screen shows a personalized promotion on her preferred brand of sauce or a discount on the wine she usually buys with it.

For another shopper, the same action might trigger a budget-friendly house brand recommendation or a recipe suggestion based on dietary preferences.

No two experiences are identical, and that’s exactly the point.

Why It Matters

It’s easy to think of personalization as a marketing bonus – something nice to have once the essentials are covered. But in today’s retail landscape, it’s way more than that. It’s becoming a true competitive necessity.

Supermarkets are dealing with challenges on every front. Labor shortages are stretching teams thin. Shrinkage continues to chip away at margins. Inflation is reshaping shopping habits. And digital-first competitors are setting new standards for convenience and personalization that physical stores are expected to match.

Real-time personalization helps retailers respond to all of these pressures at once. It turns every in-aisle interaction into something measurable and meaningful – an opportunity to connect, convert, and learn.

When offers are relevant, baskets grow. When shoppers feel understood, they return. And when every interaction feeds back into smarter operational decisions, the entire store gets stronger.

As one analyst recently put it, “personalization is the new price war, and data is the new margin.”

Bringing the Online Experience to the Aisle

Online retailers have long had the upper hand because they can track clicks, carts, and conversions. Physical stores rarely have that visibility, until now.

Cust2Mate’s smart shopping cart platform bridges that gap by digitizing every step of the in-store journey.
It enables retailers to understand what’s happening in real time:

• Which products are being considered, scanned, or removed
• How promotions influence decisions at the shelf
• Where shoppers spend time, and what that means for store layout and assortment

This data does much more than inform operations, it unlocks a new kind of relationship between retailers, brands and shoppers, one that’s personal, contextual, and mutually beneficial.

With the on-cart touchscreen, each shopper effectively has their own private digital storefront. It displays personalized offers, coupons, recipes, reviews, and loyalty benefits while tracking total spend in real time.

In other words, online convenience brought into the physical store.

Personalization That Feels Personal

When people hear “personalization,” they often think about discounts and coupons. But that’s only the surface. Real personalization is about being relevant in the moment.

It might mean showing an allergy alert the second a product is scanned, suggesting a vegan alternative without being asked, or reminding someone of an item they usually buy but forgot this time.

It’s less about selling and more about helping. About turning a regular shopping trip into an easier, more intuitive experience.

When it works, it doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like the store “gets you”.
And that small shift from “We’re talking at you” to “We’re shopping with you”, is what builds lasting loyalty.

Your Smart Cart Just Joined the Marketing Team

Personalization doesn’t just make shopping more enjoyable for customers. It also creates powerful new opportunities for retailers. One of the biggest is in-store retail media.

Every Cust2Mate smart cart is more than a shopping companion, it’s also a connected media channel that reaches shoppers at the exact moment they are making decisions. That is when attention is highest and intent is real.

Imagine a shopper adding cereal to their cart. A competing brand might offer a special discount. A milk brand might appear with a friendly reminder to pair it for breakfast tomorrow. It feels natural, relevant, and timely.

Behind the scenes, the system can trigger ads based on what is being scanned, where the shopper is in the store, or their purchase history if they have logged into the loyalty program.

And because everything happens in real time, retailers and brands can finally see the full journey from impression to purchase, just like they do online.

It all adds up to something much larger than a new advertising channel. Retail media turns the in-store journey into a measurable, revenue-generating ecosystem where every aisle, every cart, and every interaction can create real, measurable business value.

The Next Chapter in the Connected Store Journey

Real-time personalization is just one piece of a much bigger picture.
What’s really taking shape is the connected store. A space where technology quietly ties everything together.

In a connected store, every cart, screen, and system operates as part of one digital ecosystem that:

• Bridges the gap between online and in-store experiences
• Uses automation and data to keep operations flowing smoothly
• Connects loyalty programs, payments, and retail media into a single experience
• Reduces shrinkage with layered security
• Frees up staff to focus on service rather than routine tasks

The result is more than efficiency. It’s a new kind of balance where shoppers enjoy a smoother experience, retailers gain better visibility, and suppliers benefit from real-time insights.
Everyone wins when the store itself becomes smart enough to learn, adapt, and support the people inside it.

The Bottom Line

The days of one-size-fits-all retail are over.
Shoppers are telling us exactly what they want, and they’re doing it with their choices every day. They want to feel seen. They want an easier trip through the store. They want the same kind of personalization they already enjoy online, only now they expect it in the aisle too.

For supermarkets, this isn’t a question of whether to personalize. It’s about how quickly they can make it part of the everyday experience.

With Cust2Mate’s smart cart platform, that future isn’t somewhere down the road. It’s already here, moving with every cart, guiding every shopper, and shaping the next generation of connected retail.

The move toward real-time personalization is already reshaping how retailers think about value, loyalty, and in-store experience.