What happened: This month the Wall Street Journal ran an article “App Watch, New York Edition: Fresh Direct” that explained Fresh Direct has introduced the company’s new app so their customers can order from their iPhone. Evidently the company spent some time researching their store’s customers and found that about half of them use the iPhone. In addition, the company has been tracking the types of purchases their customers make and took the time to organize this information into useful product information. Examples include ratings of perishable goods such as fruits and vegetables and provides information on specific products that raters have deemed best for delivery the next day.
Why it matters: With the economy in a down period sales are hard to come by and so are new customers. Offering such a helpful set of useful information has increased sales among Fresh Direct’s customers and begun a productive path to build new ones. The app’s functionality was first available online in an even more enriched environment and the company is considering expanding the offering beyond Apple’s platform to serve some more of its customers. This type of thinking outside the box is a positive way to build any business and keep things fresh too!