MyWebGrocer raises $13 million

Harnessing the Internet to make grocery shopping a more personal experience, company gets a boost

Newspapers are dying. That’s clear to just about anybody. What isn’t clear is how much exactly the death of newspapers will affect the world, its people and businesses.

One of the most important services newspapers provide, besides the obvious daily news and reviews, is the delivery of grocery store coupons and sales announcements, especially through bulky Sunday periodicals. But it really is about time for those stores to harness the power of online distribution to better meet the needs of its customers.

A key company which has since its founding in 1999 seen the need to provide this service to the online grocery store market, MyWebGrocer, just received a $13 million equity investment from Stripes Group.

But MyWebGrocer isn’t just a company that helps grocery stores distribute coupons online.

The Colchester, VT-based SaaS company designs size-scalable and fully customizable Web sites for grocery stores, giving the stores complete control over whether to implement an online shopping experience or other key features.

“MyWebGrocer moves us from having an informational website to an interactive online channel,” says Amy McClellan, Marketing and Communications Specialist, Martin's Supermarkets.

Citing the fact that 94% of Americans shop online now, MyWebGrocer encourages its clients to integrate online shopping into their Web sites. With the company claiming over 4 million monthly online shoppers, many of its clients have already seen excellent results.

“Our online customers spend 6 times the amount of what they spend in-store,” says Phil Cohen, Vice President, Home and Office Delivery Service Rice Epicurean Markets.

Besides the core function of implementing an online shopping market into grocery store Web sites, MyWebGrocer also replaces the need for newspaper ad-space (or at least supplements it) with emailed circulars tailored to the wants and needs of each individual customer. The company even enables grocery stores to easily send its users additional content like recipes and cooking videos.

In addition to this latest equity investment, MyWebGrocer will also be adding Dan Marriott, Managing Partner of Stripes Group, to its Board of Directors.