TopShelf Spotlight: How One More Customer Login Brings More Profit To Your Grocery Business

Grocery retailers are spending more than ever on digital.  

But trial offers, promo codes, paid ads, and reliance on third-party marketplaces are all failing to deliver the type of long-term growth grocers need to make online shopping profitable. 

Paying high acquisition costs without a better return on investment isn't a sustainable strategy for regional grocers. 

But where should grocers be focusing their efforts instead? 

One More Login Can Make The Difference 

In this episode of TopShelf Spotlight, Josh Bowie, VP of Digital Insights and Programming at Mercatus, shares new research that sheds light on the importance of customer engagement.  

He tells the story of one grocery retailer who analyzed their customer behavior to find that the most engaged customers don’t just buy more often, they deliver outsized value. 

This insight not only emphasizes the importance of engaging customers, but it also points to a smarter, more scalable growth strategy for grocers. 

It’s the kind of strategy that DXPro—the new digital experience platform from Mercatus—is purpose-built to put into action. 

Why More Customers Doesn’t Equal More Growth 

Many grocers make the same assumption, and it seems logical: More customers should equal more revenue. 

But this assumption relies on new customers sticking around. 

The reality is—according to our research with Brick Meets Click—it takes 2.5 to 3.5 new customers to replace the value of just one long-term loyal shopper leaving. 

That’s the difference between trial and engagement. One fades all too fast, the other builds lasting value from customer retention. 

What The Data Reveals

Shifting focus from acquisition to engagement is a compelling idea, but would it hold up in the real world?  

One regional grocer Mercatus works with decided to find out if their digital investments were actually working. 

They analyzed three months of session activity and grouped customers into three tiers: 

• Occasional: 1 session/month 

• Threshold: 2–3 sessions/month 

• Engaged: 4+ sessions/month 

Then they looked at how each group performed across spend, trips, and sales share. 

The results were striking. 

Customers in the “engaged” tier: 

• Spent 2.6x more 

• Took 2.5x more trips 

• Had 8% larger baskets 

• Represented 42% of all digital sales 

The Breakthrough Insight 

At a glance, the data confirms what many would suspect: More engaged customers are more valuable. 

But the real opportunity lies deeper. 

The threshold group—customers logging in just 2 to 3 times per month—are right on the edge of high-value behavior.  

With just one more session, they could move into the top-performing tier. 

That small behavioral shift represents a clear, repeatable path to increasing customer lifetime value.  

The Big Takeaway 

By shifting the engagement curve just slightly, grocers can unlock significantly more value from the customers they already have. 

How DXPro Turns Insight into Action 

But an insight like this is only valuable if you can act on it. 

Turning one more session into measurable growth takes more than a promotional email or a loyalty plug-in.  

It takes a platform designed specifically for grocery. That’s where DXPro comes in. 

DXPro helps grocers operationalize engagement strategies at scale, giving them the tools to: 

1. Identify customers at the engagement tipping point.

2. Segment audiences based on real behavioral data and future value.

3. Deliver timely, personalized engagement proven to increase session frequency.

4. Track how every interaction impacts trips, basket size, and retention. 

This isn’t about adding another tool to your stack. 

DXPro is the foundation for growing customer value in a way that’s scalable, measurable, and repeatable. 

The Window Is Closing 

But timing still matters. 

Mass retailers like Walmart are already using similar tactics—retention strategies, personalized engagement, and loyalty mechanics—to build digital habits that stick.  

And they’re doing it at scale. 

The longer grocers wait to build their own engagement strategy, the harder it becomes to win back those customers. 

Every day of inaction is another day your best customers grow more comfortable shopping somewhere else. 

What this data proves is that you don’t need a billion-dollar budget to compete.  

You just need one more session. 

Next Steps 

Your highest-potential customers are already in your system. 

Book a strategy session with Mercatus to see how DXPro will help you reach them. 

• Audit your customer engagement patterns 

• Identify your “threshold” customers 

• Design personalized nudges that increase session frequency 

The path to stronger loyalty and higher long-term revenue starts with one more meaningful interaction. 

Book a session with Mercatus, today, to build an engagement strategy that gets you there.