mySupermarket

mySupermarket was an independent shopping and comparison shopping website for groceries in the United Kingdom.[1][2] It retrieved price information from multiple online retailers, so that customers could compare their prices. On 27 February 2020 Gilad Simhony (CEO of mySupermarket) announced it would be closing on 1 March 2020. His statement read: "After 14 years of service to UK shoppers, the mySupermarket website and mobile application will be taken down from March 1st, 2020 as we shift our activity toward other business areas. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the tens of millions of you who have used our services over the years and who have contributed to its amazing success. It has been our pleasure and privilege to serve you and to share this journey with you."

mySupermarket
TypePrivate Company
IndustryRetail, Ecommerce, FMCG, Supermarkets
Founded2006
Defunct1 March 2020
Area served
United Kingdom
ServicesPrice Comparison, Online Shopping, Market Research

History

mySupermarket.co.uk launched as a UK-based supermarket shopping and price comparison site in October 2006, using data on four of the main supermarkets Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Ocado.[3]

In June 2013, the company launched a mySupermarket.com for the United States market.[4] In July 2013, the company launched a mobile app that could be used both online and in-store.[5][6]

In November 2014, "Insights" was launched, a real-time dashboard to track product sales and market share across UK supermarkets. The tool allowed marketers to track performance and make changes daily to their campaigns, rather than waiting for post-season analysis.[7]

In June 2015, the company launched mySupermarket SHOPS, an online shop offering wares from more than 100 local and independent UK retailers.[8]

On 27 February 2020 the company announced on social media and by email to their users, that from 1 March the website and app would close.[9]

Funding

mySupermarket Limited was a private company, owned by a group of investors and mySupermarket employees. In May 2007, mySupermarket.co.uk received a £3 million investment from venture capitalist firms, Greylock Partners[10] and Pitango. These funds were earmarked for structured marketing of the site to increase its regular users.[11] In April 2012, mySupermarket.co.uk received an investment of $10 million from British advertising and public relations company WPP and existing investors.[12]

Business model

The site analysed products in a shopper's trolley and suggests swapping some of the items for cheaper substitutes or alternative sizes that offer better value. mySupermarket had multiple stores on the site with pricing taken directly from retailers' websites.[13][14]

In 2012, mySupermarket launched a desktop app that can automatically compare the price of users' baskets whenever they shop online. The app can run on the background of laptops, PCs and Macs, automatically recognising the URLs of users' frequently visited online supermarkets.[15]

Reception

The Guardian described the site in 2006 as "pretty time consuming" to set up.[3] In 2013 Good Housekeeping magazine described the site as easy to use, with better savings achieved when spending over $75.00 to avoid shipping charges.[14]

References
  1. David, E.; Robu, V.; Shehory, O.; Stein, S.; Symeonidis, A. (2013). Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce. Designing Trading Strategies and Mechanisms for Electronic Markets. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 58. ISBN 978-3-642-34889-1. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  2. Easterby-Smith, M.; Thorpe, R.; Jackson, P.R. (2015). Management and Business Research. SAGE Publications. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-4739-2764-3. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. Jill Papworth (21 October 2006) "Cheaper shopping? Now it's in the bag", The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  4. Comparison Site mySupermarket Launches U.S. Megastore. TechCrunch.com (10 June 2013). Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  5. "Four supermarket apps that mean you always get the best deals". AOL.co.uk. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  6. "MySupermarket offers new mySuperList mobile app". TheGrocer.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  7. "Suppliers and retailers sign up for mySupermarket insight tool". TheGrocer.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  8. "MySupermarket unveils new online marketplace featuring independent grocers". Talking Retail. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  9. "MySupermarket Closure Twitter Post". Twitter. 27 February 2020.
  10. Greylock Partners – News. Greylock.com. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  11. Gaelle Walker, New funds to drive growth of price comparison website, The Grocer, 19 May 2007
  12. Lunden, Ingrid (19 April 2012). "WPP Makes Big Leap into E-Commerce, Leads On $10 Million mySupermarket Investment". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  13. Nathan Rao (9 May 2014). "See the cost of your shop drop: mySupermarket is changing the face of shopping". Daily Express. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  14. Sharon Franke (21 June 2013) "A New Website Can Save You Money on Groceries", Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  15. "MySupermarket app to 'revolutionise' online shopping". Marketing Week. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2019.

Further reading
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