Jet.com first US partner for UK personalized nutrition company Spoon Guru
The company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to classify food products and recipes in its database. In the process, it assigns attributes to these products and dishes, categorizing whether they are suitable for different dietary needs such as gluten free, nut allergies, vegan, and more.
Its first retailer partnership, which started in November 2017, was with UK grocer Tesco. The partnership allowed Tesco shoppers both online and in stores to filter out products that do not meet their specific dietary need, even when the product is not properly labeled so by the manufacturer or, in case of fresh produce, by the distributor.
“[Tesco’s] basket conversion rate has seen big increases since the search and filter technology was introduced. Some search terms have seen up to a 420% increase in conversion,” according to the company in its announcement.
On its new US partner, co-CEO and co-founder Markus Stripf said: “It’s a delight to work with Jet and help transform the consumer experience for their shoppers, it is a truly forward-thinking brand that puts its customers and their individual preferences at the heart of every shopping experience.”
How the personalization process works
As a partner, Spoon Guru is providing Jet.com with its classification technology. On the website, shopper can shop by diet. After clicking which diet they follow (say, gluten-free or vegetarian), the website filters out all products that are not suitable for the shopper. The remaining products are still categorized by department.
“Sixty-four percent of the world’s population is on some form of exclusion diet. Whether this is due to allergy, intolerance or health and lifestyle choices, the demand for a more personalized approach to food shopping is clear,” Stripf said.
“With today’s technological advancements, customers especially in the US are looking for a more tailored shopping experience, as well as an easy and safe solution for finding the right food.”
As Spoon Guru was prepping for its US expansion, it conducted a market survey to assess the prevalence of exclusionary diets in the US.
Out of the 2,000 US consumers surveyed online, one in three have purchased foods they shouldn’t have, 49% of these people citing they did this due to poor labeling. The survey was conducted in December 2018 and ended January this year.
You could find out more about Spoon Guru’s findings from our coverage HERE
