Key takeaways
- Grocery Basket Score (GBS™) is a science-based, automated system that scores the nutritional quality of a shopper’s loyalty-driven grocery basket. It analyzes transactional data to provide a simple, actionable score.
- The system uses nutritional density models on monthly loyalty data to create a score. This score is then delivered through loyalty reports, apps, and emails, giving customers personalized insights into their shopping habits.
- It helps retailers differentiate themselves and drive loyalty by aligning with two key market trends identified by McKinsey: the key role of personalization in retail and the booming, nearly $2 trillion wellness market.
- GBS™ simplifies healthy shopping for consumers by removing guesswork and providing easy-to-understand scores and advice, positioning the retailer as a health partner.
- The system is a natural extension of a retailer’s analytics capabilities. It uses existing loyalty data to provide a measurable business impact, such as a potential boost in EBIT.
- GBS™ will soon integrate with dacadoo’s Digital Health Engagement Platform (DHEP), allowing for a holistic measurement of nutrition, activity, sleep, and overall wellness. This will allow retailers to provide a comprehensive, personalized health experience.
- The goal of GBS™ is to help retailers move from a transactional relationship with customers to a transformative one, guiding them toward healthier lives and deepening their brand loyalty as an added bonus.
What is the Grocery Basket Score (GBS™)?
GBS™ is a tech platform that applies a sophisticated scientific methodology to loyalty data. It analyzes a shopper’s purchases over a month and evaluates the nutritional value of their basket. Using advanced models that consider factors like sugar-to-calorie ratios and the presence of whole foods, GBS™ generates a simple, easy-to-understand score. This score provides a snapshot of the nutritional quality of the shopper’s recent purchases, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement.
The beauty of GBS™ lies in its flexibility and scalability. Although it currently operates as a standalone, in the not-too-distant future, it will integrate with dacadoo’s broader Health Score and Digital Health Engagement Platform (DHEP). This makes it an ideal solution for any retailer, from a regional grocery chain to a global pharmacy giant, looking to deploy a personalized nutrition tool without overhauling their existing technology stack. Using a retailer’s existing loyalty data, GBS™ turns this data into a powerful engine for customer engagement and health improvement.
Why nutrition scoring matters more now than ever
If there’s one word that matters in modern retail, it’s “personalization”. A recent report by McKinsey & Company shows that personalization is far more than just a trend; it’s a core strategy for driving customer loyalty and top-line growth.
Given that retailers are in a crowded marketplace, they need new and meaningful ways to connect with their customers. While generic discounts or loyalty points may have worked in the past, they’re no longer rare enough, or powerful enough, to create lasting relationships with modern consumers. GBS™’s personalized insights into shopping habits open a new door for retailers, one that allows them to move beyond simple transactions and into a space of true partnership in their customers’ well-being.
And it’s a door well worth taking. McKinsey estimates the wellness market to be in the order of $2 trillion, with consumers increasingly focused on categories like nutrition, fitness, and health services. GBS™ aligns perfectly with this vast demand, positioning retailers as trusted wellness destinations and providing the tools and transparency that today’s consumers want.
How GBS™ improves customer engagement and loyalty
The real power of GBS™ is its ability to turn a passive shopping experience into an active, engaging health journey. Embedding GBS™ directly into a retailer’s existing loyalty communications (be it a monthly email, an in-app dashboard, or a personalized loyalty report), the system creates a continuous loop of engagement. Shoppers receive a score, understand the simple drivers behind it, and are given clear advice on how to improve it.
Imagine a monthly email that says, “Your basket scored 625/1000 this month. Adding more whole foods could boost your score by 10%.” More than just a number; it’s a personalized, motivating nudge. Shoppers can track their score over time, see their progress, and even compare their journey with anonymized community data. This creates an environment of continuous engagement, keeping the retailer’s brand top-of-mind and making the loyalty program a major part of the customer’s life. It transforms a functional relationship into a dynamic one, where the retailer becomes an ally in the customer’s personal wellness journey.
Simplicity, insight, and trust
For the end-user, GBS™ delivers three core benefits: simplicity, insight, and trust. The score itself is designed to be instantly understandable. There’s no need for customers to decipher complicated nutritional labels or spend hours researching ingredients. The score provides a simple, at-a-glance summary of their shopping habits.
Beyond the score, GBS™ provides genuine insight. It can reveal trends that the shopper may not have been aware of, such as a consistent lack of fresh produce or an over-reliance on processed foods. This level of personalized insight removes the guesswork from healthy eating and replaces it with a clear, data-driven understanding of an individual’s habits.
This, of course, builds trust. By providing a valuable, personalized service, retailers demonstrate that they’re not just focused on selling products, but on helping their customers live healthier lives. In an era where consumers are a little skeptical, to say the least, of corporate intentions, GBS™ provides a tangible way for retailers to prove their slogans and mission statements are more than just words.
A strategic fit with retail analytics
From an operational perspective, GBS™ is a natural extension of a retailer’s existing data analytics capabilities. McKinsey estimates that by using personalization and analytics, grocers can see a 2 percentage-point boost in their EBIT. GBS™ is a perfect example of this in action. It takes existing, transactional loyalty data, which many retailers are already collecting, and reframes it as a driver for both customer engagement and business impact.
Analyzing anonymized GBS™ data across their customer base, retailers can also gain valuable insights into broader consumer trends. They can identify opportunities for product placement, targeted promotions, and new product development. More than just a tool for customers, GBS™ is a powerful data asset for businesses, helping to inform and optimize their retail strategy.
A core element in the dacadoo ecosystem
While GBS™ is a powerful standalone tool, it integrates with the broader dacadoo ecosystem, unlocking even greater potential. dacadoo’s Digital Health Engagement Platform (DHEP) combines lifestyle coaching, behavioral science, and gamification to drive healthier habits across multiple domains: physical activity, mental well-being, and sleep. With GBS™ set to be integrated into our DHEP, retailers will have the tools needed to offer a truly holistic digital health experience.
Personalized nudges can be delivered that not only suggest healthier food options but also connect them to fitness goals or sleep tracking. For instance, a customer might receive a notification that their GBS™ score could be improved by increasing their intake of whole grains, followed by a suggestion to try a healthy recipe from the retailer’s website and track their activity on a walk to the store. In short, it delivers a healthy lifestyle that’s incredibly easy for an individual to adopt.
Moving retail forward with dacadoo
In a market defined by intense competition and evolving consumer expectations, GBS™ allows retailers to move from transactional to transformative. Delivering retailers the opportunity to become trusted health partners in their customers’ lives, GBS™ helps deepen customer loyalty and positions them for sustainable, long-term growth.
The platform offers retailers much more than this, however. In part 2 of our series, we’ll explore how GBS™ unlocks upselling, strategic monetization, and new retail partnerships to further solidify a retailer’s position in the market.
To find out more about GBS™ and how dacadoo’s Digital Health Engagement Platform (DHEP) can help your retail business to thrive, you can contact us here.
