Food Basics brings back ‘I Want it All’ promo

Food Basics has introduced a Canada 150-themed twist on its three-year-old “I Want it All” promotion.

The Metro-owned discount banner–which operates 128 locations throughout Ontario–is offering customers the chance to win 150% off their grocery bill. Running through July 5, the contest is offering Food Basics customers the chance to be reimbursed for their entire grocery bill via a Food Basics gift card, while also receiving a cheque for half of the total bill.

To participate, Food Basics customers must upload an image of their receipt at FoodBasics.ca, with a different winner drawn at random every day (each receipt counts as an official entry, and will remain in the contest until its conclusion). Daily winners are posted on the Food Basics website and its Facebook page.

The chain is also inviting customers to sign up for its weekly e-newsletter to receive an additional entry. Food Basics is promoting the contest through a three-week radio campaign, as well as owned and earned media channels, in-store and its 3.7 million weekly flyers.

Nancy Modrcin, vice-president of marketing for Metro Ontario, says last year’s “I Want it All” event contributed to increased foot traffic and an 8.5% increase in sales during the campaign period. Last year's campaign asked shoppers to create a list of things they would do with the money they saved on groceries and then Metro surprised them with those exact items. A honeymoon, and hockey gear and lessons for a little boy were among the granted wishes.

“This year’s campaign has been designed to drive traffic as well, but also has a built-in bounce back trigger that will hopefully increase frequency of shop over the four-week period,” she says.

The Food Basics initiative arrives less than a month after the Loblaws discount banner No Frills introduced the “Get the frill out of your bill” campaign, its first national effort in more than six years.

“As more customers are now choosing to shop discount stores, it’s more important than ever for retailers to deliver against a solid value proposition,” says Modrcin.

“It’s true that the discount grocery category is competitive, but at the end of the day, shopping at a discounter is no different than shopping at any other retail format. Everything we do needs to meet our customers’ expectations.”