Farmstead Teams With Halla to Predict What Digital Shoppers Want

E-grocer Farmstead has formed a new partnership intended with Halla, creator of the only human preference engine designed for grocery, to help food retailers better personalize their e-commerce offerings by using Halla’s Taste Intelligence engine in tandem with Farmstead’s Grocery OS platform. 

Farmstead’s recently updated Grocery OS solution includes everything a grocer needs to get a dark-store delivery operation up and running in just a few weeks, from commercial real estate space to inventory sourcing to delivery. The company leveraged the technology of its own fast-growing grocery e-commerce business to become the first online grocer to offer fresh, high-quality groceries, delivered free, at better prices than local supermarkets.

Halla’s Taste Intelligence engine can show shoppers the most appropriate product recommendations, the best possible substitutions for out-of-stock items and the most relevant search results for each specific shopper, at every digital touchpoint in the customer journey, all in real-time. This can lead to bigger baskets for grocers and better shopping experiences for customers.

The two companies are collaborating on a solution for starting and efficiently operating a grocery e-commerce business, including being able to predict what a shopper will want to purchase next, which can boost basket size and sales. With Grocery OS’ machine-learning-powered prediction engine and digitized, dynamic inventory control, the substitutions, recommendations and searches can take into account parameters such as what’s currently in stock for same-day delivery and the customer’s preferences and purchase history, so that grocers can minimize out-of-stocks and better understand and meet shopper demand. 

“Data has become a significant advantage for retailers, and those who leverage it wisely are going to win more market share,” said Pradeep Elankumaran, co-founder and CEO of Burlingame, Calif.-based Farmstead. “Having Halla data and insights along with Grocery OS helps grocers provide more value to customers while increasing their own sales. We’re excited to work with Halla to help our joint customers boost basket sizes.”

“Farmstead already offers one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways for grocers to run a profitable e-commerce business,” noted Spencer Price, co-founder and CEO of New York-based Halla. “On average, grocery retailers see double-digit basket lift using our Taste Intelligence, so we’re excited to go to market with Farmstead to help our joint customers grow their online businesses even more and build customer loyalty through enhanced shopper experiences.”