Decoding Grocery Minds

In a world where even deciding what's for dinner can feel overwhelming, Mary Kromer and her team at 84.51° are on a mission to revolutionize grocery shopping. As a business acceleration consultant, Kromer dives deep into the psyche of modern consumers, uncovering hidden stressors and evolving needs. What if your supermarket could read your mind? Or better yet, what if it could ease your mental load before you even step through the doors? From leveraging AI to studying cross-industry innovations, Kromer reveals how 84.51° is not just predicting the future of retail—they're shaping it. Prepare for a glimpse into tomorrow's shopping cart.

1. Tell us your name and a little bit about your role at 84.51°.

My name is Mary Kromer, and I am a business acceleration consultant on the Office of the Customer team at 84.51°. The team is dedicated to developing and implementing cohesive and empathetic strategies that address both the current and future needs of Kroger shoppers. We work to enhance the customer experience by championing their needs and ensuring their voice is heard. My work on the team allows me to holistically look at the grocery industry, focusing on consumer behavior and tech advancements to identify emerging trends that shape the future of grocery.

2. Everyone needs to eat, but not everyone has enough mental energy to devote to food. For two years, 84.51° researched whether consumers lack the mental energy to address food. Can you share some insights from this research and its implications for brand marketers?

In recent years, customers have had to navigate ongoing crises. The pandemic in 2020 disrupted lives dramatically, forcing people to cope with both its immediate impacts and the challenge of adjusting to a new “normal.” This period also saw significant inflation and rising interest rates coupled with scaled back support programs like SNAP.

Today, shoppers continue to experience considerable strain from these factors as well as increased political and economic stress. This is all to say that customers, especially Gen Z shoppers, are overwhelmed; they not only have to juggle stressors outside of the home, but they also have to figure out meal plans, carve out time to grocery shop, and actually cook! However, we know that lacking mental energy does not mean that there is a lack of care, in fact, the opposite is true – food is becoming increasingly central to their lives. This presents a valuable opportunity for the industry to address these needs and support shoppers more effectively.

Family dynamics have also become more diverse, moving beyond “one-size-fits-all” or the traditional “nuclear family”, adding another layer of complexity to their shopping needs. They are actively seeking out new flavors, wanting to create meaningful connections with family and friends, and navigating their broader worldview – all through their food choices.

While the organization drives decisions about what is on the shelf, pricing, and promotions, the Office of the Customer is focused on understanding challenges from the customer's perspective and finding ways to address their pain points. Our goal is to help alleviate the mental burden that comes along with the shopping journey and support our shoppers in providing healthy and delicious meals for their families.

3. What does innovation mean to you within the realm of retail data science and insights?

Innovation within retail data science and insights allows us to go beyond what we've always done and opens the door to explore more creative paths that help us understand our shoppers more holistically. By evolving alongside technology, we can unlock deeper insights and create more impactful and informed decisions to genuinely improve the lives of our customers and understand who they are today and who they will become in the future.

4. How does your team at 84.51° generate new ideas that cater to evolving consumer needs?

To stay up to date with the ever-evolving needs of our customer, the Office of the Customer is constantly engaging with teams across both Kroger and 84.51° as well as industry experts to help us understand how to solve the unique needs of our customers. Learning from their observations and sharing ours in return helps us stay informed about shifting needs and emerging opportunities.

We host an event called Customer Connect where we feature industry experts, thought leaders, and a panel of Kroger customers to delve into the concept of customer centricity, its impact on businesses, and inspire our teams to design around customer needs. Throughout the event, attendees have the opportunity to participate in engaging breakout sessions, where they explored various topics related to customer centricity. We receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from the organization, with many citing it as a way to refocus their efforts on what is most important.

We also ensure that the customer POV is integrated into our strategic planning at both 84.51° and Kroger. We bring together teams across the business, meeting one on one with them to ensure that we as an organization are solving for what customers need both today and tomorrow. This approach ensures that consumer insights are at the heart of decision-making processes.

5. How do you identify emerging trends in consumer behavior? What resources does your team at 84.51° use to spot trends and gain consumer insights?

We take a comprehensive approach to stay ahead of the curve for our shoppers. Externally, we leverage industry leaders who enrich our insights and broaden our perspective, ensuring we have a well-rounded view of the market.
Internally, we collaborate closely with our Consumer Research (CR) team to study how our shoppers perceive the trends we have elevated. This helps us truly understand not only how the areas that we’ve pinpointed as critical for the future are evolving, but also how our shoppers are talking about them.

Additionally, we’ve worked cross-functionally to develop an internal tool that leverages AI to look industry-wide and monitor the evolution of our key trends, both current and future, ensuring that we are not only leading in innovation but also staying aligned with industry developments where needed.

6. Has there ever been an instance where insights from another industry influenced an innovation at 84.51°?

The team is intentional about looking outside of our industry to see how others are innovating and enhancing the customer experience and making the shopping journey easy and enjoyable! I talked about how we track trends across all industries a little earlier, and this process helps us to identify and incorporate new ideas and strategies. This cross-industry perspective allows us to adapt and continually improve the shopping experience for our customers.

7. Looking to the future, how will 84.51° continue to be a leader in innovation and stay ahead of consumer trends?

Looking to the future, 84.51° will continue to lead in innovation and stay ahead of consumer trends by leveraging our strengths in retail data science, insights, and media. Below are just a few ways we are currently focusing on:
Deep Understanding of our Shoppers: We are committed to understanding how our shoppers are behaving and feeling today, as well as identifying the trends shaping their behavior tomorrow. This enables us to develop customer-centric strategies that drive growth and effectively respond to the unique and evolving needs of consumers.

• Alleviating the Mental Load: We recognize that consumers, particularly younger generations like Generation Z, are experiencing an increasing mental load due to packed schedules, endless choices, and many responsibilities all while trying to meet a wider variety of needs within their family. All of these factors and more affect how they shop. Our approach emphasizes creating solutions that alleviate this mental burden, offering greater convenience, and making their shopping experience easier and more efficient.


• Enhanced Customer-Centric Strategies: By understanding the multifaceted role food plays in shoppers’ lives—including their mental, emotional, and financial well-being—we can craft strategies that resonate with their broader worldviews and lifestyles. We will focus on providing solutions that meet their need for convenience, exploration, and connection, even as family dynamics become more diverse.


• Adapting to Evolving Needs: We will continue to monitor and respond to the increasing complexity of consumer needs across all stages of the customer journey—planning, shopping, and consuming. This is a time of transition as customers and their needs diversify, accelerated by rapid technology changes. By understanding who our shopper is and how best to help them we can address challenges such as the need for convenience in meal preparation and the desire for meaningful connections through food.