Allrecipes, which dubs itself as the world's largest digital food brand with more than 1.3 billion visits annually, has introduced in-store beacon triggered experiences in Marc's stores to provide shoppers with personalized meal recommendations through the Allrecipes Dinner Spinner app.

In-store notifications are triggered on shoppers' smartphones by Verifone and its beacons system that is powered by the Footmarks SmartConnect proximity platform across all 58 Marc's stores in Ohio.

"As the grocery industry evolves, we're seeing technology and retail converge in new and innovative ways," said Stan Pavlovsky, Allrecipes president. "We understand the importance of using technology to craft in-store engagements that are personal to shoppers, stores and brands, and this partnership serves as a first step in providing timely, relevant meal solutions for busy home cooks as soon as they walk through the door."

"Marc's and our chain of stores are excited to be a part of this collaborative effort that brings together meal solutions, the grocery experience, and digital to the forefront of our customers’ shopping experience” said Day Armelli, marketing director for Marc's. "We anticipate this will open up additional doors that allow us to deliver greater value to our customers by helping them make the most out of their in-store shopping experience."

The hyper-local beacon triggered notifications are delivered to Allrecipes Dinner Spinner app users on their smartphones upon entering a Marc's store, providing the shopper with meal recommendations trending among local home cooks along with recipes featuring products on sale at that particular Marc's store.

"Verifone is proud to be deploying our beacon network with Allrecipes, Footmarks and customers like Marc's as we look for new ways to deliver additional value and exceptional consumer experiences in store," said Richard Char, senior vice president of business development at Verifone. "We look forward to working with other types of merchants going forward to test different beacon programs and continue to push the envelope of this technology."

Verifone said the Allrecipes partnership is designed to address two of shoppers' greatest shopping objectives: figuring out what to make for dinner that night, and stretching grocery dollars further. Some 35 million shoppers view Allrecipes.com recipes monthly from their phones while they are in a store making grocery purchase decisions.

"The collaboration has produced a truly unique shopper experience," said Brian Slettvet, senior vice president of sales at Footmarks. "It's a great showcase of how enterprise level beacon technology, coupled with innovative apps retailers and partners like Allrecipes, Marc's and Verifone plays an important role in creating next generation mobile and retail engagement solutions."

Verifone said the partnership also opens up native advertising opportunities, enabling brands to take advantage of Allrecipes hyper-local, retailer-specific targeting to deliver highly relevant product promotional offers to shoppers during key decision-making moments as they shop.