Nugget approached me with some ideas to refresh and refocus their website. There isn’t really much out there that stands out as far as grocery websites go, so I thought this would be a fun project with a lot of uncharted territory to explore.

Groceries = food = recipes, so the main focus was pretty clear up front. I’ve been a big fan of Nugget’s executive chef, Rachel Levine, for many years. The combination of culinary talent and the capabilities of Nugget’s in-house design team make for some extremely delicious photography. When the stock photography of the development build of the site was replaced with the real content, I was blown away by the results.

Recipes

Last time I counted, there were over 245 recipes on the site, which can be searched and filtered by various categories and types; such as entrée, appetizer, dessert, beef, poultry, pasta, etc.. Recipes can be rated and commented upon by visitors who have created profiles on the site. Many recipes are paired with wines, beer, and mixed drinks. Techniques and terms used in a given recipe can be linked to a description article that can contain graphics and demonstration videos. Background information on each of the chefs that post recipes is also available. Recipes can also be grouped together and organized as complete meals.

Specials

Nugget’s weekly ad is available for download every week. A module on the home page highlights three or so of the weekly specials, and the full PDF version of the ad is provided as well. The Content Management System (CMS) allows them to publish and schedule ads ahead of time so that they automatically rotate on the appropriate date.

Grower Reports

Grower reports allow the client to highlight produce in season, special items, or to do profiles on local growers. These articles can also be scheduled in the CMS to appear on the home page for a certain length of time.

Employement 

A well trafficked portion of the site is the jobs page. Nugget regularly makes Fortune Magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, so they get a lot of traffic from job seekers. A bulletin board icon on the front page is regularly changed out to call attention to store openings and to provide easy and obvious access to the jobs page.

Articles Articles Articles

Nugget’s marketing department is extremely agile and very on top of what’s going on in their stores as well as the industry. They are constantly shooting photos and video for promotions and how-tos. When they decide to run with something, they need to be able to cover the end on the website as quickly and easily as possible. The CMS includes a versatile publishing system that allows them to put up video, images, and just about anything else and quickly pin it to the home page. They’ve used it to announce everything from store openings to product recalls to contests.

Mailing List

And that brings us to Fresh to Market, Nugget’s biweekly email newsletter. As it is a project in and of itself, I will go over more of it in detail in its own section. But naturally there is a nice, obvious call to action on the home page there that lets you sign up instantly.