H-E-B launches app, updates website
That run to the grocery store just got a major mobile boost.
H-E-B has launched an app for customers to manage their grocery lists, redeem digital coupons and perform other shopping tasks. It is available for free at the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The new app coincides with a new look for the grocery chain’s website, heb.com, with features to work between the site and app.
“We’ve listened to what our customers want and developed app features that will give them the time and money savings they count on from H-E-B, ” Winell Herron, H-E-B group vice president of public affairs and diversity, said in a statement. “We intend to give our customers a great mobile experience, and we’re looking forward to sharing even more app innovations in the future.”
The app’s home screen features a hanging sign much like the ones that list items in an H-E-B store aisle. But the virtual signs give users various shopping and sharing options with a swipe.
For one, the H-E-B app can scour stores for merchandise
before users grab a shopping cart. It also lets users build a shopping list and checks to see if a product is carried in the store. If so, the app can pinpoint the item’s location down to the store aisle. App users can zip through the aisles even faster by arranging their shopping lists according to the layout of their H-E-B store.
Customers have several ways to make onscreen shopping lists. They can upload receipts, scan items’ bar codes with their mobile devices, and capture products from coupons and weekly ads on heb.com. They also can search for products under the Products tab for specific items by name or category to add to the list.
App users can create multiple shopping lists for one H-E-B store. And they change that preferred store in the app to create new lists for a different store location. Shopping lists automatically sync between the app and website.
Users can make shopping lists from recipes as well, and share those lists via email. The app’s social media features include access to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
To redeem digital coupons, users select them from the app or website and then use a mobile phone number and PIN at checkout. Shoppers should expect hundreds of coupons on the app and at heb.com.
H-E-B said Thursday that it saw such overwhelming demand, including for digital coupons, that it has already released updates for both the Apple and Android versions of the app.
Customers also can sign up to have H-E-B weekly ads emailed to them every Tuesday, as well as get promotional alerts and an H-E-B newsletter with stories and seasonal recipes. And customers can sign up to receive exclusive digital coupons by text message.
The app does not have a purchase function at this time, said Dya Campos, H-E-B director of public affairs. However, she said, the new website does let shoppers place floral and deli orders and arrange for pickup at the store.
H-E-B has an online product catalog listing thousands of items with images, nutritional information and more product details.
Shoppers can search the database online or on the app while in the store, and filter searches by gluten-free, low-carb and other parameters.
As for recipes, shoppers can tap into H-E-B’s recipe database via both the app and heb.com, where they can hunt for ideas based on nutritional requirements, prep time and more. Customers can add those ingredients to their shopping list.
Campos noted the app’s pharmacy function is also live, so customers can refill prescriptions, check refill status, transfer prescriptions and more.
H-E-B has several short instructional videos online to help shoppers get a handle on all the app’s features. Visit heb.com/whatsnew for more information.