Internet grocer Peapod Inc has inked a multi-year marketing alliance with ambitious portal company Excite Inc. Under the terms of the alliance, Peapod becomes the only online grocery service to be promoted on the Excite co-branded portions of Netscape’s Netcenter. In addition, the grocer is to be given prominent placement on Excite’s Webcrawler and the Quicken Personal Finance area on AOL.com sites. Media Metrix reports suggest that these deals will expose 35% of internet users to the Peapod marketing message. Even more valuable to the web-based supermarket, however, is the tantalizing suggestion that promotions can be targeted to particular consumers according to their geographical location. This is where Excite’s proprietary MatchLogic technology could come into its own. Peapod offers local delivery in seven US metropolitan regions and recently entered New York City. If Excite could identify accesses from those locations and feed those users a customized Peapod promotion, the supermarket could cash in big time.
