A Smarter Grocery Experience

The Gelson’s Personalized Rewards App

Senior Art Director / Pitch Lead
Verndale

As Senior Art Director at Verndale, I led the concept development, UX design, and creative pitch for a personalized mobile rewards app for Gelson’s, a premium Southern California supermarket chain.

The concept reimagined the grocery shopping experience through location-aware technology, personalized offers, loyalty rewards, and intuitive mobile interactions. Working with strategists, experience architects, and agency leadership, I developed a cohesive app experience that connected Gelson’s premium brand with the everyday needs of its customers.

The result was a compelling digital product concept that demonstrated how mobile personalization, customer loyalty, and thoughtful UX design could strengthen the connection between the brand and its shoppers, both in-store and beyond.

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My Role

I led the creative direction from pitch to prototype, including:

  • App concept development

  • UX architecture and interaction flows

  • Visual design and brand expression

  • Art direction for prototypes and presentation

  • Collaboration with strategy, experience architects, and leadership to craft a compelling pitch

The work was designed to show Gelson’s how digital personalization could reinforce their in-store hospitality and premium brand position.

Design Goals

1. Hyper-Personalized Shopping

A tailored home screen populated with favorite products, curated offers, and seasonal suggestions based on individual purchase history.

2. Real-Time Store Connection

Geo-location would detect a shopper’s preferred store, surface the weekly flyer automatically, and unlock in-store only offers.

3. Rewards That Feel Premium

A tiered, cleanly designed rewards system that aligns with Gelson’s upscale brand — clear progress, transparent value, and delightful interactions.

4. Seamless In-Store Navigation

A built-in store map and product locator to reduce friction and improve the shopping journey.

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The Experience

Personalized Dashboard

A highly visual, easy-to-digest overview showing points, rewards earned, and suggested products — built around warmth, clarity, and elegance.

Dynamic Store Pages

Store-specific content, including local promotions and events, pulling from geo-located triggers.

Shopper Profile + Rewards Tracking

A modern UI system that tracks progress toward rewards with clear visual feedback and personalized messaging.

Location-Aware Product Finder

A mobile-first flow for discovering nearby Gelson’s stores, viewing departments, and navigating directly to products.

Outcome

The pitch successfully showcased how Gelson’s could evolve their digital ecosystem into a premium mobile experience that extended their brand values into everyday utility.

It demonstrated a strategic pathway to:

  • Increase customer retention

  • Grow loyalty enrollment

  • Improve in-store experiences

  • Deliver targeted marketing with real business impact

This case study represents the power of blending brand, UX, and personalization into one cohesive, future-forward experience.

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