UW grads create Web business to save consumers cash on groceries

It doesn’t take a math guru or an economist to know how to save money buying groceries. Or does it? Maybe you should ask the founders of a Web site designed to find the absolute best grocery deals for stores in Madison.

University of Wisconsin–Madison graduates Joe Nelson (mathematics, 2006) and Andrew Kramp (economics, 2004) combined their expertise to create a business founded on the Wisconsin Idea: education should influence and improve people’s lives beyond the university classroom. “Through the combination of economics, computer science and math, we’ve been able to turn complex facts and calculations into a simple Web site,” says Kramp.

FlyerSide.com takes the deals you might find in flyers scattered on your kitchen table over the week and applies keen common sense to group and compare them. What you get is a shop-at-a-glance list of deals for stores, broken down into convenient product types, with the best deals highlighted at the top.

The project started when Nelson’s girlfriend realized that groceries made up a large part of their budget. They set out to compare prices around Madison, recording them by hand. Nelson realized there had to be a better way, and designed a database to crunch the numbers. Kramp quickly became interested in the project and suggested creating a Web site to inform all grocery shoppers.

“Even I was surprised at the amount of research required to make sure were weren’t comparing apples to oranges,” says Kramp.

His background in economics prepared him for the challenge of discovering how best to analyze groceries so that consumers can compare prices in a meaningful way. He brought this expertise to organize the considerable amount of historical data Nelson had spent months gathering. This way FlyerSide could track prices and know that something was a real deal. The result is a star rating system that very accurately reflects actual consumer savings.

Nelson and Kramp decided that the Madison area provided the perfect setting for the FlyerSide launch, with a good population mix and a variety of stores available over a wide but manageable geographic area. Madison residents are well informed, computer literate and adept at finding the best deal, guaranteeing insightful comments and suggestions for how to improve the site, Newman says.

“The response has been fantastic,” adds Kramp. “It makes you smile to see flyers, which can be such a hassle for many of us, come alive.” For example? “Well,” Kramp says, “a woman told us that the first time she brought up FlyerSide, her favorite soda appeared at the top of the list as a store special. Even though it required a $20 purchase to get that deal, she went to the store on two separate days so she could stock up. She said she probably wouldn’t have found that bargain if it hadn’t been for the five bright gold stars on FlyerSide.”

FlyerSide puts a list of food categories at your fingertips so you can look up products of particular interest. There’s also a convenient grouping of seasonal foods to help quickly spy where best to shop for Thanksgiving or Christmas goodies. “We like to think,” says Kramp, “that whether you shop for a family of eight or just yourself, you’ll find money-saving deals, recipes, and maybe even culinary inspiration.”

“It’s all about common sense,” Newman says. “It’s something that most of us have, but computers don’t. Without it, a site that compares consumer prices on something as complex as groceries would be almost useless.”

The partners want to work closely with stores to reach consumers more easily. Their goal is to create a one-stop hub of information featuring large and small stores alike. It may be particularly attractive for local stores and co-ops, which could make health food, deli and connoisseur items more generally available.

“We’re a small business, and we want to see all the other small businesses selling quality food succeed as well,” says Kramp. “There’s been a renaissance of specialty food stores, and a marketing approach like FlyerSide can only make that trend more vibrant.”