Creating Health-Enabling Supermarkets in Australia: Using the Store Scout App in Health Promotion Practice

Food retail outlets represent a setting where a healthy diet can be promoted. Community public health practitioners need user-friendly tools to collect real-time data, engage with local food retailers, and customise health-enabling initiatives in supermarkets. We aimed to examine the distribution and variation of Store Scout App (SS-App) scores to demonstrate the influence of health-enabling changes within the participant supermarkets.

Data were collected from 10 supermarkets (5 implementation, 5 control) using the SS-App. The SS-App is a decision-support tool that evaluates health-promoting store practices and provides real-time feedback to retailers. Data were collected through a series of dichotomous (yes/no) questions related to the App's 4Ps of marketing: Promotion, Price, Product, and Placement. The Reach for the Stars programme included promotional and informational materials based on the health star rating of healthier products. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the effects of time group (implementation vs. control) and their interaction on overall mean SS-App scores within the study arm.

SS-App scores improved from pre- to post-implementation (p < 0.01). A larger increase in SS-App scores was observed in the implementation group (M = 8.7, SD = 3.7) compared to the control group (M = 1.4, SD = 6.1), (t (8) = -2.28, p < 0.05).

The SS-App was key in implementing the programme by ensuring stores aligned with its goals and objectives, supporting and enhancing retailer participation and sustained engagement.