Making Shopping Easier, Making Choices Healthier

When you’re America’s largest grocer serving millions of families every week, every app feature carries weight: a confusing checkout flow means abandoned carts and frustrated customers, slow deal loading means missed savings opportunities, and unreliable shopping lists mean wasted trips. Since our founders launched Kroger’s mobile app in 2010, we’ve partnered across multiple business units to solve one core challenge: turning complex retail operations into shopping experiences that feel effortless and rewarding for millions of families. From budget-friendly stores to personalized health platforms, each project transforms routine shopping into smarter choices, simpler experiences, and more satisfying outcomes.

"Atomic Robot has some of the best talent in the area, and their code is consistently high quality."

Tom Ringenbach General Manager - Digital, Kroger

Ruler Foods: Making Savings Accessible: A Modern App for Budget-Conscious Families

Design Development

Ruler Foods was undergoing a complete rebrand—vibrant new look, fresh energy, sharper market position. But their digital presence wasn’t keeping pace. While competitors offered mobile shopping tools, Ruler Foods had no way for customers to access weekly ads, locate stores, or create shopping lists on their phones. In retail, that’s like opening a beautifully renovated store with no signage.

We built an app that makes smart shopping effortless while reflecting Ruler Foods’ revitalized brand. Store locators work instantly, weekly ads load in seconds, and shopping lists sync seamlessly—helping families save money without friction. The vibrant design captures their fresh brand identity while keeping everything simple and fast, because busy families juggling budgets don’t have patience for complicated interfaces.

Budget-conscious families now discover savings instantly, plan efficient trips that maximize their dollars, and experience the revitalized brand through an app that makes smart shopping straightforward and rewarding.

Store Locator

Find the nearest Ruler Foods location, their hours and contact information

Weekly Ad

View the weekly Ruler Foods ad to find deals on everyday products

Shopping List

Easily add items to a shopping list and check them off while shopping through the store

Modern Design

A vibrant look and feel that matches Ruler Foods' recent rebranding initiative

OptUp: Building an App to Offer Personalized Health Insights

Health Tech Mobile App

Kroger wanted to help customers make healthier choices, but nutrition is genuinely complex. Reading labels, comparing products, understanding what’s actually good for you versus what just sounds healthy—it overwhelms most shoppers standing in grocery aisles trying to make quick decisions. They needed to turn mountains of nutrition data and purchase history into simple, actionable guidance that people could actually use without becoming nutrition experts.

We built OptUp to make healthy decisions intuitive. The app analyzes food labels and ingredients to calculate nutrition ratings, then uses purchase history to generate personalized recommendations—no tedious food logging required, no guilt-inducing lectures about choices. Customers can track their progress over time and understand their patterns without feeling overwhelmed by complexity or judged for imperfection.

Success proved the concept: Kroger integrated OptUp into their main grocery app, making personalized health insights available to millions who now understand nutrition patterns and make healthier choices with every purchase—complex science transformed into effortless daily decisions.

OptUp score

OptUp analyzes the food label, including the ingredients, to calculate a product's nutrition rating

Analyze purchases

No tedious logging of food required to generate recommendations

Why This Partnership Works

When America’s largest grocer serves millions weekly, every app feature carries weight. Technology decisions affect shopping experiences for countless families—from weekly budget planning to last-minute dinner needs. Success requires more than technical execution: companies need teams who understand retail operations at scale, navigate complex business unit dynamics, and make the right trade-offs when seasonal pressures and competitive forces collide.

That’s why partnerships like this work across multiple business units and many years. The efficiency comes from shared context built over time. When launching OptUp, teams moved directly to solving personalization challenges because years of collaboration had already established mutual understanding of nutrition data complexity and grocery shopping behavior. No lengthy onboarding, no explaining retail basics repeatedly, no surprises about feasibility. Just experienced teams solving the next challenge together, building on proven trust and mutual understanding.

Whether it’s mobile shopping experiences, health technology innovations, or challenges we haven’t tackled together yet, success demands the same foundation: deep understanding of retail operations at scale, genuine commitment to creating experiences that improve customers’ lives, and the kind of efficient collaboration that only comes from years of partnership built on shared values and proven results.

Build Retail Experiences That Drive Loyalty. When your retail technology needs to work flawlessly across thousands of locations, you need partners who understand both retail operations and consumer behavior at scale. Whether you’re building mobile commerce, health technology, or operational systems that connect stores, inventory, and customers, let’s discuss how thoughtful technology can turn everyday shopping into experiences that build genuine customer loyalty.