Fine Cheese & Charcuterie September 2013

Reducing Supermarket Shopping Stress

I must admit that I am one of those people who actually enjoy going to the grocery store. I frequent more than one store because I enjoy discovering new items and exotic ingredients that are being introduced on a continual basis. Living in Boston, which is truly a multicultural city, creates the market condition for store chains in certain parts of the city to experiment with ethnic foods that will appeal to the hyper local community surrounding the store, and often won’t be found in other chains and locations.

It is also interesting to experience how different stores try to improve the customer experience. One of the areas where this is evident is at the deli counter. As much as I enjoy food shopping, there is no question that the deli counter always has the potential to be the source of great stress. At peak times, there is a huddle around the deli counter as people jockey for position to seem next in queue even though there seems to be no obvious queue at all. I know there is really no perfect solution to this classic bottleneck problem, but I have taken note of how two different supermarket chains have done something special to offset any negative shopper perceptions.

One chain asks customers as they start slicing the order if they would like to try a slice while they are waiting. Certainly, this kind gesture can diffuse some of the frustration that has built up while waiting. Another chain has adopted an interest- ing ordering system, where customers can place their order at the beginning of their shopping trip, have it prepared as they shop, and pick it up before checking out. These simple operational tweaks can re- ally win a customer over and make them more loyal to the brand.

I think the in-store deli-ordering strategy makes a great deal of sense. With all of the app development going on right now, some of which are just silly, I wonder if anyone has created a deli-ordering app yet? If you know of such a system, please drop me an email because we would love to learn how a store could have employed technology to solve this classic problem.  I hope that James Mellgren’s ideas and suggestions on customer service in this issue, page 9, will inspire you to think about how you can improve the customer experience in your own store. I do appreciate the store loyalty programs. After all, the last $50 juicer I received for free after spending a million or so dollars at a particular grocery store earned me a few glasses of fresh OJ. But, seriously, just a little bit of nice can go a long way in this world, and earn you incredible customer loyalty at a very reasonable operational cost. Just think about it.

David Spencer 

Publisher, Gourmet Business 

President, HousewaresDirect, Inc. 

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com