Retailers are constantly seeking ways to enhance the shopping experience for customers.
"People always say they don't want shopping to be a drudge or a burden, so we encourage our members to make the experience quicker, more-informed and more-focused so people can save time and enjoy the experience more," Jay Cambell, president and chief executive officer of Associated Grocers, Baton Rouge, La., told SN.
"That takes many shapes, forms and flavors."
Retailers from around the country discussed some of the shapes, forms and flavors of enhancing the customer experience in a series of interviews with SN.
At D&W Food Centers, Grand Rapids, Mich., an effort is under way to refocus attention on customer service. "We've always been known as a service-oriented company, and we're trying to reinforce that position," said Ron Cox, vice president of marketing.
"With very low unemployment in our marketplace, we see companies across all sectors struggling to staff their organizations to provide goods and services, and service skills are getting lost in the process. So we intend to focus on training, to make sure our people ensure that customers have the best experience with us of any retail experience."
D&W plans training sessions with all store-level employees "to elevate service awareness," Cox said. It will also conduct focus groups and other research to determine what customers are looking for "and how we can deliver it," he added.
One avenue D&W will focus on will be in-stock conditions, Cox said. "Most retailers don't consider that a service, but we know customers want to be able to find the products they want to buy. In the past year we've made inroads in improving our in-stock condition by dealing with both internal and external issues, and now we want to make sure we have the selection customers want."
According to Cox, other ways D&W expects to improve the customer experience include rewarding loyal customers by developing new ways to use its frequent-shopper cards and testing self-checkouts to speed front-end throughput.
K-VA-T Food Stores, Abingdon, Va., will also be testing self-scanning checkstands. According to Steve Smith, president and chief operating officer, "We're fairly confident consumers like it and want it."
He said the company will test two to four self-scan checkstands at four stores and hopes to expand rapidly to about a dozen stores during the year.
K-VA-T is also testing electronic shelf tags at two stores, Smith said. "It gives us more flexibility [to make price changes] and gives consumers a shelf tag they feel confident in and one that's easy to read."
Although the electronic shelf tags flash the lower price frequent-shopper cardholders can pay, "we've gone back to paper shelf tags that identify those items because they call attention better. But we think electronic shelf tags are a very viable alternative," Smith said.
The front end is also an area for improving the customer experience at Hy-Vee, West Des Moines, Iowa, said Ron Pearson, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We're trying to speed up the checkout operation by being more conscious of keeping open all the checkstands we can," he explained.
For Pathmark Stores, Carteret, N.J., improving the customer experience means treating customers better. According to Harvey Gutman, senior vice president of store development, the company has hired an outside service to evaluate store personnel. "The outside field service monitors how we and our competition are doing in terms of both consumer research and objective performance analysis," Gutman said, "so we know not only how we are doing but also are able to give feedback to our associates."
He said the findings have affected the way Pathmark trains, evaluates and motivates its work force, although he declined to be specific.
Orville N. Roth, owner of Roth Family Markets, Salem, Ore., said his stores are attempting to enhance the shopping experience by making better use of color, particularly in perimeter departments. That means installing track lighting in the produce section "to bring out the color of the product," rather than dissipating the colors using fluorescent lighting, he said.
He also said he believes smaller operators can use perishables to hold onto customers who are otherwise attracted to lower grocery pricing at discount stores or warehouse clubs. One way to do that, he said, is by moving away from no-roll meats back to USDA Choice grades.
"Years ago consumers were concerned with the marbling in beef so it became acceptable to sell a lower grade," he explained. "But now people are looking for quality, and that's only possible with Choice grades or better because the flavor is in the marbling."
Bob Piccinnini, chairman, president and CEO of Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, Calif., said remodeling older stores can enhance the shopping experience by enabling retailers to offer a broader array of products.
At stores that can be physically expanded, he said, Save Mart has been able to boost volume by adding bakeries, delis, health-food sections, seafood departments and pharmacies. But at stores that can't be physically expanded, "we're trying to utilize space better and evaluate stockkeeping units more carefully to eliminate some products so we can create more space [because] I don't believe you can operate a supermarket today without a bakery and deli, and we're finding space for [that] department and others as well as we can."
Stater Bros. Markets, Colton, Calif., has also found success through remodeling, particularly at the 43 stores it acquired from Albertson's last fall. Jack Brown, chairman, president and CEO, told SN that Stater has improved the customer experience at the acquired stores by installing service meat departments and triple-deck produce cases, while making changes at its existing stores, including expanding the seafood departments and enhancing the deli-bakeries by incorporating merchandising techniques it picked up from the acquired stores; The operators' complete comments follow:
Steve Smith president, chief operating officer K-VA-T Food Stores Abingdon, Va.
The two things we're testing are electronic shelf tags and self-scanning checkstands.
We have the electronic shelf tags in a beta test with NCR at two stores in Knoxville and Johnson City, Tenn. We've been testing for just about a year to gauge the equipment and the customer response. Our goal is to make pricing as accurate as possible. We want to be as close to 100% accurate as we can get, and this system makes that possible using an in-store processor to make price changes at the front-end and the shelves at the same time. It gives us more flexibility and gives consumers a shelf tag they feel confident in and one that's easy to read.
We were under 1% variance with paper shelf tags before the test, and we've obviously improved that to a negligible amount of mistakes, positive or negative. The only negative about the test involves value pricing for our frequent-shopper cards. Although the system flashes the lower price cardholders can pay, we've gone back to paper shelf tags that identify those items because they call attention better. It's not an insurmountable negative, and we think electronic shelf tags are a very viable alternative.
However, we do not plan any major rollout this year, though we're satisfied the technology is good enough for an adequate return on investment. But we're not expanding it to any additional stores right now -- it's just a matter of prioritizing our capital needs.
We will be rolling out the self-scan front-end equipment during the spring, initially at four stores, though we hope to expand rapidly to about a dozen during the year using two vendors. We've done our homework -- talking with other retailers and studying focus group results -- and we're fairly confident consumers like it and want it.
Harvey Gutman senior VP, store development Pathmark Stores Carteret, N.J.
Our objective at Pathmark is to treat each customer as a guest in our stores. We have empowered our store team and all associates to implement this approach, and we are monitoring how we are doing using outside independent evaluations.
It's a program Jim Donald [chairman and CEO] began to implement soon after he arrived at Pathmark three years ago that has accelerated in the last 12 months. The outside field service monitors how we and our competition are doing in terms of both consumer research and objective performance analysis, so we know not only how we are doing but are also able to give feedback to our associates.
The findings have resulted in how we evaluate performance, how we train and how we motivate people.
Ron Pearson chairman, CEO, president Hy-Vee West Des Moines, Iowa
We are always talking about ways to improve the customers' shopping experience, particularly during our twice-a-month manager meetings.
Among the things we're doing:
Trying to speed up the checkout operation by being more conscious of keeping open all the checkstands we can.
Giving more samples of new products to customers, to expose them to what's available. It's hard for customers to sort out what to buy, and we've found sampling helps.
Providing more in-store specials because customers don't always take the time to read ads. But we've taught them we'll have in-store specials available for them.
Having more special events, such as one-hour sales, one-day sales, in-store entertainment with pianos, people dressing up for St. Patrick's Day and employees in bunny suits for Easter.
Jay Campbell president, CEO Associated Grocers Baton Rouge, La.
Our members all try to make the shopping experience a little more enjoyable. People always say they don't want shopping to be a drudge or a burden, so we encourage our members to make the experience quicker, more informed and more focused so people can save time and enjoy the experience more. That takes many shapes, forms and flavors.
For example, in upscale environments, we suggest retailers target consumers to pursue meal solutions with more gourmet-oriented items that are good for the palate and yet affordable, whereas in more economically sensitive markets, we would suggest designing programs so customers can buy items at more of a value price.
We tell our members not to be afraid to take chances and do something different -- to be creative and innovative and not be stuck in the paradigm that they've always done it one way, so why change.
Gary Philbin president, CEO Grand Union Co. Wayne, N.J.
In our new stores we are emphasizing fresh and natural products, including fresh-cut fruits, natural-fruit departments and soy-based beverages. We're putting together "better-for-you" sections in new stores and remodels that flow from one to the other. It's intuitive for the customer, and it's amazing to see the demographics cut across all lines, from young singles to retirees.
Ron Cox VP, marketing D&W Food Centers Grand Rapids, Mich.
We're in the process of kicking off an effort that refocuses attention on customer service in our organization -- part of an effort to elevate our customer focus. We've always been known as a service-oriented company, and we're trying to reinforce that position. We see other retailers trying to increase their ability to serve customers, and we believe it's important to elevate our own service to customers.
We will continue to focus on the basics. With very low unemployment in our marketplace, retailers are struggling to fill open positions, and across all sectors we see companies struggling to staff their organizations to provide goods and services, and service skills are getting lost in the process.
So we intend to focus on training, to make sure our people ensure that customers have the best experience with us of any retail experience. We plan to do a series of total-store training sessions with all associates to elevate service awareness. We want to determine what customers are looking for and how we can deliver it.
Also, we want to find out from customers what they expect and to validate what they expect and to validate what customers feel is good service. So we'll conduct focus groups and surveys.
We know that one service they're looking for is finding the products they want to buy. So in-stock conditions are a major service we've already identified. Most retailers don't consider that a service. In the past year we've made inroads in improving our in-stock conditions by dealing with internal and external issues, and now we want to make sure we have the selection customers want.
We'll also do some things with technology as well, such as testing self-checkouts to speed the throughput at the front-end. We also see opportunities in our card-based marketing program to try to improve service through enhancements at the point of sale, such as special coupons or rewarding a certain number of greeting-card purchases with free stamps, or other ways to recognize our loyal customers.
Orville N. Roth owner Roth's Family Markets Salem, Ore.
In our produce departments we've changed the way we merchandise by using lighting to bring out the color of the product. We've installed track lighting that shines right on the produce, and it can be moved as we move displays. Too often retailers use fluorescent lights that alter the color of the products.
Retailers need to make stores more interesting using color, which means displaying more perishables. That's a good thing to do in a conventional market because we can't compete with Wal-Mart or Costco on price. So we must do it with perishables.
One way to do that is to sell USDA Choice beef instead of no-roll. Years ago consumers were concerned with the marbling in beef, so it became acceptable to sell a lower grade. But now people are looking for quality, and that's only possible with Choice grades or better because the flavor is in the marbling.
Bob Piccinnini chairman, president, CEO Save Mart Supermarkets Modesto, Calif.
Over the last two or three years we haven't opened a lot of new stores, but we've spent time remodeling and expanding the stores we have, so we can offer a much broader array of products.
We have some units of 30,000 square feet without all the amenities consumers today want and demand, including bakeries, delis, health foods, seafood and pharmacies. So we've remodeled stores in the 32,000- to 48,000-square-foot range and enlarged them where possible and boosted volume.
But in stores that can't be physically expanded, we're trying to utilize space better and evaluate SKUs more carefully to eliminate some products so we can create more space. For example, I don't believe you can operate a supermarket today without a bakery and deli, and we are finding space for those and other departments as well as we can.
Jack Brown chairman, president, CEO Stater Bros. Markets Colton, Calif.
We're taking the synergies from the 43 Albertson's we acquired last fall and expanding our seafood departments using their merchandise techniques and using their people to teach ours. We're also using the Albertson's bakery-deli approach and incorporating their recipes and using their people to teach ours.
We've also added three-deck display cases to the produce departments in the acquired stores to expand variety, and we've installed service meat departments in all 43 units. We've also widened the aisles in our existing stores.
