BJ’s CEO: ‘Sustainability and fair trade matter to shoppers’

For BJ’s Wholesale CEO Bob Eddy, investing in value is key to building customer relationships, and that’s only possible by maintaining strong relationships with its brand partners.

Eddy spoke on the topic in a forum with Mars Wrigley North America President Anton Vincent at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show convention in New York City. He said investing in value has enabled the company to offer SKUs at 20% below its mass merchandise competitors and 35% under conventional grocery stores. 

“That takes a true partnership to make sure that we have that right brand, we have the right pack size, we have the right value equation, we have the right promotion attached to it,” Eddy said. 

That not only means reducing costs but also responding to customers’ personal values, according to Vincent. One thing the company learned from the COVID pandemic was “consumers are much more introspective” and they now more frequently want to know who’s running the company, how they’re running it, and how that aligns with the customers’ values.

“I think people really connected their values with their transactions, and I think that’s something new, particularly when you start thinking about Gen Z … they’re connected to what things mean,” Vincent said. 

It’s one of the motivating factors prompting the company to invest $1 billion over the next decade to build a cocoa supply chain model, known as Cocoa for Generations, that focuses on human rights and the environment. 

“There's fairness and there’s sustainability in terms of how we build those supply chains out, and so by the time we come to a company like BJ’s, we can answer those questions around quality and things of that nature …” Vincent said. 

Eddy said it falls in line with BJ’s mission to take care of its customers. “They want the best quality products, but they want responsibly sourced products,” he said. 

Eddy noted that the two companies are working together on retail media networks “to understand what particular members want and interact with them on a one-to-one basis” and getting the right promotions to the right members.

They’ve developed microsites to help cross-promote Mars brands and BJ’s, and BJ’s is building out its tech presence further with plans to launch a new capability on its app this spring that enables shoppers to find different products in the store on the BJ’s app, Eddy said. 

“Most of our members use our app every time they're in the store to get savings and sometimes purchase – you can check out using your phone inside the store and skip the line,” Eddy said. “And now they'll be able to come in and say, ‘Where are the M&Ms?’”

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BJ's Wholesale Club CEO Bob Eddy spoke at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show convention in New York City. He said one thing the company learned from the COVID pandemic was “consumers are much more introspective” and they now more frequently want to know who’s running the company, how they’re running it, and how that aligns with the customers’ values. Are you seeing that at your store? 

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