The Thrill of Grocery Shopping
I love to shop. Show me a quaint shopping district, and I’ll show you an afternoon filled with passionate ooohs and soulful ahhhhhs. There is something about a store filled with pretty things that makes my heart beat fast and wallet open wide.
The less I need something, the more I want to shop. Shopping for nothing at all? Good. Shopping for something I really need? Bad. Take the weekly chore of grocery shopping. I put it off as long as I can. You walk up and down the isles, hear awful soft rock in the background, and load your cart with the same thing you bought last week. Not thrilling.
Grocery store chains know this. They know their customer base is made up of people like me. Over the years they have made some interesting attempts to excite their customers. There was the warehouse store angle. “Let’s junk up the store to make people feel like they are really getting a good value”. There’s the convenience angle. “Let’s give them banking, pharmacy, floral, health food, and Starbucks all under one roof.” Then there’s the kill them with kindness angle. “We’ll train our clerks to be really, really nice and insist on taking their groceries to their cars”.
None of these attempts hit the magic note with me, although I appreciate the thought. That changed this week when I shopped at the new grocery store in town. Their angle? A combination of beauty and simplicity. Their efforts were apparent. “Let’s replace the normal with the delightful. Then, let’s concentrate on a few key areas and do it better than anyone else”. What banking? Go to a bank. Want pharmacy? Go to a drug store. Want a pleasant grocery experience? You’ve come to the right place.
Why did the store impress me? It was the little things. Upon entering, I was given a map that told me the store’s layout. This is a good usability no-brainer for a new store. However, thinking back, I don’t recall ever receiving a map of a new store before.
There was an obvious emphasis on produce. Its grand presence seemed to welcome you as you entered the store. The colors, textures, and shapes of fruits and vegetables were arranged to please the eyes. Pretty produce? Yes.
The design of the store also impressed me. It didn’t feel like I had to navigate through long isles to get to the core food. Bread, produce, and dairy were all perceived to be within reasonable reach. Their other “do it better than anyone else” area was a ready-made section with an assortment of self-service food. This section was so large, it was almost overwhelming. Normally, the community dish-it-yourself concept is a bit troubling for me. However, I decided to try it out by dishing up a container of hot soup. The container was heated! When I looked for fresh bread to go with the soup, I was able to find a small loaf that was the perfect size for the 2 of us. These efforts were appreciated attempts to branch away from the norm by addressing the needs of the user.
My favorite usability concepts were demonstrated in the store. Determine your primary purpose and make it perfect. Know your user, find their needs, and do what you can to please them.
Although I still dread the chore for grocery shopping, it is nice to know that my ho-hum was transformed to wow.
More Information:
Store pictures from nuggetmarket.com