In 1967, the original Trader Joe started doing groceries a little differently. Not only did they don their crew in tasteful Hawaiian shirts but most importantly, they started packaging innovative, hard-to-find, great-tasting foods under the “Trader Joe’s” name (Our Story, 2017).
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| Pictured Above: High Quality Image of First Trader Joe's in Pasadena, California |
The true question is: why do I send my friends a recurring calendar invite, stating the day and time, to meet at Trader Joe’s? Is it because of the store’s proximity to campus? Or perhaps it’s their enticingly cheap wine, affectionately named ‘The Two-Buck Chuck’. While these offerings certainly contribute to my affinity for the store, I find it’s the experiential value that draws me back every Sunday. By assessing what I get (things like quality and convenience) in terms of what I give (time and money), I have derived my value (Angell, Lecture 4, September 13). Trader Joe’s has established itself as a leading grocery retailer, not only by offering low prices but also by providing excellent customer experience (Gupta, 2014, p. 6).
Allow me to walk you through the Trader Joe’s experience:
You grab your car and take a six minute joy ride up Washtenaw. Once you arrive, you easily pull into a parking spot and walk toward the mothership–well not really; it’s actually just one of 467 stores nationwide (Sherman, 2017). You grab a cart and first pass through the flower section. While flowers may not be in your budget, the low prices help you picture them in your home. You grab a Phalaenopsis Orchid for the fabled price of $12.99 and continue on your journey. You then pick up some healthy, prepared meals for the week: salads, shrimp rolls, and quinoa galore. Next, you grab “teeny, tiny avocadoes” (because who needs huge, GMO infused avocados?). Along the way, you’ve added more essentials into your cart: eggs, milk, sugar. Then, you stop in awe.
“Oh no, is that what I think it is?” You accidentally exclaim audibly.
Your friend confirms, “The sample station!”
You walk over, pretend like you’ve never seen samples before and grab a piece of the pumpkin spice bread (note: you probably don’t even like pumpkin spice bread, but it’s free and, for that reason, also calorie-less). After taking a deep, contemplative breath in, you put it in your mouth and keep it there for a second, as if you’re a sommelier guessing a fine wine. You carry on to the left side of the table, where you get your cup o’ Joe and creamer (Again, the calorie thing does exist when it’s a sample, right?)
Pictured Above: Tasting Station at Trader Joe's
You’re feeling pretty good at the moment; you’ve gotten the week’s necessities and you’re well fed. You throw some more snacks into the cart and head toward the checkout. Your work here is done. The cashier empties your cart for you...but wait! You realize you’ve never tried that mango salsa that the cashier is about to scan. How do you know if it is even any good?
“How’s this sals–"
Before you can finish your question, the cashier is already pulling out a plastic spoon. While every employee has tried the new products, he lets you decide for yourself (Cullum, 2017). He opens up the jar and gives you a taste. You like it; you’ll take it. He gets his coworker’s attention to grab you an unopened jar from the aisle. At this point, you’re thinking to yourself–I’m a college student; I share plastic vodka bottles at tailgates with dozens of students I’ve never met. You spare him the details and instead just say: “That won’t be necessary.”
Your work here is done. You pack up your car and head home.
I rest my case. You shop for the personalized experience, the endless samples, the good prices, and yes, the thrill of sending a weekly calendar invite. You’ve had a productive half hour, and now it’s time to get back to that study room you reserved. Until next time, my fellow Joe lovers.
*Note: If you do need more convincing on why you should start shopping at Trader Joe's, check out this piece on Trader Joe’s inside intel
Sources:
Cullum, Erin. “8 Things You Never Knew About Trader Joe's, Straight From a Former Employee.” POPSUGAR Food, 2 Oct. 2017.
Gupta, Sunil. “Core Curriculum: Creating Customer Value,” Harvard Business Publishing. 30 Jun 2014.
Gupta, Sunil. “Core Curriculum: Creating Customer Value,” Harvard Business Publishing. 30 Jun 2014.
“Our Story.” Our Story | Trader Joe's, 2017.
“Our Story.” Timeline | Trader Joe's
Sherman, Elisabeth. “Trader Joe's 50th Anniversary Celebrations Hit Stores This Weekend.” Food & Wine, 17 Aug. 2017.
"Trader Joe's Experience." YouTube, 8 Sept. 2017.
Trader Joe's Image on Pixabay - Coffee, Grocery Store, Store.
"Trader Joe's Experience." YouTube, 8 Sept. 2017.
Trader Joe's Image on Pixabay - Coffee, Grocery Store, Store.
Hi Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI love shopping at Trader Joe’s, which is what attracted me to your blog. I like how you walk us through a typical shopping experience there to help us visualize the place. I’d be curious to know more about how their branding, Hawaiian shirts, organic food, and visual identity contribute to their success and uniqueness. How does this relate to the customer base. I liked your comment about value, because even though Trader Joe’s may be more expensive then say, Meijer, you are getting better food. I’m interested to see where your blog goes- I hope you can continue this narrative style
The title of your blog is catchy and made me as a reader curious to see what you meant by changing the expression so well known by everyone. While the blog was fun and detailed a cool shopping experience, I felt as though this shopping experience could be had at other grocery stores as well and isn't exclusive to Trader Joe's. A store like Costco also has a multitude of samples one could try. I would like to see in the future how you develop and expand this title into new information or details about Trader Joe's or if you tell about a different grocery store entirely.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is making me crave a Trader Joe's run right now. I like how you bring the Trader Joe’s shopping experience to life, explaining the potential of deriving experiential value from the 45 minute trip to the store (Angell, Lecture 3, September 13).It seems that the short, once a week trip to Trade Joe’s, is far from just necessity, a place where you receive utilitarian value (food for the week) as well as hedonic value (pleasure from the Trader Joe's experience) (Babin, 2016, p. 29).
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with everything you said about the allure of Trader Joes, what truly separates Trader Joes from other stores where you can derive experiential value and also other values, such as functional value? Specifically, Costco might be the prime example of experiential value and functional value, for you spend your time and money well, get dozens of samples, and get supplies that last a month (Angell, Lecture 3, September 13). From shopping at Trader Joe's, can you derive functional value in addition to the experiential value (Angell, Lecture 3, September 13)? This is an interesting question to consider for any shopper on whether experiential value is a greater priority than functional value when shopping for food.
Angell, A. (2017, September 13). CB Chapter 2 Value. Lecture at the University of Michigan.
Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). CB 7 (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading your witty article on Trader Joe's. I agreed with virtually all of your points, from the perfectly sized avocados to the importance of their sample section. Trader Joe's shoppers are paying for an experiential value, or the value they get from simply grocery shopping in the store -- on top of the food itself. (Angell, 13 September 2017) I believe this is especially highlighted in the fact that shopping at Trader Joe's is an event, rather than a chore. By inviting friends to shop along with you, Trader Joe's is also of social value to you (Angell, 13 September 2017) I would enjoy learning more about the psychographics of a Trader Joe's shopper, or the consumer most likely to be the audience of their marketing campaigns. (Angell, 20 September 2017) Thanks so much for a great read. Next time you invite friends for a weekly Trader Joe's run, I would love to come!