Trader Joe’s is brilliant. I’m not sure how many other grocery stores do this, but Trader Joe’s is the only one I’ve seen.
(Reads: Top on an ice cream sundae!)
The question you ask yourself while grocery shopping, consciously or not, before buying anything is “What would I use this for?” Most of the time we don’t even think about it because we have a shopping list or something is just an impulse item. But then there is the inevitable casual browsing.
When looking at most items, I won’t be thinking to myself “What can I use that for?” Instead, I’ll just notice it without any thought. It would be impossible and exhausting to think about each product I see. But Trader Joe’s plants an answer to the necessary question you must ask yourself before buying something.
Maybe you want the pomegranate seeds for a salad instead of a sundae, but you at least have an idea to jump from now. And for most people, the first idea is the hardest.
This also helps the buyer form a story. Instead of just buying pomegranate seeds, they’re buying a topping for a sundae. Maybe they’ll use it for their kid’s birthday party coming up.
When it comes to shopping and probably life, people generally opt for the path of least resistance. Amazon knows and executes on it extremely well. The less thought and effort the customer has to put into purchasing something, the more likely they are to buy it.
Trader Joe’s eliminates thinking, answers the necessary “buy” question, all while helping provide a better shopping experience.
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Anonymous says
I would have loved to see Steve Jobs tackle a supermarket design. These are the kinds of things he would have come up with.