Summer has always been the ideal time for produce retailers to engage with consumers. Last summer, that didn’t happen anywhere near as much as in previous years due to the pandemic.
But this year, with vaccinations available and social distancing measures relaxed in many places, how will stores return to engaging their shoppers? My observations during recent travels across five states in the South illustrate that the answer varies greatly from locale to locale.
Old normal
What we all took for granted prior to the pandemic, with regards to engagement with consumers, was that on any given day we could expect consistent traffic: the morning rush before school and workdays, the lunch rush, the end-of-workday or dinner rush, weekend demand.
Work plans, schedules and product levels were designed around these established patterns, familiar after many years of the shoppers continuing with their same habits.
Of course, everything changed in 2020. Retailers adapted astoundingly well to the many challenges that the pandemic posed, but one of the issues still to address is consumer engagement. The big question has been when customers will return to those patterns and when retailers will again be able to leverage their collective skill and merchandising prowess to attract customers to buy impulsively. It is the one question which has persisted over the past year.
New normal
On a recent trip I had the opportunity to check out various supermarkets as well as a couple of convenience operators. What I observed is what could be described as the new normal. Every retailer I visited had these safety measures.
- Notice to customers on how important their safety is to them.
- Acrylic or Plexiglass barriers between workers and customers at all service areas.
- Sanitation stations.
- Self-serve antibacterial and hand wipe stands.
- “Spot the dot” or social distance reminder floor decals.
- No outside displays of fresh produce – even on Memorial Day weekend.
- More emphasis on packaged offerings across categories.
Other measures I saw in action at some but not all retailers were the following.
- Disposable gloves stand at points of self-serve products and categories.
- Sampling stations offering packaged samples or coupons in place of samples.
- Customer reminder of employee safety measures.
- At some stores, employees were wearing masks and others were not.
My takeaway is that retail operators are still facing challenges in how to engage consumers again in the brick-and-mortar space. Certainly, there are state and local restrictions and requirements to adhere to, but the bigger question is when will consumers reengage fully again and become more impulsive with purchase habits.
Or has the new normal taken full hold of how consumers will shop now and in the future? It depends on a few factors, and here are some to consider.
Trust
Consumers need to have a level of trust again. We have come so far to recover from this pandemic; no one wants to go back to where we were. But what will it take for consumers to feel comfortable and safe again? No one knows the answer just yet, but it will take continued effort and communication by retailers to build trust once again.
Transparency
Consumers more than ever want to know who, what, when, where, why and how when it comes to their food. Retailers have an enormous opportunity and, frankly, a responsibility to provide each of these elements to their guests and in the process develop a point of differentiation. To me this is the biggest opportunity coming out of the pandemic.
Relationships
Since the pandemic there has been incredible attrition and turnover of staff in the retail channel. I always believed and reinforced with my operations team that building relationships with their customers was vital for success. Rebuilding relationships will go far in creating that sense of comfort with consumers, and that will lead to increased engagement.
Diversity and inclusion
This is one of the hot topics across the supply chain. Retail operators have a long history of being a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities at the store level, and rightly so. While D&I has a strong legacy in retail, it does have a new and more prominent purpose, and retailers should develop a strategy to communicate externally to their customers and the community how their hiring practices and makeup contribute to a stronger future for all.
This column is part of a series by Joe Watson, who spent 30-plus years as the director of produce for Rouses Markets and was named Produce Retailer of the Year and to The Packer 25 in 2014. Joe now serves as a vice president of member engagement and as the retail and foodservice subject matter expert for PMA.