New service will pack the aisles
I hate supermarket shopping. The aisles are always crowded. I have trouble finding the things I want. There’s always someone who wants to jam their trolley right up my behind. The overhead florescent lighting is too bright (I guess that says something about my Saturday mornings, or rather, Friday nights). I could go on. But the worst thing is how stressy it gets when I put my shopping on the belt at the checkout.
The nicely firm avocados, perfectly round tomatoes and painfully-fragile bouquet of flowers are thrown down the chute - along with bulky apples, the sharp-cornered carton of milk and a nice bottle of wine that just rolls down over everything like a boulder, crashing to a halt at the potatoes.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no. Then I have to cram everything into my bags as quickly as possible, packing the awkward heavy items on top of the light, squashy things. If I don’t do this quickly enough, my shopping will be relegated to the smaller, secondary chute where it all gets siphoned off and compressed together by a big metal bar. Then the process starts all over again for the next psyched customer.
So imagine my delight when I see that Danish supermarket chain, Føtex (or Funtex as I like to call it) is advertising that they will pack my shopping for me on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Although I don’t shop at Føtex that often (I suppose you guessed that already), this new service is pulling me closer to them. I’m going to check them out.
When a company offers pretty much the same as everybody else, it’s excellent customer service that makes them stand out from the rest. By introducing an intuitive customer retention programme (I expect Føtex to introduce a club card soon, if they haven’t done so already), you’re locking people onto your brand. And, unless you do something really stupid, you’ve got them for life.
I feel quite excited that I could be witnessing somewhat of a revolution in Danish supermarket customer service. It’ll be interesting to see how the other chains respond - and what the marketing executives at Føtex have up their sleeves.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I have to say, I do my best to avoid supermarkets that pack my bags for me. The reason? Plastic bags. I hate plastic bags. I’m passionate in my hate for them. And, no matter how hard I try to avoid collecting them, I’ve always got a huge stash of them at home. So I always take a backpack to the supermarket. And I struggle home with my goods in my hands if I have to.
Which I guess goes to show that no one service will please everyone.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
But don’t you have to pay for plastic bags in Norway too? That’s a really good way of preventing people from buying them (although I know a lot of people still do here). Tescos back in the UK just give them away left, right and centre, and I think that’s silly. I’m sure the bag packers in Føtex would only be too happy to pack your used bags (as well as your rucksack)!
February 29th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
In Norway, you only pay for the big, heavy-duty bags. The flimsy ones are for free.
Next time I’m in DK, I will ask the people in Føtex to pack my rucksack for me. As you said, I’m sure they only be too happy to help.