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“That might mean devoting just 25 percent
of space to essential food products and
finding ways to devote 75 percent of space
to creating amazing food and health
experiences,” he said.
The traditional ways of thinking about
merchandising that worked for decades may
no longer be relevant, Stephens added, with
supermarkets of the future likely to hold
little product while offering new, exciting,
customized experiences aimed at meeting
specific consumer preferences, he explained.
“In a world where home delivery from online
businesses is growing, it’s an archaic process
for consumers to get into their cars, drive
through traffic to a supermarket, handpick
items, load them into a cart, unload them at
the checkstand, load the bags into a cart and
unload them into the car, then unload them
again when they get home and put them
away,” he said.
According to Stephens, the only reason
future consumers will go through all that is
if the retailer isn’t afraid to give them other
experience-based options.
“What grocers need to consider is how to
create incredible expectations for
consumers, whether that means offering
cooking classes with celebrity chefs,
featuring holistic coaches to teach people
how to eat better, offering a broader variety
of in-store entertainment events or providing
other ways to position groceries from a
health-and-welfare standpoint or a lifestyle
experience,” he said.
“For some, the grocery store of the future
may be a place for entertainment that creates
memorable experiences and builds loyalty
and a greater relationship between the
supermarket and the public.”
One company that’s taken the right steps
to meeting the long-term needs of future
consumers is Eataly, Stephens noted. “That’s
a company that understands that retail as
strictly a commodity business is threatened,
so it drives its business with spectacular,
exciting facilities that combine groceries,
restaurants and entertainment.
“No one else in the grocery industry that I’m
aware of has pressed ahead as much
(as Eataly) on this concept that I believe
will be a way to guarantee success
going forward. No one else has taken
such dramatic steps to
acknowledge experience
should come first and
products should be a
secondary consideration.”
According to Stephens,
“It starts with designing
the experience. Retailers
must break down the
consumer’s journey to the
store to its most granular
components and design
each aspect as an experience
to be savored.”
How long it takes for
retailers to figure it all will
depend on each individual
business, he said.
“Every organization should already be
working on a prototype within the next year
or so,” he recommended. “But the majority
of retailers will probably do nothing in the
short term, which is just human nature. They
will fail to understand that dramatic things
are happening and that their business could
be in peril, but still they will do nothing
other than ignoring what’s coming because
It starts with designing the
experience...break down the
consumer’s journey to the store
to its most granular components
and design each aspect as an
experience to be savored.
◀ Continued from page 27
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