As I was rooting around e reserves to find a blog topic, I came across the Whole Foods/ Central Market articles. Since Whole Foods and Central Market are not low-cost grocery stores, I expected the authors to claim that both stores yield the same customer experience. Once I read the first sentence I knew I had guessed wrong. First, I noticed the difference in the authors’ tones. Normally when I'm reading for a class, I'm not concerned with tone; I'm more interested in the content within the article. But these authors used tone to illustrate the points of differentiation between Whole Foods and Central Market. In the Whole Foods article, the author begins with a story of a free-range chicken to demonstrate how extreme Whole Foods can be. On the other hand, “Fast Company” gets straight to the point. The author admits that Central Market is overwhelming and then praises them for being a “super supermarket”. The titles also indicate a difference in experience. “Food Porn” once again calls attention to Whole Foods’ extreme stance on food. “Super Market” is merely a pun that pays tribute to Central Market.
Everyone can tell the difference between shopping in a low-price grocery store and a high-quality grocery store. When I am at HEB or Wal-Mart, I just want out. At those stores, grocery shopping is the least enjoyable experience in the world. I want to get the most groceries for my money and leave as soon as possible. Nothing puts me in a worse mood than grocery shopping on a budget.
It’s the nuances between the grocery stores in each category that often go unnoticed. When you’re comparing HEB and Wal-Mart there are other experience factors to consider besides price. Since Wal-Mart is more spread out and has twice as many lanes as HEB, it’s generally less crowded. At HEB, you can barely push your cart down an aisle without running into two or three people. Even if I’m at fault and run head on into another cart, I blame it on them. HEB is an angry place. Situations like this just aggravate the already frustrating grocery shopping experience. That is why I would rather shop at Wal-Mart than HEB when I choose a low-cost grocery store. To me, the benefits of shopping at HEB (higher quality produce) do not match the additional cost ($5 or $10 extra dollars). By shopping at Wal-Mart, I sacrifice quality produce, for no produce. I can get out of Wal-Mart faster and spend less than $35 for a week's worth of groceries. I might not get the nutrition I need, but that's what vitamins are for. I value my time more than my health. Furthermore, I expect Wal-Mart to match my hate for grocery shopping. Wal-Mart is not a happy place and I never expect to enjoy grocery shopping there. At HEB, there’s still an expectation for an enjoyable trip since you’re paying more.
When it comes to high quality grocery stores, the nuances are a little more difficult to pick out. In fact, there are many people who don’t even notice a difference between Whole Foods and Central Market. Personally, I’ve always thought that shopping at Central Market is more enjoyable than shopping at Whole Foods. When I go to Central Market, I don’t want to leave immediately. I want to go up and down every aisle multiple times. When someone bumps into me, I apologize- even when it’s clearly his or her fault. At Central Market, I like to buy new items and try new things. Sometimes, I even decide to purchase ingredients to make a meal, which is unheard of. Ultimately, I feel comfortable at Central Market and more willing to spend money. At Whole Foods, I’m intimidated. Unlike Central Market, Whole Foods does not sell anything normal, like Cheerios. Everything at Whole Foods is organic. If I don’t have a list, I feel lost when I shop at Whole Foods, especially since most of their products are foreign to me. Finally, and most importantly, I often feel disappointed when I shop at Whole Foods. I feel like many of their items sacrifice taste for an organic certification. Take peanut butter and jelly for example. They are roughly the same price at both grocery stores, but the quality of Central Market brand PB&J far exceeds that of Whole Foods. If I’m going to spend money, I’m going to spend it at Central Market.
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Caitlin- So many (too many) interesting points for me to comment on here. First, I'm so glad to see that you thought about the tone of the authors for those articles - it's such an important component of anything we read and digest. Who are the authors and what perspectives/biases do they bring to the story? Second, the points you make remind me how important segmentation is here. As similar as HEB & Walmart are in terms of prices and items (excluding produce, perhaps), I would argue that they are after slightly different segments (which is what has ultimately made both of them so successful). Again, WF and CM are after slightly to moderately different segments, especially in terms of their most loyal customers. While HEB and WF aren't your cup of tea, so to speak, they certainly are for others. Having said that, it certainly doesn't mean that all 4 could not improve upon their experiences or identify opportunities to better appeal to non-primary customer segments. Interestingly, both WF and CM seem to view themselves as significantly different grocery stores and often erroneously assume that their customers perceive that same degree of differentiation. In my experience, HEB & Walmart have a much more realistic view of their customer bases and the degree to which they overlap. Anyways... enjoyable post. Thanks.
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