By Brendon Good, Owner-Operator, New World Brookfield, Tauranga
At New World Brookfield we are, and have always been, focused on the customer experience. In fact it’s our vision is to be “famous for the experience our people create”. The trick is to keep up with the things that are important to modern shoppers; things that directly affect the emotions they feel while spending their time under our roof. The main point I’d make is that offering just “good service” is no longer good enough – simply because in the modern consumer era almost every supermarket has that!
Instead, you must exceed customers’ expectations, so they leave feeling appreciated and tell their friends and family how enjoyable it is to shop with you. Because of that, we’re always looking for innovative ways to delight our customers while interacting with the team: our checkout team have rubber stamps for kids (unicorns, rainbows, etc) and wrap every bottle of wine in newspaper; we give Gold Card holders a $5 cafe voucher if they shop with us on Tuesdays; and our veteran trolley man Jeff is famous for helping customers put their shopping in the car.
Freshness is a major factor driving modern buying decisions too. Customers are getting more fresh food to eat within a day or two, and we strive to be the local supermarket that has what they want, when they want it. Being able to make a range of fresh products onsite is a unique selling point. We have a smokehouse to make our own bacon, and make all our own sausages as well. Our popular “Brookfield’s Own” range has been going for almost 20 years, and includes pies, doughnuts, quiches, salads, fresh deli meals, and our famous corned silverside.
That said, improving the shopping experience is about decluttering your store and refining your range, so it’s quicker to get around and easier to find what you want. As noted above, modern shoppers have less time but are visiting more often, so we owe it to them to keep streamlining the shopping process. We also owe it to them to give back to the communities in which we operate, which is why we are very proud to have started the Good Neighbour Food Rescue programme in Tauranga. My wife Lavina, with the help of John and Jackie Paine and 60 volunteers, are recovering food that’s “good enough to eat, but not good enough to sell”, which they then redistribute to local charities.
Yet another example of how we exceed expectations beyond ‘good service’ – and for the greater good.
