12/2010 – Mike Trask, Owner: “Our loyalty card is not really a savings card, it’s a way for us to connect with our customers and get to know them better. A customer doesn’t have to have the card to shop here—everyone gets the same price with or without it—but when customers sign up for card, they begin to earn in-store credit, get information on product recalls and receive promotions personalized to their product preference.
Our store is the only store in our community, and while that might seem like the perfect retailing situation, there’s also a lot of responsibility involved. We have to work harder to stay relevant to our customers and make sure we’re meeting not just some, but all of their needs.
First, we have to have the selection our customers want. We know we can’t carry everything, but we try to make sure they don’t have to drive the 8 miles out of town to the big box stores. If that happens, we could quickly go from their primary store to the store they go to in between shopping trips. We set up a customer request program to stay on top of customer needs, and now every request is answered by our service department. If we just simply can’t find something we’ll let the customers know that, but before we do, we make sure we’ve exhausted all other options. We’ll even go so far as to buy the item from another store if necessary.
We also try to show the value that our customers’ want. We can’t have the everyday low prices we see with a lot of the chains, but we do our best to make up for that with frequent sale-related events like our truckload meat sales, 12 hour sales, and sales that are built into our community marketing events.
With selection and value covered inside the store, this past year we decided to branch out to focus on digitally enhancing our customers’ shopping experience. We put out a new Web site and our own loyalty marketing program that can be managed online. Our loyalty card is not really a savings card, it’s a way for us to connect with our customers and get to know them better. A customer doesn’t have to have the card to shop here—everyone gets the same price with or without it—but when customers sign up for card, they begin to earn in-store credit, get information on product recalls and receive promotions personalized to their product preference.
Our philosophy is that we can never take for granted that our customers will continue to shop here just because we’re the only store in town. We bring them in the door by continually focusing on how to make their shopping experience better.
Thanks,
Mike Trask
2011 IGA USA International Retailer of the Year Finalist
Granite Falls Market Fresh IGA
Granite Falls, WA
LDC: Unified Grocers, Inc.