5 ESSENTIAL TIPS To Improve Your Supermarket

1. Incorporate store greeters to boost customer satisfaction

Warren almost crashed into the glass doors of the supermarket. His attention was solely focused on the list of groceries written on a crumpled notepad he had found in the back of one of his drawers. He never had to go to the supermarket alone. Just before Warren could crash his shopping cart, a worker quickly grabbed the door handle.

“Let me get the door for you, sir!”

Warren jolted up to look at the older man who had saved him from public humiliation and traded it for this private embarrassment. His face reddened.

“Oh,” was the only thing he could squeak out in his paralyzed state.

The old man flashed a warm smile and bobbed his head in return.

“Thanks.” Warren cleared his throat and rushed into the supermarket.

2. Place fresh flower bouquets at the entrance (extra points if they’re discounted)

Warren momentarily returned his attention to the scribbled list in his hands: fresh tomatoes, garlic cloves, mushrooms, almond milk, and extra virgin olive oil.

He had the rest of the ingredients at home: butter, chicken broth, parmesan cheese, and angel-hair pasta. It was the first dish Warren and Lucy ate together six years ago when he insisted she needed a champion’s meal at the most expensive restaurant in the city after acing her Public Econ final. He had spent his month’s salary working at the local ice cream shop to pay for it. They never defined when their “first date” was, but Warren considered that dinner the beginning to the rest of his life.

He smelled them before he saw them. Warren glanced back up to find buckets filled with plastic-wrapped roses. Water droplets decorated their petals and thorns adorned their stems. He checked his watch before deciding to check the bouquet’s price. He searched for a price tag on each bouquet, then around the buckets to no avail. He poked his head out the supermarket door to find the worker he spoke to just a minute before. The head of white hair was easy to spot.

“Excuse me, do you happen to know the price of the flower bouquets inside?”

The worker flashed another generous smile. “There’s a special deal for them. They’re twenty-two dollars.”

“Perfect, thank you…” Warren trailed, looking for the worker’s name tag.

“James”

“Thank you, James.” Warren paused. “Wait, what’s the discount for? Don’t tell me they moved Valentine’s Day to August.”

James laughed, shaking his head. “No, no. It’s twenty-two to tell someone you love them.”

Warren didn’t quite understand what James meant, but to avoid sounding rude, he smiled. Then he went back inside and gently laid a bouquet in his cart.

3. Build customer loyalty by investing in their needs

Warren crossed off the last item on his list, pride swelling in his heart. That pride drained when he quickly realized he didn’t know where the cash registers were. He didn’t see them on his way in, though now he wasn’t quite sure which direction the entrance even was. Warren was helplessly lost.

So he wandered. Warren rolled his cart down each aisle, looking at every shelf as if he was window shopping in the city.

Just a year ago, Lucy told Warren she’d be going into the city to shop with her mother. When the two of them returned, they were giggling like schoolgirls with comically large shopping bags in their hands. Warren fussed over them carrying such heavy things and insisted he be a gentleman and freed up their hands. The pair thanked them and continued to laugh together on the couch watching old movies into the night. Warren had never seen Lucy so happy.

A week later the hospital visits started. At first, it was only once a month, then it became once every two weeks, which turned into three times a week and came to an abrupt end in late April.

Warren found himself surrounded by wine bottles. He grazed the bottles with his fingertips until plucking one off the shelf that read 1973 on the label. Another man at the end of the aisle turned to him.

“If my wife were here, she’d recommend you buy that.”

Unable to form words, Warren nodded. He couldn’t remember the last time he had tasted wine.

Lucy swore off drinking after her mother died. She refused to even look at a beer can, because she knew if she took a single sip, she’d drink herself to death. When friends started pointing out how strange it was she always refused a round of shots or never stayed for a glass of wine, Warren took the same oath to give up drinking. 

He never wanted Lucy to feel alone. So he surrendered things like going on fishing trips with friends and declined invitations to baseball games and passed on promotions that required more hours to give Lucy company no matter how many times she insisted she’d rather be alone anyway.

It wasn’t until a few weeks after the funeral Lucy said she needed space, that she was going to live with a friend and she didn’t know when she’d be back. Or if she’d be back. Warren wasn’t sure if she’d even respond to his message to meet him for dinner tonight.

As Warren left, James waved to him.

“Find everything alright?”

Warren nodded. James peaked into his cart surveying the ingredients for Warren’s dinner.

“Looks like it’ll be a delicious evening.” The edges of James’ eyes and mouth wrinkled when he smiled. Then he eyed the bouquet. “Sharing it with anyone special?”

“Yes,” Warren said. Then added, “With a woman I love very much.”

James’ eyes gleamed with joy.

4. Remember to keep your supermarket authentic to YOU

James waited a few minutes after one to officially go on his lunch hour. In the break room, one of the newer, younger employees had already started eating a salad out of a glass container, earbuds in, twirling a fork in one hand, and scrolling through his phone in the other. James had worked in this supermarket for thirty years and despite the changes, knew he could count on two things: the doors being manual and the employees being prompt with lunchtime.

The younger worker looked up when he noticed James take a water bottle out from the fridge.

“Mr. Lo—”

“How many times do I need to tell you to just call me James, Patrick?”

Patrick’s cheeks reddened. “Sorry, Mr—, I mean, James. How’s your morning?”

“Lovely, thank you for asking.”

Patrick nodded and popped his earbuds back in, returning his attention to the colorful videos flashing on his phone.

Next to the fridge, a framed picture of a woman in her fifties hung, circled with flowers. Her open smile stretched up to the faint wrinkles around her eyes, so vibrant her laughter was practically audible through the photograph. Under her, a small plaque was engraved: Remembered Always.

James met the woman’s eyes and placed a rose petal in the growing garland around her.

“I love you.”

5. Instill rewards programs to retain customers

Lucy’s hand felt warm in Warren’s. A soft September breeze followed them from the parking lot to the supermarket entrance and through Lucy’s tied-up hair. Warren tucked a loose strand behind her ear. Blush crept into Lucy’s cheeks and Warren’s mouth curled into a knowing smile. They were beginning to settle back into their routine. Only this time, Lucy openly accepted his helping hand.

“Was this the lovely lady your dinner was for?” James opened the door for them.

Warren nodded.

“Keep each other close.” 

Lucy squeezed Warren’s hand. “We will.”

As they walked in, Lucy spotted the buckets of roses and ran towards them to grab a bouquet.

“It’s my turn to buy you roses!”

“For what?” Warren asked.

“To say I love you.”