March 26 2006
Barbarians at the Gate
Pt. 3 of 4
“Here we are now, Entertain us.”
Five years later the Internet entered into the public consciousnessnot as the “Information Superhighway,” but as something that was usable andreal.
Certainly to the 40 + million members of Generation X andthe 70 + million of Generation Y, time is measured in moments and memories and “what’sin it for me?”
In order to make conversations amongst human’s sound human,it’s not enough to sell wine based on price or selection. And, especially in the age of informationtransparency, it’s not enough to have that knowledge embedded in humans in theform of service—at least in the world or wine, we know that human voicesfrequently don’t sound human, at least to the majority of the rest of the wineconsumers.
To paraphrase former President Bill Clinton, “It’s theEntertainment, Stupid.”
The world of retail is changing around us. Winery tasting rooms, who sell an experience,who tell a story certainly know this, as some estimates put purchase capturerates for visiting customers at better then 90%.
From the Book, The Entertainment Economy:
Increasingly, businesses will have to incorporate what hecalls the ‘E-factor’ (entertainment factor) into their offerings, be they goodsor services, in order to be competitive. Wolf calls this "hedonomics" the science of understanding the ‘fun-focused consumer’. Fundamental to thisis his notion that society’s concept of time has changed. The pressures ofwork, family, social obligations, etc., have forced us to compartmentalize ourlives into a series of highly segmented boxes of time. And, just as natureabhors a vacuum, we don’t like to have any of those boxes unfilled (or’wasted’
. So we turn to entertainment to fill the unscheduled portions of ourday. This societal change, plus the development of distribution technologiessuch as the Internet, has fueled the tremendous growth of the entertainmentindustry.
Grocer’s will still capture their share of the market, buttraditional rust belt wine shops that haven’t updated their shop in 20 yearsleeching an aging customer base dry with dusty bottles and sales on 1999 vintageswill soon be as relevant as the Dewey Decimal System is to ninth grader’swriting a term paper.
Trader Joe’s knows this. That’s why a grocer with stores in just 20 states captured the nationalconsciouness with the $2 Buck Chuck wine and has states lobbying for itsarrival.
It’s fun to shop at Trader Joe’s. And, they merchandise well, which means thevoice they use to communicate with me might not be person to person, but itshuman because it helps me navigate the wine aisle and buy, predominantlyprivate-label wine, that I’ve never heard of before and will soon be pleasedwith.
Excerpt from this magazine:
As legend has it, he was sitting on a beach contemplating the future of anew retail landscape when he came to the conclusion that people were usuallymore at ease and more receptive to new things when they were on vacation.
This was long before the term "retail anthropology" was coined.But Coulombe knew instinctively that everything depended on understandingconsumers. As such, his vision for Trader Joe’s was to offer shoppers a littleadventure by stocking items they couldn’t find elsewhere at prices thatwouldn’t empty their wallets.
It was then he decided on a tropical theme for the stores-right down to theloud print shirts on employees, fishing nets on the walls and a thatched roofbar in the back for sampling that looks like something out of a 1960s"B" beach movie.
All together, these are the elements that make a trip toTrader Joe’s a unique and fun experience for consumers who often think ofsupermarket shopping as exciting as a trip to the dry cleaner or the dentist.
Some observers question whether Trader Joe’s will maintainthe same philosophy as it continues to grow across the U.S. and becomes a more noticeable competitor to conventional supermarkets. Theanswer seems to be yes. As one industry observer put it: "This is a chainthat has succeeded simply by being itself."
Or, if you’re a member of Generation X & Y, legions ofpeople that have grown to distrust advertising, Trader Joe’s is simplyauthentic.
In the world of wine,Trader Joe’s sells a lot of wine, but what’s their secret sauce in the wineaisle? It’s value prices, yes. But, more then anything, it’s the entertainmentfactor combined with the human voice they use to communicate with customers oneon one because they merchandise with sales copy virtually every wine that isshelved.
People like the fun value in Trader Joe’s and they like thatthey walk out of the store knowing a little something about what they justbought.
According to Law student Sayuri Sharper, in a recent SanJose Mercury News article,
“Albertson’s is like a real chore,” said Sarper, who pausedlast week to sample some pineapple cherry upside down cake at the Los AltosTrader Joe’s. “This is a lot more fun.”
Hmm … maybe there’s something here for somebody bringing anew wine retail model to market—make it authentic, and make it fun … or, inother words, speak in a human voice to other humans--not just provide a serviceto a customer, in a traditional retail model. But, really speak authentically,conscientiously and with passion to somebody else and above all else speak alanguage and in a voice that they understand. The Barbarians are at the Gate and not likely waiting for anybody to welcome them in.
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