Tigra Bailey's Blog

As consumers we are constantly exposed to advertisements, through every media channel, almost every day of our lives. While advertising is one method of communicating with target consumers another strategy often used is Sales Promotion.

Sales promotions are special incentives or programs that influences consumers to purchase a specific product or service. These promotions can be used to boost either short term sales, or are part of long term strategies such as loyalty programs.

Kin’s, like any other retailer, has their own promotion strategies. Most of which involve discounts. Kin’s participates in both long term and short term promotion strategies, the most interesting of which is their two-tier discount program.

In every Kin’s store we have a specials board, this board is usually located behind the tills and this board is huge. On this board we are required to post our specials for the week. With a two-tier discount special you have weekly discount items and daily discount items. Some weekly/daily specials are mandatory for every Kin’s location across British Columbia, this is the information you can find on our website.

“see in-store for more great prices”

In addition to these standardized specials, each Kin’s location also offers more weekly and daily items. For example at the West 10th location our board, as of Nov. 14th, looked like this. The weekly specials are in white and the daily specials are in red. Weekly specials are usually popular grocery items or cooking staples, while daily specials are usually seasonal items, new local varieties, exotic items, or new arrivals. One of the most important elements of sales promotion is the excitement factor. By constantly changing our specials and by excluding specials specific to locations on our website we are able to keep some element of surprise. You never know when we might put your favorite items on sale, so when you arrive and they are discounted, it increases customer satisfaction while boosting our sales. This rotation also prevents flat sales.

There is one exception, however. There is a price limit on bananas, meaning that bananas are always priced at $0 .59/lb. Bananas are one of our most popular items, and on a busy weekend I can sell up to 40 or 50 pounds of them. By keeping bananas at this constant low price we are rewarding customers who continue to shop with us in the long run.

Finally our UBC discount, we started this discount a couple months after we opened in April. Because we are a new location and since we are located near the University we’re using this discount to attract new potential shoppers to our location. Most students living on campus are content to go to the stores both near and/or familiar to them, usually Save-On-Foods or Safeway. By offering them this discount we are rewarding them for deviating from their norm and shopping with us. Kin’s is a fantastic produce store, so our issue isn’t keeping customers it’s getting new customers to walk through our door.

And judging based on the amount of students that I see bringing their friends each weekend, it’s working.

KIN’S UBC DISCOUNT: Students, Staff, and Faculty of UBC who present their ID cards at the West 10th Kin’s location will receive a 10% discount on our regular items.

“Note: regular items do not include our specials, sorry no double discounts”

Opening a new location is already a harrowing experience, as hour upon hour of planning and strategizing is required for a successful launch. When you add in the already well established competition, you just have to plan that much harder.

Kin’s two competitors are Top Ten Produce and Safeway. Each have their own marketing strategy and each have focused on different segments of the grocery market. Since Kin’s does not have the resources, nor the infrastructure to compete as a large scale supermarket chain, our strategy is to compete directly with Top Ten Produce for their market share as well as establishing one of our own.

(photo: Top Ten Interior)

Kin’s and Top Ten are very similar in some aspects, but vary drastically in others. Both stores operate on a much smaller scale than Safeway, so, being unable to compete with Safeway’s wide selection of items both stores have chosen to specialize. Kin’s sells only produce, however Top Ten, in addition to produce, also sells a some canned goods, dairy, deli, frozen goods, and Asian food items. In order to differentiate themselves from Top Ten, Kin’s needed to have a sustainable competitive advantage.

(photo: Kin’s Interior)

One way we create value for our customers is through our focus on Customer excellence. Since we are providing a service as well as merchandise it is very important to Kin’s to have excellent customer service. As well as excellent customer service, we try to make the actual physical task of picking out your groceries an easy and pleasant experience.

As a cashier I am directly responsible for providing customer service. So more often than not I am talking with the customers while I’m putting their orders through. If they are really pleased with something they usually mention it to me. In fact, I’ve had many customers tell me why they prefer how we do things at Kin’s rather than at Top Ten Produce or Safeway.

1. Our prices: Our prices for produce are considerably lower than Safeway. We work with different suppliers and sell a lot more locally grown produce from the Okanagan. We often have people come to Kin’s from Safeway just to buy our produce as consumers are more than willing to walk across the street since we have the better deals. I’m usually asked to keep their Safeway bags behind the counter so they have their hands free to shop.

2. Our Baskets: At Kin’s we provide shopping baskets, so that people can manage their items if they have a large purchase. What differentiates our baskets from Safeway and Top Ten is that we provide a collapsible pull along handle so that you can wheel the basket around the store without having to carry it. Basically it’s a cross between a shopping cart and a hand basket so it’s the best of both worlds.

3. Our Samples: We always have samples. In fact we are required to have at least 5 different samples available in the store, every day. Our samples are usually our daily special items, or new arrivals/exotic fruits. By providing samples customers are able to try things they wouldn’t necessarily buy. As well as increasing sales, this helps reduce post purchase dissonance as the customer already knows the item is something they would eat. Safeway and Top Ten don’t provide samples, ever.

4. Our Counter Shelves: At the till we provide shelves below the counter top where people can rest their baskets while their groceries are unloaded. This way their basket doesn’t take up any counter space so cashiers are able to operate more effectively, also, since the basket isn’t on the ground it’s much easier to unload. Our shelves can also be used to rest filled bags or I’ve had several parents sit or stand their child on the shelf so they could keep an eye on them while paying for their groceries.

5. Our Promotions: Currently we are in the middle of two major promotions. The first is our UBC Student, Staff, and Faculty discount and the second is our reusable bag donation. Since our opening in April we have offered a 10% discount on our regular items to those affiliated with UBC. The discount only runs for our first year of business so it ends Dec. 31. Our second promotion is our charity work with the David Suzuki Foundation. Every time a customer uses a reusable bag when they shop we donate 2 cents to the DSF. The donations continue until we reach a total of $10,000 donated or 500,000 saved bags.

As well as our in store benefits we also provide free carry out service, and create party baskets for special occasions.

These things may seem small at first, but by paying attention to the little details we are able to make the shopping experience just a little bit more enjoyable for our customers, and it keeps them coming back.

Tomorrow, competitor-based pricing and daily/weekly specials.

After a lengthy hiatus, I am back to blogging. So to make up for lost time, I have decided to do a mini blog series about my new workplace, Kin’s Farm Market. Around mid October I was hired as a cashier to work weekends, and what I’ve noticed is that most of the marketing concepts we cover in class can be applied to our store.

First some background. Kin’s, on West 10th and Sasamat, is unique in that it’s the franchises newest location. It’s grand opening was April 24, 2010, so it hasn’t even been open for an entire year yet. Basically, we’re still in the promotion phase and are trying to establish a solid customer base. Secondly, we have two direct competitors and we’re all located in the same block.

Google Maps is wrong. It’s “Top Ten Produce.” Just so you know.

The green icon, that looks like an awkward “X” but is actually a man, is Kin’s. Approximately 46 steps to the left (I counted) is the red dot, or Top Ten Produce. Finally, located just across the street is Safeway.

Before Kin’s opened, both Top Ten and Safeway were well established in Point Grey Village and were operating comfortably within their targeted segments. Safeway took on the role as the convenient Supermarket chain and Top Ten was the local produce store with low prices and hard to find food items.

The question is how does Kin’s, a store that specializes in only produce, attempt to enter and be successful in this already established market?

Tomorrow, building Kin’s sustainable competitive advantage and the market environment.