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.