The Experience Strategy Podcast: Themes, Adventures, and Shopper Identities at Trader Joe's

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The experience of food shopping is fundamentally about reliability and consistency, but standout brands like Trader Joe’s use powerful Experience Strategies to differentiate their brands, add meaning and value for consumers, and build loyal fan bases. In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, NYC-based blogger Halle Sarfin chats with Aransas and Dave about her love for grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and what keeps her coming back.

Aransas: Welcome come to the Experience Strategy podcast. I'm Aransas Savas. Today. We are excited to welcome you to the show. Halle is a wellness blogger and founder of The Too Good Life. I'll let her tell you a little bit more about it, but really it's a blog that focuses on all things, health, fitness, and food with an emphasis on balance, which is one of my favorite words and concepts. Holly lives in NYC and has a deep love for Trader Joe's. I have a deep love for Trader Joe's also. I'm super excited to talk to you about why you love it so much. [00:01:00] I think we may need to do a little convincing for our friend, Dave. I get the feeling that he is not a TJs junkie, like some of us. So we'll see if we shift him at all over the course of today's conversation.

Before we fan girl over Trader Joe's, let's just start by talking about you, your blog. How did you end up starting this blog?

Halle: I started the two goodbyes about four years ago when I realized I had a passion for the health and wellness world and I wanted to be able to share that with other like-minded people and you have the same passions that I did. I love to cook and I love to food shop and I love to work out and I want to share that on a platform that could be so relatable to others.

Aransas: I love that. And what are you hoping to impact through this blog?

Halle: I really just want to connect with like-minded people and hope to [00:02:00] really bring a positive and motivational vibe to Instagram and to my platform where sometimes it could be a negative place. I want to kind of turn that around and make it more of a happy and inspirational place.

And I'm hoping to spread the good vibes wherever I can.

Aransas: I love that. Being a force for good, we all leave an impact. I really believe we get to choose what that impact is and so I hear you being really intentional about how you want to show up and the mark you want to leave. Tell us kind of what you're focusing on now in wellness.

Halle: I love to discover new places, new food stores, new markets, new workouts, all over Manhattan, wherever. It's a passion of mine and I'm [00:03:00] very much into spinning. That is my main go-to for a good sweat, but I also love to just take long walks. It's very therapeutic to me to kind of listen to my music and kind of just be alone with my thoughts.

That's extremely enjoyable and I'm also currently working on becoming a health coach, which I want to basically change people's lives and help them live a happier and healthier life than they ever have. I think that is my calling and a true passion of mine that I want to see what I can do with it.

Aransas: Yeah, it takes a lot of courage to go after our passions and not just stay on the road more traveled. I think that alone teaches us so much about our strength and about really what wellness means. As you talked about exploring, I thought it was really interesting that when I asked you about [00:04:00] your favorite wellness experience, the first thing you said was Trader Joe's.

That's perhaps not the first thing that would have come up for many people. So just start out by telling us a little about what made you first think of Trader Joe's as the answer to that question.

Halle: If food shopping is a hobby of mine and it really is, and people laugh when I tell them that, but I love to walk into a food store and search for products I have tried before and be able to try them and tell people my thoughts and kind of get the word out there about the things I'm enjoying. That's part of the reason I love going to Trader Joe's. There are always new things I can try and it's very convenient. They're located all throughout the city and I love to walk there and kind of think about what I'm going to get, but also be surprised once I walk in. I love how excited the people are who work there as [00:05:00] well. They're very eager to help and they're okay if what I seek out is not exactly what I'm looking for. They're eager to help and find me what I need.

Aransas: I love that idea that it's a merging of these are the things that I came here expecting to get. There's that reliability and there is a consistency and there's a surprise and delight. That's coming with the discovery of finding new food items. You brought up the people to say more about the customer team at trader Joe's. What really makes them stand out for you and your experience?

Halle: I think the fact that everyone seems to excited. Everyone who works there seems excited to be there and they seem to be passionate about what they do. I really loved that about Trader Joe's. Looking at my own life and how this health and fitness world is. It's really inspiring to see people do something that they really love as their work and because of that, it makes it even [00:06:00] more exciting to go and to be surrounded by people who have the same passions as you.

Dave: Halle, when was the last time you went to Trader Joe's, and can you describe what happened?

Halle: Yes. Last Sunday was the last time I went to Trader Joe's and I knew what I wanted to get. As I mentioned, it's always a surprise going in there. That's what's so exciting to me to be able to see the new products that are emerging and be able to try something new because I like to think of myself as an open-minded person.

I like to try new things, experience new things, but I also like those same products that I get every time. So I walk up and down the aisle. I start with produce and I get the fruits and vegetables I need for the week. Those are staples. Then I go through the frozen aisle and I definitely grab what I know I like, [00:07:00] but then I grab what, I don't know if I'll like, and I try it out.

Dave: Tell me why you like to get your fruits and vegetables at Trader Joe's. What's going on?

Halle: So they make it convenient. They have a lot of fruit that is already cut up and prepared and with such a busy life and lifestyle I always like to have things I can grab and go because it sets me up for success with my health journey. Having that convenience aspect and the prices are right, they made sure their produce is affordable and you don't get that everywhere, but it's also good. It's not affordable and bad. It's affordable and green.

Dave: That's wonderful. So continue on your journey a little bit. Where do you go next as you're going through this?

Halle: I always have to go to the salty aisle because I'm a chip fanatic, and I definitely make my way over there. Like I [00:08:00] mentioned, things that I know I love, but there are always new items I have to try. I also love their seltzer. They have this lime seltzer that I will grab every time I'm there and it's just really exciting for me. This is something I look forward to every weekend. You know, the weekend is a time for us to self-care to take care of ourselves and set ourselves up for a successful week ahead. I know that food shopping and being prepared is what makes me ready for a new week.

I definitely have to walk up and down each aisle, but then they also have some curiosity, something else in the frozen aisle they have. Cookies and seasonings that are kind of above the frozen food so it's like a one-stop shop. You can get everything in one stop.

Dave: So you liked the fact that the cookies are above the frozen foods. Why [00:09:00] so you can get your full dessert right there? Is that kind of it or is it just the sugar?

Halle: Well, it's kind of all over the place and it does depend. I guess I like that I can walk down one aisle looking for something specific. Products that I wouldn't typically see in one place are there as well and it almost makes it easier and it helps me branch out and see things I might not have seen before.

Dave: So is a little bit of mix and matching going on?

Halle: That's what makes it so exciting. You never know what you're walking into.

Aransas: There's a whole identity thing about Trader Joe's too. What would you say is the Trader Joe's customer identity? Who shops there in your mind?

Halle: I love that question. I think that it's family-oriented. It's good for parents that need things that they can [00:10:00] grab and go for their kids. I think that it's great for someone like me who is in their mid-twenties that also has a busy life, but maybe has more time to cook.

I think that they make it super convenient. For example, they have cut-up vegetables that you can throw in a pan and saute, and you have a veggie stir fry as a side dish. I think the kind of person that shops there needs things convenient, but also appreciates.

Aransas: Yeah. It's like special convenience. There is something I think in that probably that consumer mindset about, I don't want things to be ordinary. I want them to be just slightly more special than ordinary. Then the other thing I'm hearing is that it's about lifestyle fit and this is convenient for me. So whether it's the frozen stuff or it's the [00:11:00] pre-chopped stuff, or it's the unusual pairing as different aisles that are less than customary to your sort of standard grocery chain. But then there's also this big piece and to me, this is maybe the most fundamental piece of what you shared. It's the discovery aspect, and it's probably not dissimilar to what you see at off-price clothing retailers, like TJ Max, where you don't totally know which shirt, and you can go in with this sense of an explorer's mindset and some curiosity to discover something that you didn't even know you needed.

Halle: Exactly. Which can sometimes be problematic. But for the most part, it's a great thing.

Aransas: What I love is that they're balancing right. They're balancing. Here are essentials, and here's a little [00:12:00] something to satisfy your explorer mindset. The randomness I have walked out of Trader Joe's with in my life I never would have considered finding at a supermarket and it will be like this specialty crisp from Wisconsin in my supermarket in Brooklyn and having been to Wisconsin I know that item is really traditional and it is cherished in that community so it was just like, oh, here it is in Brooklyn randomly. The chances of me finding that crisp anywhere else in Brooklyn are pretty slim, but they knew it was something that was beloved in Wisconsin. So they brought it to Brooklyn so that we can take on an exploration with that single food item. It really does tap into a lot of people's core values to [00:13:00] shop there because it helps us feel a sense of discovery, a sense of exploration, the powerful motivating factor that is finding something new or feeling like you're getting first access to something, but also just pairing that with these fundamentals, I think is such an interesting and unique business model for them to be.

Halle: Yeah, exactly. I've actually spoken of random things that you've gone to Trader Joe's, I've gotten listened to this a great body wash a citrus camomile body wash like, who knew they had these types of products and you walk in and you might walk out with toilet paper. Like you just don't know.

Aransas: Totally. I want to say though when I brought up today that we were going to talk about Trader Joe's, he was like, yeah, I'm totally excited to talk about Trader Joe's. I was like, do you love it? He was like, no, [00:14:00] it is not a thing. So, Dave, why is it not your thing? I didn't ask him if I could ask him this question beforehand.

Right? Right. Would they still be friends and co-hosts after this interview or not?

Dave: I want to talk as I'll talk as an experience strategist later, but as a consumer, I'm going to talk as a consumer now because as an experience strategist, it's phenomenal. What they've done as a guy who gets lost doing shopping. It doesn't work for me. I walk in and I walk down the aisles and I'm like, I have no idea what the purpose of this food is. I just can't put it together, you know? I think you described yourself, I'm a bit of a foodie too. I really enjoy food, but I'm kind of the everything is cooked in oil [00:15:00] kind of foodie kind of guy. I'm doing roasts. I wouldn't say that it's always healthy eating, made twice-baked potatoes on Sunday last Sunday. I feel at home at Costco because the portion sizes are right for me, you know?

I think is so interesting about Trader Joe's is they've really honed in on a certain mindset and they really understand that particular mindset and people who are in that particular mindset, love it. When I go to Trader Joe's, I usually go with my wife and it's a little bit like leading the blind man around.

Smell this, look at these ingredients, you know, and [00:16:00] I'm like, okay I don't know exactly what I'm doing here, but it's that kind of an experience for me as a consumer. Now, as an experience strategist, it's a totally different thing. They certainly really get what it is that they're trying to do for customers.

So very impressive from that standpoint, but I’m kind of a Costco guy at the end of the day.

Aransas: Those are probably different experience values though and it's a different experience strategy for a different customer.

Halle: Absolutely. Yeah, I agree. It's kind of like, it depends on the demographic, and if someone's kind of used to one way like myself, I might walk into Costco and would be like, this is not for me.

Dave: Well, and what you described the ritual of going up and down each row, looking, exploring, fits perfectly with the [00:17:00] theme that Trader Joe’s has built for itself, and theming is key and Trader Joe's does an excellent job of through the way that they source, through the way that they position things in the store.

Aransas: Dave, about theming. Why is theming important? It's not something we have seen necessarily show up in all experiences, but why would you say it's important?

Dave: For this type of story it's critical. It's a key part of what makes Trader Joe's work. You just think about the number of different stores that have tried different types of themes over the years. What I like about Trader Joe's is that they live every aspect of the particular thing that they put together. There are some experience strategists and Joe Pine would be the first [00:18:00] to argue this, that says that every good experience must have a theme or a coordinated sense of this experience is about cues and clues that you get along the way that tell you either consciously or subconsciously that there's something going on here that makes sense. Theming obviously was really important in the nineties. It really kind of ushered in the whole experience strategy movement.

We have a whole podcast on some of the things that were happening in the nineties with Joe pine and Bernd Schmidt and Lou Carbone where they talk about managing a physical experience through creating a particular theme. It's one of those things that if it's done really well it makes an experience [00:19:00] very powerful.

If it's not done well, it comes across as inauthentic and you don't ever want to kind of be in that space because people will go in one time, they'll look around and say, oh, that's the theme, I get it and then leave and they'll never come back. But Trader Joe's does a great job and it helps to have merchandise that's always changing, evolving, giving you new reasons to come in.

Aransas: I think the big takeaways from Trader Joe's really are about maybe the theme is an example of having a core mission and a brand story that comes to life. But certainly, I think there are other ways that businesses can bring a brand story to life beyond a theme.

To sort of create a picture of who the brand is, who the customer is, and who the employees are. Most importantly how the experience is designed. [00:20:00] And we hear this in Halle’s experience so clearly that she has an identity as a Trader Joe's shopper, and it is an important part of her personal brand identity, but also how she sees herself as a food shopper and as a food consumer, which is frankly so central to so many of the rituals outside of our food shopping experiences in life. Right? What we eat influences so many other relationships and experiences in our lives and so it's far-reaching.

The other thing I'm hearing if I'm listening to you, Halle, is it sounds like you like being part of the Trader Joe's shopper family, and there's a whole sort of cult online between the Trader Joe's shopper sharing tips and ideas and secrets, and the same way that you would see for an [00:21:00] In-N-Out burger or our other brand loyalty experiences where people have taken their in-store experience and they've expanded it into an identity well, beyond the in-store experience.

Halle: That's exactly right and I feel like the Instagram platform to get new ideas about even how to cook something. It's like, you can buy the same type of product as someone else, but the way you cook it, it's completely different. Then you get all these new ideas and you just want to run back to Trader Joe's, get that product again and cook it a different way.

Dave: That's what I'm missing. My Instagram presence is not nearly, and that's what I'm missing. If I had it I would have a better Instagram presence and therefore I would understand Trader Joe's better.

Halle: I could help you with that,

Aransas: It's about so much more than the online life. It is really [00:22:00] about how what you value is well aligned with what they value. I think that's so important for business owners to consider as they are designing experiences. Who are you as a brand? What do you really care about and what feeling do you want to leave your consumer with having shopped with you.

I think there are a lot of businesses out there that aren't thinking about that, but that's where we end up with these sort of haphazard, discombobulated experiences that we hear so much about. Certainly we all get the privileged to experience it but when it's cohesive and it comes together, maybe it's not for you.

Maybe you're not the target, but it is authentically the target for someone else and in a consistent way because it's well aligned with the brand strategy and the brand story and [00:23:00] those together, the brand and the experience playing together. It's just such a powerful place for any business.

Dave: It certainly isn't how you sound with your focus on wellness, health, and fitness, you sounded like the perfect Trader Joe's customer.

I think you probably get that feeling of wellness. Just from being in the store. I wonder how that's different for you when you go to like a Whole Foods or like a vitamin shop or something like that. Are they the same? Is it the same type of feeling or is there a difference in the way that you experience that?

Halle: That's a great question. I also am a fan of Whole Foods for sure and I do think they have that kind of like nice market or demographic of people that shop there. I think that my experience in going to a regular food store, like a ShopRite or Stop and Shop, et cetera, is a little different. That's more of your standard. You will get [00:24:00] sort of what you're expecting when you walk in there.

Whereas Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, it's like a whole new world of things you can experience.

Dave: Yup. That's the difference. Well-put.

Aransas: Any other big takeaways?

Dave: You know, I think trader Joe's is part of a long tradition and that I think the tradition was actually started by Wegmans, another great regional grocery store chain out of the Northeast. I know Aransas you've been to Wegmans started in 1905 or 1913 or something like that. Still, a family owned business [00:25:00] really, really focused on making sure that the product itself is high quality. The employees go out of their way to support you.

What I see in Trader Joe's is that same tradition that they've borrowed some of those ideas and they figured out a way to scale those ideas, which is very impressive. Theming to differentiate themselves from the Whole Foods, from all of the other grocery stores that are out there.

They're really not trying to be Kroger's, they're really not trying to be anything like that and so that really helps them to be that place where they can deliver on delight on surprise on mixing and matching, on going on a little [00:26:00] fun journey together on the ritual. I think that they're doing a fantastic job with what it is that they're doing and they're staying true to it, which is really hard. There'll be interesting to see if they can continue to stay true to it with their online shopping experience as well, going forward. So we'll see how that turns out but overall, I think Trader Joe's is doing a really good job and they probably deserve an A minus for the work that they're doing. Not quite an A, but an A minus for what they're doing. So an A would be able to help some poor, lonely soul like myself to figure out what I was doing there, but for who it is that they're going after they're doing it.

Aransas: Great distinction. Thank you, Dave. And thank you, Halle. [00:27:00] If you want to know more about Halle, you can check her out on the gram @thetoogoodlife.

I love following her and seeing her high-energy positive posts and Halle, I'm so grateful to you for joining us and sharing your Trader Joe's passion. And hopefully, you can give me a tour and show me around so that I can discover all your favorites sometime. Thank you for being here. And thank you for listening. We'll be back soon with more experiences.

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