“Satisfied” isn’t enough. “Highly Satisfied” customers drive sales.
In the past twelve months, over 52,800 customers at 107 participating co-op locations have shared invaluable feedback through NCG’s Customer Experience (CX) program. This feedback provides robust insights into what customers think about co-ops nationally – and each participating co-op has access to their own insights at the local level.
At the core of the CX program is the objective of moving customers into the “Zone of Affection.” Our own data shows that these customers, who report being “Highly Satisfied,” are 2.2 times more likely to recommend the co-op to others, and 1.5 times more likely to return to the co-op — leading to future sales.
Today, 75% of co-op shoppers live in the zone of affection as illustrated in the graphic above. This is two percentage points ahead of where we were last year, and peer benchmarking data shows that we rank comfortably ahead of the average of our competitors (70%) — but still a great distance from the top-performing competitor in our peer group (86%). Individual co-op scores fluctuate and vary from 55% to 95%. In May 2023, Harmony Natural Foods Co-op in Bemidji, Minn. was the top-performing co-op nationally at an impressive 95% — kudos!
Let’s get to the nuts and bolts.
Of course, we want all of our customers to live in the zone of affection – but it’s a bit ambiguous – how do we get there? Of the 112 metrics captured in the CX program, current data shows that six key metrics have the strongest influence on overall satisfaction – and customer satisfaction with regard to these metrics varies greatly, as illustrated in the chart below.
“Availability of Products” is clearly where we have the greatest opportunity to make an impact — in the bottom right corner, it has the strongest relative importance and the lowest current satisfaction. Outside of placing blame on vendors and distributors (it’s tempting, and sometimes appropriate), we know that there are lots of practices we can incorporate into our everyday work to improve product availability, and perhaps equally important, move the needle on the perception of product availability.
Tactics like counting out-of-stocks and consistently filling in gaps with temporary placeholders seem like retail basics — but can make a world of difference.
Perception is key. Local bread vendor miss a delivery again? Fill the gap with the peanut butter and jelly that happen to be on sale, and customers’ perception may not be an empty shelf but instead a tasty sandwich.
Staff availability improves perceptions of product availability.
The link between the perception of the availability of products and staff availability is significant. In fact, CX data shows that improving staff availability is the single best way we can move the needle. Greeting customers, as simple as it may be, makes all the difference. Recent data shows that when customers were greeted proactively, they received assistance 40% of the time. Customers who were not greeted proactively only received assistance 16% of the time.
If a customer only sees the backs of heads stocking shelves, they aren’t likely to ask where to find a product, or for an alternative if they can’t find the product they are used to buying. Make use of tactics like Zingerman’s 10-4 rule – and remember that greetings aren’t one-size-fits-all – they can and should be simple and authentic.
Consider the factors that most influence the customer experience at your co-op – it might be something other than product availability. If your co-op participates in NCG’s CX program, dig into the data and you’ll have a clear answer, Learn more about trends in the Customer Experience in our monthly CX Trends Reports.
To learn how to improve the customer’s shopping experience at your store, please reach out to your co-op’s resource manager. Find more information about NCG’s Customer Experience Program here.
