Stanton Champion

The dominant grocery company in San Antonio is called HEB and there’s practically one on every street corner. HEB isn’t a bad grocery chain, almost reaching Wegmans in many ways. They understand low prices, good service, and quality stuff. Recently, the one nearest to my apartment has almost finished an expansion and renovation where they expanded from the older traditional grocery store layout to one that is bigger, more open, and more upscale. One such addition was a bulk food aisle.

You’ve probably seen these sorts of bins pop up in some of the newer grocery stores, especially in places like Whole Foods or Wegmans. They contain all kinds of stuff ranging from trail mix to pasta to mixed nuts. From the store’s point of view, there are a couple of advantages to these things.

• They’re lower cost - the store can buy food in bulk with no unnecessary packaging
• They look premium - don’t ask me why, but people view the contents of these plastic bins as fresher and healthier

Unfortunately, there are two things that work against these big bins. The first is Choice Paralysis. Too many choices can make shoppers uncomfortable, leading them to avoid the section entirely. “Do I want mixed peanuts or salted almonds? I give up, it’s not worth it.”

The other is a lack of trialability. All too often, when you do encounter these big plastic bins of stuff, you also see signs that say “please ask before trying” or “no samples allowed.” Stores have these policies for a number of reasons, but whether they think their shoppers are thieving scavengers or they’re just trying to lower their costs, preventing people from trying before buying is always the wrong policy.

Consumers love to try things, and for most consumers trial is the first step to becoming an established customer. The lower the barrier to trial, the easier it is to attract customers. What’s more, customers who try and are even somewhat satisfied are more likely to stick around than those who never try at all. On the other hand, when customers spend money to purchase something they want to try and then find the experience unpleasant, they may be permanently lost.

HEB gets this. Spread throughout the bulk food aisle are little cups for holding samples. Customers are encouraged to take tastes of whatever they want, and clerks are happy to remind you that they want you to be satisfied. I can’t be more emphatic: this works! My bulk food purchases have gone through the roof, and I have only begun to taste the different offerings. What’s more, by promoting trial, HEB has even done away with some of the choice paralysis. If I can at least test some of the many offerings, I can start to eliminate the ones that don’t matter and focus on the ones that do.

The other day I tasted about five or six different kinds of bulk sea salt. I’ve never really cared about sea salt in the past because there’s too much choice and I didn’t want to buy something I wouldn’t like on my food. This time I tried and I was able to reduce my selection down to about two: one that tasted “oceany” and one that had been smoked and tasted savory. I bought the oceany one and plan on buying the savory one the next time I cook fish.

The lesson is to trust your customers, give them the benefit of the doubt, and let them explore your product before forcing them to buy it. They’ll be happier with their purchases and more likely to become repeat customers.

Next time: what HEB is doing wrong.