When thinking about customer experience, it is prevalent in just about any purchase we make. I never really thought about grocery shopping as an important customer experience – I thought it a habit. But that habit must have initially started as a trial and then somewhere in my purchasing process became a habit. Now where I shop for something as routine as groceries has become a staple for something far greater that just habitual.
I shop for my groceries at HEB and have done so for years. I would help my dad shop for groceries back when I was still living at home and he would always shop at HEB as well. Maybe I enjoy shopping for groceries at HEB because I grew up shopping there with my family. It could represent a subconscious emotional tie that I have every time I walk in to HEB and shop. It’s a nostalgic feeling that reminds me of my childhood.
HEB has developed related and emotional strategic experiential modules. It appeals to my desire of self and to culture. The company itself has done a good job marketing itself as a “Texas” brand built on different emotional ties. HEB knows what it is to be from Texas. It portrays its commercials in that light that it understands our customs and traditions and wants to be a part of them. As far as emotional modules, some of HEB’s marketing campaigns have family celebrations where the food is purchased from HEB. Other commercials revolve around family ideals that help to strengthen that bond that reminds consumers like me of HEB, family, and groceries – They go hand in hand.
Aside from the emotional connection that HEB has established with me, there is also the sensory experience I feel when I step in to an HEB. The well-lit environment, the colorful and refined building structure, the smell of the bakery section, and the look of the visually appealing fruit section all tell me that the environment is great. All those factors appeal to my senses and evoke a strong tie of HEB and myself.
One of HEB’s recent competitors that given a fight in the grocery industry is Wal-Mart. Growing up, I always knew Wal-Mart as a discounted store where you could get clothes, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and house ware. It wasn’t until I was older that they started to expand and set-up a grocery section. I have never really been appealed to shop for my food at Wal-Mart, half based on the fact that I grew up getting food at HEB and getting clothes at Wal-Mart and half on the fact that Wal-Mart is a discount store and their food quality is lower than HEB. Not to mention the fact that until recently Wal-Mart’s environmental appeal was lower quality, that is the lighting and building structure as well as the mess you are sure to find in the clothing and toy departments. That is what I associate with Wal-Mart, discounted goods and not quality food.
In closing, customer experience is present in any shopping experience we have. Whether it’s grocery shopping, such as in this article or it’s something grander like car shopping. The experience is crucial to obtaining customers for that business. Because HEB has instilled the messages of sensation, affection, and cognition experience modules I identify with the brand and undergo a more holistic customer experience when purchasing from HEB. When you develop that tie with the brand and customer relationship strengths you trust that brand will deliver a great customer experience no matter what. That will keep me going back to HEB for years to come.
