Progressive Grocer - March 2010 - (Page 84)

Fresh Food Heinen’s Freshens up Service Benchmarks Heinen’s Fine Foods is harnessing data to maximize associate and customer satisfaction. Heinen’s customer foods. “It’s ironic to me that the service includes a deep supermarket industry had one understanding of rom its origins circa 1929 as a local meat market of the major breakthroughs in shoppers’ needs. technology — the scanning of to its current position as a quality-oriented regional our products and ability to track every transaction and grocer, suburban Cleveland, Ohio-based Heinen’s purchase — yet has been historically poor at using Fine Foods’ focus on customer service has never that information.” In wavered. Indeed, while the 17-store grocer’s commit- could seeking to get a definitive handle on how data help it “make real improvements” for both its cusment to excellent service has remained constant through three tomers and associates, Heinen’s management team generations of family ownership, its methods of building con- endeavored to separate fact from opinions, so to speak, nections with its customers have evolved dramatically with to form strategies and ultimately make decisions that would serve it best for the long haul. And by doing so, the passing decades. “We’ve learned something about ourselves in every category we have surveyed,” says Heinen. “Our industry in general has been a very intuitive business,” says Tom Chris Foltz, COO of the family-held grocer, concurs. “We recognized Heinen, grandson of company founder Joseph Heinen. Tom and his that we were full of opinions on what was important to our customers brother, Jeff, lead a team of roughly 2,500 full-time, part-time and and associates, and how we were doing in fulfilling their needs and student associates in perpetuating Joe’s original philosophy of pro- expectations, but we really didn’t know,” notes Foltz, discussing the viding world-class customer service and the freshest, highest-quality impetus behind the retailer’s interest in embracing a data-driven approach By Meg Major 84 • Progressive Grocer • March 2010 A H E A D O F W H AT ’ S N E X T www.progressivegrocer.com http://www.progressivegrocer.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Progressive Grocer - March 2010

Progressive Grocer - March 2010
Table of Contents
Nielsen’s Shelf Stoppers/ Spotlight: Dairy/Yogurt
Green Grocer Awards 2010: Seeing Green
Multicultural Marketing: Use Your Common Census
Harold Lloyd on … “Making a Difference”: The Employee’s First 30 Days: It’s Now or Never
The Lempert Report: Enter the ‘Koodies’
Independent Retailing: Keep Cash Flowing With Trade Terms
Progressive Grocer’s 2010 Meat Operations Review: Value on a Platter
Progressive Grocer’s 2010 Seafood Operations Review: Seafood Hits its Stride
Executive Insight Series: Lasting Impressions: Forward Thinking
Produce: Tracking the Transition to Traceability
Meat: Heinen’s Freshens up Service Benchmarks
Natural/Organic: Nature’s Best on Ice: Natural and Organic Frozen Foods
Frozen/Dairy: Cold and Colder: Trends in Frozen and Dairy
Baby Food: Green to Grow On
Green Promotions: Along for the Ride
Foodservice: Loaded for Bar
Case Study: Clean Carts
What’s Next: Editors’ Picks for Innovative Products

Progressive Grocer - March 2010