Trader Joe's employees talked about retailer secrets

Have you ever wondered how Trader Joe's manages to keep prices so low? Network employees from a store in New York answered these and other questions during Reddit Ask Me Anything, writes CNBC.

Фото: Depositphotos

The employee who chose to remain anonymous said he was working with Trader Joe's and is now working in a store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He answered the four most frequently asked questions.

Why Trader Joe's often does not have the right products.

Have you ever walked between the aisles in search of vegetarian meat, but found that you dared? You are not alone.
The main reason for the shortage of goods: Trader Joe's orders are not so much promotional items, like other stores. On the shelves of Trader Joe's stores, on average, there are about 4000 products compared to 50 000 in a regular grocery store. Thus, due to the limited stock of goods, it is likely that you will not find the product you are looking for if you come to the store at the end of the day.

According to an employee, instead of storing a ton of food on shelves or in stock, Trader Joe’s stores use the “truck to shelf” principle. Thanks to this system, fresh goods are always sold online, and you will not find blackened bananas. This system also reduces the number of products that stores recycle.

“We don't want to order too much. Sometimes it happens that we have too little product. But for us this solution is better, it allows us to throw away less and reduce prices,” says the employee.

It also disciplines stores to correctly assess the quantity of goods needed.

Shortage of products is not always a store error.

“Sometimes we run out of goods in stock, but we cannot order more.” There are certain groups of products that are subject to restrictions on the volume of the order. Such restrictions occur for various reasons and are independent of the network. ”

“Last year we had a shortage of lemons for several months because producers did not have time to grow the required quantity. It was too cold in the south and too warm in the north,” says the employee.

Why do some products disappear from sale forever

If you are a regular Trader Joe's customer, then you know that the products offered in the store often change, and sometimes disappear forever from the shelves.

“If we start selling a new product, but few people buy it, then we stop selling it, because it turns into a waste of money,” says the employee.

Sometimes Trader Joe's stops selling a product because the manufacturer increases the price of it. In those cases, “we decide we don't want to raise prices for you guys,” he said.

In other cases, some products are withdrawn from sale in order to rebrand.

According to the employee, as of 23 March, feta cheese, Cameroon-Mount Oka coffee, the black hour with Manco and olive semi-baguette were withdrawn from sale. However, according to him, some products will soon be back on sale.

Why Trader Joe's has no delivery

Do not expect Trader Joe's to become the new Amazon soon.

“We no longer do delivery. If we return this service, we will have to raise prices, which we cannot afford, because we want to keep the low price tag in stores. ”

However, there are several services that can deliver products to your home, for example, Postmates and Envoy. Envoy operates in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

Why in Trader Joe's never discounts

The employee said that Trader Joe's can not afford to do sales, as "prices are already too low."

Experts also note that Trader Joe's sells private label products, which means that you can only purchase them on this network. Customers do not have to pay for advertising and marketing, which are often used by many brands to attract customers.

Trader Joe's focuses on being useful to the buyer every day, and not just through the provision of discounts and promotions.

“Discount is a 6-letter word for us. We have low prices every day. No coupons, no membership cards. No discounts. No promotions or coupon wars,” the company says on its website.

Read also on ForumDaily:

15 Secrets of Good Shopping at Trader Joe's

6 products not worth buying at Trader Joe's

Whole Foods, Trader's Joe and Walmart Recall Millions of Tons of Foods Due to Bacteria

Trader Joe's employees made up the top of the things they dislike about shoppers.

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