Hey, it’s Bob Negen, and in this episode of Real Retail TV, I am going to share with you my favorite retail store and lessons that you can learn from it. So this past weekend, Susan and I went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to celebrate our oldest son’s Joe’s birthday. He goes to the University of Michigan and after having brunch with Joe, we had a little time to kill, so we went to our favorite store, Zingerman’s delicatessen. It is an amazing store, and I love Zingerman’s for two reasons.
I love Zingerman’s because I love good food, and I love Zingerman’s because I love a good retailer. And so while we were walking around, every time we go to zingerman’s, Susan and I just look at each other and go per square foot. You know, it’s just one of those stores that has magic. It has soul, and they do things.
So very, very well. It’s not just the creativity, it’s the fundamentals that they execute at such a high level. So I could go on and on and on about Zingerman’s and what I love about them. But I’m just going to share a couple of key things that I saw that I think would be helpful to everybody in our community of independent retailers.
So first of all, everything that they have, every single product that they sell has a torquey and a torquey is a little sign. That gives a description about that item and it makes it so easy to shop and they have great copywriters. So when they talk about six year red wine or beer, vinegar or lamb, Bruce go red wine vinegar, they talk about what it tastes like, what it would pair love pair with, what makes it delicious, what makes it special. But it makes it easy to shop.
And it also because they have good copy, makes your mouth water. So while you’re walking through this small space, reading this sign, picking up things and putting it in your cart, they’re also doing something very interesting. They’re establishing credibility because they’re describing every single product, you know, that they know what they’re talking about. I call it curation.
You know, it’s not a bunch of food thrown up on the shelves. It’s clearly a thought through merchandise mix. And when there is a thought through merchandise mix, all of a sudden, you realize that they know what they’re talking about and you trust them. Something else that’s really great that I love about Zingerman’s is that they have their own look and style.
Here’s a picture of the signage that hangs above their cheese counter, and you know, it’s very distinct. It’s very Zingerman’s. If you see a Zingerman’s catalog, you immediately know that it’s a Zingerman’s catalog, so all of these things make your mouth water, make you want to buy and allow you to spend more. So here is an example of spending more.
This is AI know what I’m saying this wrong hormone. Iberico iberico Iberian ham Del blotto acorn finished awesomeness for $18 an ounce. And by the way, I have bought $18 an ounce and it was absolutely delicious. You see, so there is this whole idea of your educating your customers with signage.
You’re doing it with style. And because people come to trust the fact that you’ve curated your mix correctly, intelligently, lovingly that people are willing to spend. And so while I was looking at Zingerman’s and putting together this episode of Real Retail TV for you, I was on the web. I was looking at their websites and I saw this on the page that was called up when I googled Zingerman’s.
One of the questions that people asked is why is Zingerman’s so expensive? And here is the answer. Zingerman’s is expensive because in bold, it’s uncompromising about only using the highest ingredients in its products. They also bake their own bread and size their sandwiches larger than most.
But as stated in their mission statement, they also like to generate a healthy level of profit. They’re expensive, and they’re proud of it. You’re spending money and you’re happy about it. So right now, we’re in the middle of the marketing mentor program, and I was using Zingerman’s as an example of curation when I was just sharing with you.
They have people scouring the planet for the absolute finest food, their curation skills. What they’re bringing you is the highest quality quality. It’s awesomeness, it’s the deliciousness. And I said that when Susan and I were there, we left having spent $70.
We walked in and we needed absolutely nothing. They spent, they sold and we spent $70 and I joked that is probably the least amount of money I have ever spent walking into Zingerman’s. And somebody posted on chat going into Zingerman’s and only leaving with $70 can be considered a win. I also shared with them that one day.
When I become more affluent, when we become more affluent than we are, we’re affluent now, but we’re not Crazy Rich when we go to our cottage in Canada. I am going to go to Zingerman’s before we leave to our cottage in Canada. And I am going to spend hundreds and I’m going to spend thousands of dollars on delicious food stuffs. So when we are sitting on the dock, I am engaging in and indulging in only the finest, finest foods.
It’s just sort of one of my little fantasies. I mean, we could afford to do it now, but we choose not to. And you know, you’ve got to get yourself into the right mindset to walk into that place and say, I’m going to go nuts buying food for the next two weeks. But you know, it’s just one of those things.
It just the store. And the way that they do it and their signage and all of those things just inspires you to spend more. They also the next thing I want to share with you, besides this idea of curation and signage and education and pricing is they do bundles and subscriptions better than anybody I have ever seen. This sign is on their meat counter and it says our irresistible monthly subscription boxes and there’s a QR code that will bring you to their website.
But what I wanted to share with you from their mail order at Zingerman’s com, by the way, I would encourage you to go there and look is they have so many subscriptions available. If you look at the categories and I’m looking down at my computer here in the bed and bread and pastry categories they have for subscriptions in the gift categories, they have 20 for different subscriptions in the meat and fish subcategories they have for subscriptions. In the suites category, they have two subscriptions and it goes on and on and on, and they have price ranges too. So you don’t just have to buy it by the month or the quarter of the year.
I’m looking at the bacon all year club here for $395. I have given people bacon of the month and they have absolutely loved it. So what I’m encouraging you to think about from this little part is how many subscriptions do you offer now and how many subscriptions can you offer? And I would encourage you all your homework for today is to go to zingerman’s, Zingerman’s and look at what they’re doing.
Look at the way that they’ve laid out their website. Look at all of the bundles that they sell and look at all of the subscriptions that they offer. There are real deal lessons for you here. Ladies and gentlemen, bundles and subscriptions are one of the ways for you to bundles will help you increase your average sale.
Subscriptions will help you increase your income because three ways to grow your business get new customers, build the average sale and get more transactions per customer. Well, any time someone purchase a subscription, they are automatically increasing the number of transactions per customer. So look at it and then I’m encouraging you to buy something. Watch what comes in the box.
Look at the presentation, but most importantly, look at the catalog. Look at it from a retailer’s point of view. Look at the bundles, look at the subscriptions, look at the tone, look at the copy, look at the design because they truly, truly are masters and there is a lot to learn from them. Now, speaking of being masters, I want to talk about one more thing real quickly here.
Zingerman’s is famous for their culture. Ari zweig, one of the co-founders of Zingerman’s. They are now, by the way, a family of businesses has been the keynote speaker at the Retail Success summit, I think three times. He has written several books.
In fact, four of his books are in the set that I usually use when I shoot these real retail TVs. Ari is a brilliant business thinker. And a great writer, so I would encourage you to go to Zingerman’s and sign up for their email newsletter. It’s a combination of Ari’s thoughts on business and of course, his thoughts on food and his thoughts on food inevitably make you want to buy food.
But one of the things that makes Zingerman’s so great is they have created an amazing culture, and this was a sign that was outside Zingerman’s. It says we’re hiring. There’s a QR code, but there’s also a lot of information that makes their appeal to prospects. Prospective employees really, really powerful.
It’s not an orange and black help win it wanted. Sign it. Here is the copy on that sign. There’s a quote.
First of all, from Ari, the people who make up the Zingerman’s community of businesses are the foundation upon which the ultimate success of our organization rests. That’s on the top. Then it says we’re hiring. Then there are three little pieces of copy that show the benefits of working for zingerman’s, training for advancements, plenty of great food, competitive pay and benefits.
And then on the very bottom, there is a quote from one of their employees. His name is Jason, and I’m going to pull my computer closer to me. I hope you don’t mind it said I needed something for the holidays, so I thought I’ll work for a little while. But the longer I worked, the more I learned, the more I fell in love with the culture of Zingerman’s.
Jason’s, who works at Zingerman’s mail order, so I’ve given you just a little taste of lessons from one visit to Zingerman’s. I am going to, you know, give you my highest recommendation for all things Zingerman’s. I am going to encourage you to sign up for Ari’s tip to learn about the food. I’m going to encourage you to go to their website and to buy something so that you can become a customer and get the great food experience, the great food, but also so that you get their catalogs so that you can see what they do.
You know, one of the things that successful people do is they model and Zingerman’s family of businesses, and Zingerman’s as a retail establishment is absolutely a business that you should model. All right, everybody. If you are ever in Ann arbor, go to Zingerman’s. You will be happy you did.
I’m Bob Negen. I love you guys. We’ll see you next week.