Finger On The Pulse

As he prepares to assume the president and COO role, Wakefern EVP Joe Sheridan talks about makes ShopRite owner-operators tick — and why it's crucial for them to pump up their performance to the next level.

Even a short talk with Joe Sheridan, EVP at Wakefern Food Corp., the Keasbey, N.J.-based retail cooperative comprising 48 owner-operators of ShopRite stores across the Northeast, reveals that he knows the member companies inside and out.

Asked to talk about the key difference between ShopRite locations and the competition, Sheridan doesn't miss a beat. “When you look at them, as family-owned businesses, they're much more in tune with the needs of their surrounding communities: They live there, their kids go to school there,” he explains. “So there's a pulse.”

Noting the “intimacy of knowledge at a community and store level” that ShopRite operators possess regarding their shoppers, Sheridan cites price and customized variety as important factors in the banner's success. “Everybody says that,” he admits, “but a certain expertise develops with a private family business. There is no waiting for corporate at ShopRite.” Instead, personal responsibility on the part of individual operators is the rule.

Another thing about family businesses, Sheridan affirms, is that “they'll actually listen to” daring new ideas and move quickly to capitalize on the ones that excite them, as the results affect the owners directly.

The way to deal with such issues as evolving technology and the ongoing low-price juggernaut that is Walmart, in Sheridan's opinion, is to “build capability to react to challenges in real time.” A major strategy he mentions is expansion into the digital world. “Brick-and-mortar will be complementary to digital,” he notes, stressing that the personal element must never be lost. “You want to be efficient, yet you want to be human.”

Among the tools that ShopRite stores will explore in their deeper push into digital are mobile applications providing store and product information to mobile phones, a mode of communication that exerts a “powerful compulsion” over its many users, Sheridan says. Technology in general is paramount for the emerging group of shoppers age 25 and younger, he adds. Sheridan envisions ShopRite's use of digital as “not a total-store experience,” but more of a category experience focusing on certain products, depending on the consumer, cultural and other dynamics that arise in particular communities.

Sheridan also talks about building talent capability to create in some cases counterintuitive partnerships — what he calls “unnatural alliances” — but emphasizes that such combinations aren't one-size-fits-all and may not be permanent.

Then there's the concept of continuous improvement. Taking the recent example of Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Irene, which at the end of August devastated many of the stores' market areas, Sheridan noted that although 45 ShopRite locations lost power as a result of the severe weather, the affected operators worked hard to be up and running as soon as possible to meet customer expectations, just as they had provided a range of stock-up items for shoppers before the hurricane hit. “There's that level of trust that [the stores] can provide the needed items,” says Sheridan. Despite this exemplary overall performance, co-op members met to discuss what they could have done better. “You have to,” insists Sheridan. “It's in the detail.”

And speaking of detail, the “very exciting” period in question had more than just Irene to keep operators on their toes, he points out: The back-to-school season was gearing up, and the 9/11 10-year remembrance was about to take place.

A Principled Approach

Sheridan observes that the secret to ShopRite operators' success is that they've stuck to their principles, not only in regard to financial matters — he notes that the topline-driven business is “fundamentally sound” — but also when it comes to dealing with consumers and developing new talent. This type of “value-driven culture stands tall when the going gets tough,” as in the case of the current recession, he affirms.

Another factor in ShopRite's success is the interdependency between member companies, which leads to the airing and exchanging of a variety of perspectives, with the goal of finding the most efficient way of doing things, according to Sheridan. The co-op setup also enables operators to leverage economies of scale in relation to volume, price and variety, he adds.

Further, a consumer-oriented culture that allows operators the flexibility to make changes in how they go to market to meet shopper demands is “going to win,” Sheridan says, noting that in difficult economic times, “stressed-out consumers are going to turn to retailers they believe in.”

The trick is to handle the constant onslaught of customer wants and needs “while keeping standards at the highest,” he observes. Sheridan believes that the key to achieving this balancing act is not to sacrifice one priority for another: “People want value and quality.”

Looking to the Future

In the search for fresh talent, Sheridan acknowledges that the industry as a whole hasn't done a great job of making young people aware of the range of the opportunities that exists in retail, even though many teenagers' first work experience is in a grocery store. “In a changing world, we have to find a new way to communicate what we do,” he says.

That includes giving associates across the store a sense of their connectedness to the whole, he explains, and keeping in mind that the store-level employee is the closest to the consumer, so has the best chance of influencing that shopper through attitude and information.

At ShopRite, associates are encouraged to interact with customers and other employees alike using what Sheridan calls “honest, clear communication.” He adds: “Everyone likes to show how smart they are — we give them the tools to do it,” whether verbal or digital. Verbal examples include an hour each week when produce managers across the chain get together to discuss new products and promotions, or departmental meetings at stores where employees can agree on a common narrative.

In the realm of digital, Sheridan lays out an ultimate goal of stores being able to communicate with consumers on “any device, anytime, anywhere.”

However, empowering associates to be exemplary store representatives “always goes back to human fundamentals of respect and trust,” he stresses, pointing out that of ShopRite operators' 50,000 or so associates, 70 percent to 75 percent of them are adolescents looking to management to shape their initial experience of the workplace. “Engage them right away, and they'll carry [the business],” Sheridan asserts.

This isn't just a corporate endeavor, he notes, but also a cultural one, encompassing training and rotation, with the aim of keeping employees fully committed.

Never Finished

Harking back to the theme of family-owned companies in his discussion of associate development, Sheridan declares that another of their great strengths is that “talent wins out over everything.” He continues: “Everyone carries Coke; who's selling it is important.”

In such a highly competitive landscape, talent is the main differentiator, in Sheridan's estimation. Supermarkets are unique in bringing together associates of all ages, enabling the various age groups to share their respective skill sets, he notes, with younger workers able to introduce older ones to the digital world, for example, while elders can teach those just starting out valuable lessons in dealing effectively with shoppers in face-to-face encounters.

When it comes to customer service, Sheridan notes that “technology has changed the rules of the game,” with the effect of greater shopper expectations regarding such things as how stores receive and handle complaints. The idea, he says, is to “create a system of customer service to honor [the] individuality” of consumers who are more aware and informed than ever. Creating such a system depends on not only on peerless service and a variety of products, but also the effective communication of both of these features, Sheridan emphasizes, adding that operators must focus on “anticipating needs,” like the demand for gluten-free foods, and making such offerings known and accessible to consumers. “We will find out what shoppers need,” he says of ShopRite operators, and “go the extra mile,” whether it's catering to senior citizens or non-English speakers, “to make the customer feel valued.”

That same determination, adds Sheridan, assists the community and plays a big role in Wakefern's philanthropic activities, which include donations to food banks. But similar to associate development, when dealing with customers, “respect is more important than price or product,” he counsels.

In telling their individual yet linked stories to shoppers, however, one thing ShopRite stores never want to convey is that “we're a finished product,” affirms Sheridan, returning to the topic of continuous improvement. “There's always room for improvement. Otherwise, you stop growing.”