Whole Foods tells digital stories

Storytelling is a potentially powerful tool at retail and one that is chronically under-leveraged.

[Full disclosure: My third book is about the role of storytelling in business, so I’m not totally non-partisan.]

Early pioneers of this technique included Ireland’s Superquinn, which posted pictures of farmers, their bios and directions to the farm where produce was grown over produce items. Digital media provides the opportunity for more robust storytelling across multiple platforms.

That said, the approach seems a tad unsophisticated at best (pulling knobs on a 12-foot display) and downright silly at worst (“Achieving a pose activates a burst of the shopper’s aura … “).

In a world of sophisticated graphic and communication technologies Whole Foods seems to have gone retro—maybe the approach they were aiming for, but, to me, far less impactful than it could, or should, be.

It’s truly amazing that everything old is new again. Yes these installations are a little different than previous work and yes, they’re not so prevalent in supermarkets, but there is nothing new here. For those of us that have been doing in-store interactive, this is a 2014 rehash of old work. The wine pairing signage (kiosk) concept is well over a decade old. So there are a few points to consider:

Beautiful videos aside, there’s some entertainment value with these systems, but not much that will change purchase habits or increase basket size. Existing Whole Foods shoppers don’t need feel-good video about farmers—they get it, that’s why they shop there. Wine pairing may be helpful to some consumers, but the Whole Body Mirror is masking canned sales messages that are not personalized to the user. Ultimately, I do not see Whole Foods rolling this out to every store (but who knows), and feel good storytelling is an expensive investment for most supermarkets, so it clearly will not be an industry trend.

The Whole Foods digital signage installations enhance the customer experience in several ways. Most importantly they offer a rationale, both intellectual and emotional, for shopping at Whole Foods. I think the installations can influence more frequent visits as well.

The Perfect Pairings seems to be quick, easy, engaging and fun for the person who is about to entertain guests, the family or herself. Rather than read a detailed description in a book or magazine or on recipe card, the shoppers can pick up ideas and the products within a short period of time and just a few feet from where they are standing (at the digital installation). And importantly customers can do this over and over again, for many occasions, to try many combinations of foods and wine.

The Whole Body Mirror reminds me of a fun house attraction, but with an outcome that can be educational and rewarding, for Whole Foods and the shopper. As depicted in the video I can see where adults and kids will want to participate in the activity. And it looks like something that kids will want to do each time they’re in the store—maybe the adults as well. This installation reinforces the positive value of Whole Foods as a partner in well being and good health.

Several of the installations as characterized in the video clips appear to be one-time features: Farm, Meet Table and Wise Wood. They may be limited in their ongoing appeal and attraction. I imagine that Whole Foods will track involvement with the installations, repeat visits to the installations and their influence on purchase (especially for Perfect Pairings and Whole Body Mirror). Changing installations to reflect consumer interests will keep the approach fresh and attractive.

Other retailers have an opportunity to create experiences that are relevant to their shoppers and connect with their store’s products and values. Using a touch screen and therefore physically dependent device offers a great opportunity to convey a desired message and reinforce a positive relationship between retailer and shopper.

Digital touch-screen signage is a powerful tool to engage the buyer. Yes, more digital signage will be one means of storytelling in stores of the future. In this example, Whole Foods made the content fun, educational and helpful. The mirror is intriguing and a bit odd. The wine section does a great job of helping the shopper select a wine, which many find challenging, as well as extending the consideration to what to serve with wine, how much to buy, etc. All areas in which many shoppers are unsure of themselves.

Information offered to consumers in grocery stores should serve one primary purpose first and foremost: allow buyers to assess the quality (or not) of the ingredients in the products they buy. I wish this would be the basis of all “storytelling” across all departments and product categories. Help consumers make the RIGHT choices for THEM (healthy and unhealthy ones).

Beyond this purpose, any additional information that can enhance the efficiency or effectiveness of the buying process by offering product-matching suggestions would only add to the overall consumer experience (and satisfaction/advocacy).

I see “storytelling” itself functioning in a fully separate area, namely, in educating consumers about the ecological or ethical priorities that the grocer brand aspires to and/or already has adopted in its sourcing practices.

As other readers have commented, I go to the grocer typically with a list in mind about the things I need, not to peruse the corridors reading interesting stories. Subliminal messages in digital displays can go a long way towards increasing brand loyalty, of course.

Digital Signage is absolutely valuable in retail.

However, the application of digital media in grocery stores and retail in general seems like an afterthought in most cases, and it is no different here. Although what Whole Foods has done is “cool” and has a little bit of “wow” factor for some shoppers, it adds very little long-term value.

It is unfortunate that many retailers follow this route with digital media and find that after a few months it is adding no value then blame the technology.

When deploying digital or interactive technology in retail, invest in the company that you will be working with. Make sure they understand your long term goals and how you can work together to achieve them. Put more focus on what you will be displaying and how you will be procuring content on a regular basis and how you can verify if the content is working and if not have a plan to change it. Think about how much time and effort you put into creating your website. Digital media in your store is as powerful if not more.

Often times, the best deployment of digital media we’ve done has most of the content driven from existing data bases within the organization. This reduces the pressure to update content because there is always new content coming from you website, social media, internal databases, etc.

The digital media that I like most at Whole Foods is the application of tablet devices in their pharmacy section. The tablet is private, it provides useful information when the staff isn’t around to answer questions and it is cheap to deploy.

What they should do is place displays on top of their top tables to advertise what is available today. It is not easy to view the food from a distance. They should also convert their menu boards to digital to better promote their deli and take away food.

I would seriously question the positioning of the interactive terminal at my local Whole Foods. It is located at the exit, not the entrance. I just finished shopping, I want to get out of there. I never see anyone use it. Why not put it in the entrance instead? A little bit of thought up front will yield far better results in the end.