Our Shopper Survey results are in! Thank you to all who took the time to answer our questions. Your feedback will guide management, staff and our board of directors in our day-to-day work and as we plan for the future.
What did we learn? Perhaps the most important takeaway is how deeply you care about your co-op.
In total, 463 people started the survey, and 89% completed it. (Because of its length – 40 questions – Survey Monkey had projected a completion rate of just 53 percent.) Most people will drop out if a survey takes more than 5-10 minutes, so we were impressed that you spent an average of 18 minutes on ours.
And you didn’t just tick off the boxes. You took the time to include approximately 600 comments: praise, constructive criticism, suggestions and questions. We’ll be studying these in depth to glean more insight into how we can better meet your needs.
Click here for a preliminary survey report, including charts and graphs. Here are a few key findings.
• Cooperation Matters – Three quarters of our respondents said the fact that we’re a co-op influences their decision to shop with us. 66% of our survey takers are Owners, and of those, 43% are long-time Owners (since the beginning or when the store opened in 2013). The top three reasons Owners cited for investing in the store are 1) to support local farmers and producers, 2) to support the local economy, and 3) belief in the co-op’s mission and values.
• Store Satisfaction Is High – Results show that 98% of respondents are satisfied with the store overall, with 59% “extremely satisfied.” And 98% would recommend us to friends and colleagues, with 82% “highly likely” to recommend. Our shoppers are happiest with our Bulk Foods, Produce and Wellness departments, and would like to see improvement in our Bread & Baked Goods, Deli, Cheese and Meat departments.
• Why Shop the Co-op? – The top three reasons for shopping at the co-op are 1) to support local growers and producers, 2) to support good health and nutrition, and 3) to buy high quality organic foods. This is consistent with our mission and values of supporting good health by providing natural foods & products and promoting sustainability by supporting our local farmers & producers.
(We were delighted to see that our “courteous and friendly staff” came in as the fourth highest reason!)
• Pricing Concerns – While 75% find our prices to be either excellent or satisfactory, 15% rated them poor. We definitely need to do a better job of communicating about our many discount programs, including Co+op Basics, Co+op Deals and Owner Deals. We were surprised to see large percentages of respondents said they don’t know about (or don’t use) these benefits.
Our buyers have already begun working on several pricing strategies, including regular comparison shopping. We will continue to work hard to provide the highest quality food at the best possible prices, while also balancing the needs of the store (paying our bills, creating a great work environment with decent wages, offering services to our Owners and the community, and becoming profitable).
• We’re Not a One-Stop Shop (Yet) – 75% of respondents said they buy 25% or less of their groceries from the co-op, while only 3% said they buy almost everything here. We recognize that we are a small store and cannot carry every possible product choice, but we’ll be digging into your comments to find out what you always purchase elsewhere and why. If we can bring in new products or improve the quality of what we can, we will continue to do that.
Again, thank you to everyone who offered your feedback and suggestions. We are inspired by you!
Congratulations to the three survey takers who each won $100 in Co-op Cash: Paula Kunkel, Julianne Warren and Molly Lemen!
Leave a Reply