A week ago the Huffington Post featured a slide-show look at Trader Joe’s - The Semi-Secret World of Trader Joe’s: The Tasty Bits. As a long time TJ’s shopper and arguably decent cook (well, if you ask my 6 year old son anyway - he swears by my grilled pizzas), I like getting a glimpse behind the curtain to see what keeps the store stocked with good eats at competitive prices.

The piece points out a few of Trader Joe’s strategies that could help other companies improve their supply chains and customer experience. Some of the highlights:

• Limited choices - Buyers don’t need 40 peanut butter choices of varying quality. At the end of the day, they want smooth, crunchy or maybe extra-crunchy. Trader Joe’s has fewer options, but customers can count on them being good quality. Are your customers also suffering from too many choices? Can you consolidate your own suppliers, catalogs or available goods to only include a smaller number of high quality options?
• Buyer of choice - Trader Joe’s stocks mostly their own private label products, but those goods are made by vendors, many of which are household names that fill other supermarket shelves. Those vendors are under strict agreements with Trader Joe’s not to publicize their relationship. However according to the article, Trader Joe’s “pays on time and there are no extra fees for advertising, coupons, slotting and all the other complications of traditional supermarket supplying.” Are there changes you could make to become the buyer of choice? And if so, can you negotiate win/win total cost savings with strategic suppliers, such as payment terms?
• Commitment to sustainability - Trader Joe’s shows that even in a recession, people care about sustainability (or at least they do if it doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg). Can you take steps in your own supply chain to promote sustainability and differentiate your brand without raising costs?

Justin Fogarty is Managing Editor of Supply Excellence and community manager of Ariba Exchange. For any questions or feedback on the blog or its contributors, Justin can be reached at jfogarty[at]ariba.com.