Dollar General Fresh Food will Drive Customer Frequency

The Dollar store sector had been garnering customers from grocery stores for so long that today many consumers when they think about grocery shopping they think Dollar General first according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

It appears as if is as easy a taking candy from a baby according to Johnson.  The Dollar store sector continues to expand fresh food offering and legacy grocery store are have closed over 51% of their legacy grocery stores over the past 12 years. Kind of makes you realize that doing the same thing the same way may not be in the best interest of a grocery brand. Doesn’t it.

With over 16,000 stores open, Dollar General strives to capture more consumer grocery spending, by adding more and more fresh produce. When Dollar General announced that it offers a “curated assortment of produce” in about 650 of its more than 16,000 locations it made you wonder how long can grocery stores continue not to evolve.

Dollar General’s renewed focus on fresh fruits and vegetables stems from the retailer’s broader efforts to expand its grocery selections. When you look around in new or remodeled Dollar General stores you will find beside the fresh fruit and produce lots of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat food portioned and priced to garner grocery store customers.

Dollar General this year plans to add fresh produce selections to 400 stores across the country, “up from a previous goal of about 250 stores, bringing the total number of stores with produce to more than 1,000 by year-end,” said chief operating officer Jeff Owen in March during the fourth-quarter financial report conference call with analysts. “We are also accelerating the expansion of our fresh produce offering, which provides the Top 20 items typically sold in traditional grocery stores and covers approximately 80% of the overall categories they carry,” he said.

The consumer is dynamic not static. Dollar General understands that and continues to drive customer frequency with new offerings.  Differentiation does not mean different it means familiar but with a twist. Dollar General has a twist a combination of fresh, fast, food priced for today’s consumers.

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869.