This is a great example of branding / customer experience.

Because branding, finally, is about offering value in all the touchpoints of the customer.

Jumbo Supermarket, a Dutch grocery chain with over 700 stores worldwide, has implemented a unique solution to combat loneliness among the elderly by creating a “Chatter Checkout” lane and a special “Coffee Corner” for customers to chat with the cashier.

In times of speed and automation, Jumbo fights loneliness by sticking to human factors.

This great initiative is part of the Dutch government’s “One Against Loneliness” campaign and was first introduced by Jumbo in the city of Vlijmen in summer 2019.

The response was so positive that Jumbo decided to build 200 of these lanes nationwide.

The initiative is strongly supported by Colette Cloosterman-van Eerd, CCO of Jumbo and member of the National Coalition Against Loneliness.

She believes that “many people, especially the elderly, sometimes feel lonely.
As a family business and supermarket chain, we are in the middle of society”

Jumbo Supermarket’s corporate philosophy is to be more than just a place where customers go to do their shopping, so they have launched local initiatives to signal loneliness among customers and start local initiatives.

According to the Netherlands Bureau of Statistics, 33% of adults over 75 in the Netherlands feel at least moderately lonely.

The Kletskassa (its name in Dutch, meaning “slow checkout”) was created to address this problem, and anyone whose day could be improved by a quiet conversation is welcome to use it.

The cashiers at these lanes take time for chit — chat and small talk, and the process may take a little longer than at the regular lanes.

#branding #loneliness #customerexperience #business #marketing