[Topic 283] "President, if we don't lower our prices like our competitors, we'll lose our customers."

You are not the only business owner who spends sleepless nights feeling anxious, pressured by frontline employees and buried in daily tasks with no time to envision the future, or struggling to get your vision across to your staff. Over my 25 years since founding my company, I have shared the same struggles as countless other presidents, getting my hands dirty while searching for the optimal solution.

By the time you finish reading this article, the pain of "price competition" should have transformed into the excitement of refining your company's value.

Article Summary

[Summary] In the Osaka food market, where the culture of special sales is deeply rooted, Kanto-based retailers OK and Don Quijote are challenging the status quo with "EDLP (Everyday Low Price)." While phasing out special sale flyers, OK is "Osaka-izing" by offering local side dishes, fostering a "sense of security that you never lose out whenever you visit." Don Quijote has adopted a new strategy, using cheap, voluminous side dishes like "250-yen bento bowls" to attract customers from afar. With capital strength and unique ingenuity, they are breaking down the stronghold of the "shop-around" culture.

[3 Key Points]

• From "point" special sales to "line" peace of mind: A strategy to eliminate "indecision in store selection" by being cheap every day.

• Thorough localization: Without abandoning their unique style, they flexibly incorporate products loved by the region (such as flour-based dishes).

• Extreme breakthrough on a single strength: Like Don Quijote's "side dishes," create an absolute highlight that serves as a hook for attracting customers.

The "Customer Pain" Behind the News

Deep Reading: Consumers are exhausted by "cheapness"

Do not dismiss this article as a superficial event of "price competition among major supermarkets." What should be read from this is the change in "universal human desires and pain."

Clutching special sale flyers and hopping between five supermarkets to buy a radish even one yen cheaper. That was certainly a virtue in the past. However, modern consumers, amidst dual-income households and time constraints, are deeply exhausted by the consumption of time and cognition required to "shop around at different stores according to special sales and plan menus."

Advisor's Perspective: The true nature of "trust" seen on the front lines of complaints

I once faced countless customer angers on the front lines of a complaint handling department. Most complaints do not stem from the product itself, but from the "gap between expectation and reality." Special sale flyers are a potent drug that temporarily stirs up expectations and attracts customers, but they also force customers into the tension of "what is cheap today?"

The "sense of security that you never lose out whenever you visit" presented by OK is a release from this tension. The unconscious trust that "it's okay if I go there" is the prescription that heals the customer's pain.

What customers really want is not "products that are even one yen cheaper," but "the peace of mind of being freed from the fatigue and indecision of choosing."

Practice: What you can do on the front lines starting tomorrow

Small steps: Start with a "word" to your employees

No budget or meetings are required. Tomorrow, try saying this to the employees working hard on the front lines.

"What is the one thing our customers find most troublesome (or are overthinking) when using our services?"

It is not about how to generate sales, but how to take on the 'troubles' of your customers. Through that gritty dialogue, you can see unique strengths that major companies cannot penetrate.

The Kojima-style Framework

Here are some tips to organize your thinking and rebuild your company's strengths.

Bonus: Flavor-changing Ideas

A Shift in Perspective: Gamifying shopping with 'Today's 100-Yen Item'

Actually, I love supermarkets. Even for things I could easily buy at a convenience store, I go out of my way to go to a supermarket to buy them even a little cheaper. But once I'm walking through the aisles, I think, 'Oh, this looks delicious,' or 'I needed that too,' and end up putting all sorts of things in my basket. By the time I get to the register, it adds up to quite a sum... that happens to me often.

If I were to produce a supermarket floor as a street planner, I would take advantage of this 'psychology of accidentally putting things in the basket' and set up a special 'Today's 100-Yen Item' corner in the store.

I would stock items that can be bought for 100 yen only for that day. I would create an opportunity for customers to pick up products they would never normally buy, thinking, 'If it's 100 yen, I'll give it a try.' Instead of cutting into profits with sales, I would use the low barrier of a single coin to help them find a 'new favorite (staple product).' While reducing the 'hesitation' in shopping, designing these 'little adventures' is also a way to build a new relationship with customers.

A Cheer from the President's Advisor

Finally, let me ask you one question.

Is what you should be desperately protecting from tomorrow the 'low price of products' that won't lose to competitors? Or is it the 'peace of mind of the customers' who choose your company?

Management is sometimes a lonely marathon, like walking through darkness with no correct answer. However, you are never alone. When you are lost or feel like stopping, please come to see me here in Ichinomiya anytime.

Let's sweat together.

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