Ever since I was a little girl I have had an odd obsession with food shopping. It was so extreme, that at age four, my parents bought me my very own miniature-shopping cart that I would bring on every trip to the grocery store. I have always loved walking through the aisles and seeing what different foods are available. As weird as this passion may seem, my love for food shopping has only grown since starting school at Penn State. This is because it is here where I discovered Wegmans. I could easily get lost in Wegmans for hours, searching for different foods, thinking about what meals I can make. It is a passion that I cannot truly express in words, however it is a deep part of my being.
The other day while shopping, I decided that it would be fitting for me sign up to be a member of the Wegmans Shoppers Club so I could receive coupons and updates about what’s in the store. To my surprise I received three different brochures in conjunction with my new membership card. These brochures each cover different aspects of personalized service, meal planning, and nutrition.
The first brochure is a “Welcome to your Wegmans Food Markets” packet. This brochure was very information and detail-driven. It features histories of the Vegetable section, Whole Grains department and Seafood department of Wegmans stores. In addition, it describes the company’s commitment to organic products, trusted partners and their café that helps people to simplify their meal planning. This overview brochure additionally thanked me for signing up to be part of the Shoppers Club and it provided me with additional resources that I could use to personalize my shopping experience. This pamphlet suggested online shopping lists that shoppers can create, save and change over time; the Wegmans App to stay connected to store news; and forums to view past purchases, events, recipes, news, pharmacy information, and the Menu Magazine developed by Wegmans. These features encourage shoppers to take pride in their shopping experiences by empowering them to tailor everything to their individual needs. Wegmans does a wonderful job of promoting their vision while showing while explaining how it aligns with individual consumer’s needs.
The second brochure, “25 Easy Meals: Enjoy home-cooked taste in just minutes,” first captured my attention because of its attractive cover photo – a simple white plate covered with a piece of beautifully cooked chicken and colorful vegetables. This brochure made me hungry and made me want to by chicken and vegetables to recreate this delicious looking meal. Upon opening the brochure, I fell even further into love. A simple layout with earth-tone coloring lead its way to a message from the Wegmans family that encourages “busy customers” to “…take time for you…[because they are] taking care of dinner.” This message, so simple and so sweet, really hit home. Although I don’t know the Wegmans family, this simple expression made me feel as though I was being taken care of and that healthy meals are possible, even though I have a very busy life. Using primarily pictures of Wegmans products, the rest of the brochure outlines how to cook quick, easy meals, using a few simple ingredients consumers can find in store. This pamphlet takes the guesswork out of meal planning and provides wonderful tips and insight about how to best prepare store-bought items.
The final brochure is entitled, “Wegmans Family Pack.” Being a single college student, I originally thought that this brochure wouldn’t be extremely relevant to me. I was greatly mistaken. While this brochure is primarily dedicated to promoting the Wegmans Family Packs, which are value-priced bulk products, the first page discloses valuable nutrition information for any consumer. Using brightly colored plate images, the brochure depicts plates for Breakfast, a Mid-Morning Snack, Lunch, an Early Afternoon Snack, Dinner, and an After Dinner snack. Each plate is divided to show what portion of each meal should be whole grain, dairy, protein, fruit and vegetable. In addition, it contains basic guidelines that outline how many servings of different food groups that people should generally eat daily and weekly. This page was one of my very favorite parts of all three brochures. It was simple, visually appealing, and informative! A brochure trifecta! The usefulness of this brochure did not stop there. The following pages were filled with examples of different, healthy foods, to satisfy different aspects of each meal. Additionally, Internet links were provided to encourage consumers to learn more about different cooking techniques and recipes that combine the foods presented on each page. The Family Pack Brochure also contains coupons for many of the foods presented to help make meal planning more affordable for any consumer who reads this brochure!
Overall, I believe these three brochures from my Wegmans Shoppers Club welcome package are extremely effective in showing how one can personalize their shopping experience, plan quick and easy meals, and live healthier lifestyles. These brochures are also effective because their visual representations of Wegmans products are bright and colorful, and they are supplemented by clear explanations about how to get the most out of food shopping. I additionally believe that these brochures are effective because they are easy to read and appeal to consumers’ sensibility by providing coupons that supplement the recipes they share. While food shopping is one of my hobbies, this brochure packet only intensifies my love for Wegmans because it provides wonderful food-selection guidance while empowering me to make healthy choices.