More than a Store is a regular column that delves into the experiential side of grocery retailing.
Every year, I look forward to my pumpkin spice trek to Trader Joe’s. While I’m usually prepared with a list and budget for my weekly grocery trips, this annual Trader Joe’s journey is one big impulse shopping experience where I let the colorful packaging, festive shelf signage and seasonal flavors influence what goes in my cart.
And it’s not just one or two fall-flavored items — I’m usually buying at least $50 worth of seasonal items for a one-person household, which is roughly the same amount I spend on a typical weekly grocery trip that’s budgeted and planned.
Not only is this shopping spree a giant impulse buy, but it’s a hike for me. Until just a few months ago, my nearest Trader Joe’s store was about 3 miles away — a significant distance when you’re using public transit — resulting in me nicknaming the annual fall trip my “Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice pilgrimage.” It’s also very much a Trader Joe’s-specific errand, as I pass several other closer grocery stores like Lidl and Mom’s Organic Market on the way.
Earlier this month, I embarked on my pumpkin spice pilgrimage, taking notes on the shopping experience to try and figure out the recipe behind Trader Joe’s seasonal merchandising and emotional magic that keeps me coming back.
A guided treasure hunt
While Trader Joe’s also has the seasonal end caps that other retailers commonly employ to spotlight limited-time offerings, I love how the specialty chain encourages in-aisle discovery.
Spotting the new fall flavors is part of the joy of the annual trip for me. And while I like thinking of this as a treasure hunt in the aisles, Trader Joe’s helpfully provides shelf tags calling out the seasonal items, making it that much easier for shoppers to find these items.
While Trader Joe’s is not the only grocer serving up seasonal fall items — Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market and H-E-B have also unveiled their own lineups — the chain consistently offers a lot of options. In 2023, for example, the grocer listed 146 items as part of its fall lineup, and this year’s fall assortment also contains over a hundred items.
Having fun with the assortment
Social media and news outlets are often buzzing each year about Trader Joe’s extensive fall lineup.
Trader Joe’s has so many seasonal items and in-aisle discovery that it feels like I’m finding something new each year. During my trip this year, I spied pumpkin and spice snickerdoodle cookie mix and pumpkin biscotti, both under the grocer’s name brand. I also saw national brand items too, like canned La Colombe pumpkin spice lattes.
I spotted quite a few non-pumpkin-flavored items, such as apple pie wine and maple spiced nut mix. One particular mashup of flavors that caught my eye was Pumpkin Spice Bark featuring pumpkin pie spiced white chocolate with gingersnap cookies, pretzels, dark chocolate drizzle and sea salt.
I also look forward to seeing what I think of as Trader Joe’s “classic” fall items such as bottles of spiced cider and boxed pumpkin bread and muffin mix. Having this mix of familiar and new seasonal goods gives me favorites to look forward to seeing as well as curiosity about which items I’ll try.
Trader Joe’s is no stranger to playful packaging, and the fun infused in the chain’s fall lineup adds to the overall flair. For example, I spotted This Pumpkin Walks Into A Bar cereal bars and Pumpkin Spiced Teeny Tiny Pretzels.
Fitting the ethos
I think a key part of what makes Trader Joe’s fall assortment enchanting is that the product assortment and merchandising tie into the overall spirit of the chain. Trader Joe’s already has a strong reputation for its unique private label offerings, playful merchandising with its shelf tags and endcaps, and creativity with rolling out new flavors — meaning unique seasonal items fit right in.
Trader Joe’s ethos is about making grocery shopping friendly, fun and affordable — the equivalent of an emotional pick-me-up.
Grocers should ask themselves how they want their shoppers to feel. Because even though I spent $50 unnecessarily on fall-flavored items, I left the store feeling excited to try new items and enjoy limited-time favorites.
Similar to Starbucks’ ad campaign this year proclaiming “There’s only one PSL” — referring to the chain’s pumpkin spice latte — Trader Joe’s has carved out a reputation among grocery consumers for serving up seasonal items, especially in the fall.
Grocers can take a page from the playbooks of Trader Joe’s and Starbucks by first asking how they tap into their current reputations with consumers and reliably serve up an experiential offering with unique items and emotional punch.
