A recent article from the New York Times detailed the new controversy about the new milk containers that large warehouses like Costco have begun to use. (Milk is after all a highly polarizing and hotly debated issue.) The new containers make shipping much more efficient, since trucks can carry many more palates with the stackable containers. A typical warehouse like Sam's Club used to require four or five truck deliveries a week with the old and inefficient design. Now, it only takes two truck shipments. More details about the dairy innovation can be found here.
There has been consumer backlash about these changes, but frankly I find it ridiculous. Users claim that the new container makes it harder to pour and spilling is now more frequent. I could not help but laugh when hearing this; THIS is the reason companies should switch back. Despite the obvious benefits including reduced costs for stores, greater savings for customers, more recyclable shipping materials and significantly less fuel consumption by large trucks, spilling outweighs all of this. It is simply baffling, especially since some of these outspoken consumers are the same ones complaining about rising food prices, or calling for better fuel efficiency.
I could not be more pleased that warehouses like Sam's Club and Costco will be ignoring this consumer outcry and continuing the use of the new containers. It illustrates a situation where the negative groundswell may overwhelm the positive groundswell, but the company decides not to act on it. In this situation, it seems more obvious to ignore the negative feedback, but these decisions can be much more difficult and consequential. When is it appropriate to ignore feedback, and when must a process or product be changed? It is a delicate balance that can be difficult to judge correctly every instance, but it seems that warehouse retailers have chosen correctly here. Time will tell if more retailers make the switch, and to those who complain, there is no sense in crying over spilled milk.
I think the warehouses actually slipped from being consumer oriented supplier to a penny pinching corporation in this redesign. I support that the company iterated something as simple as a milk carton and brought the cost savings to the people, but they are also forgetting their primary role as a supplier to consumers. If the end design results in consumer frustration, drives negative press & fails to retain customers, that is failed business move as a result of failed design. it is silly that the shoppers can't properly pour milk and blames the company for their lack of skills.
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