The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is making significant strides to increase its customer base and enhance product offerings, according to Edward Walters III, executive director of sales, marketing and e-commerce.
DeCA is working to attract more eligible shoppers to its commissaries. Walters emphasized the importance of reaching those who may not be aware of their eligibility or the benefits of shopping at a commissary.
“I have the responsibility to make sure that we bring in as many eligible shoppers as we can. There’s a lot of individuals that are within 20 miles of a commissary who are not shopping the commissary. One of my big efforts in marketing is to increase the number of households shopping the commissary,” he said.
A major initiative for DeCA is reaching veterans with a service-connected disability to let them know of their eligibility. “That’s really important to us, because we want to provide at least 25 percent savings to everyone that deserves it,” Walters said.
He also wants to make sure the stores have the products and meal solutions that patrons seek. “We want to operate, in a lot of ways, like a commercial grocery store, but we also pay a lot of attention to the needs of our patrons coming in.”
He noted that DeCA, as a government entity, does not make a profit on sales. However, selling more products allows the agency to provide more savings to customers. “If they’re buying at our location and they’re filling up their baskets, achieving the 25 percent savings, that’s giving them the benefit they deserve.”
Walters said he looks at it as two levers.
“Trying to get those deserving, the very best customers in the world, or potential customers who are not yet shopping, into the commissary. And I also want to make sure that we’re giving them the categories, the products and some meal solutions in terms of ready to eat, ready to heat in a microwave or ready to cook. And make that easier, too,” Walters said.
DeCA has launched a direct mail campaign to reach eligible patrons who haven’t shopped at a commissary in over a year. It includes a coupon for $25 off a $100 purchase.
“We’re getting a tremendous response,” Walters said. “We are getting a lot of people calling … emailing, texting with a lot of positive comments.”
DeCA also is working to reach eligible patrons who are on SNAP or WIC.
“We welcome it,” Walters said of the programs. “We want those that are SNAP and WIC eligible not to feel any negativity about coming into the commissary.”
He noted that being able to access that 25 percent savings at the commissary will allow them to buy more items with their monthly allotment than they would get versus shopping outside the gate. He also touted DeCA’s Commissary CLICK2GO e-commerce platform, where customers can order online, pull into the parking lot and have their groceries brought out.
For the CLICK2GO pilot program, Walters said the agency is targeting a certain number of stores and offering $15 off a $75 order.
DeCA also is piloting a delivery program in some stores.
Walters said the agency works with veteran organizations, such as VFW and American Legion, to help spread the word about eligibility, and the Veterans Experience Office to help improve the customer experience. The senior enlisted advisor at DeCA also works closely with Walters and his team to make sure they are getting the message out to patrons who may not think they are eligible. They also are reaching out to welcome new personnel to the military bases, as well as those within a 20-mile radius of the bases who are eligible for the benefit. Social media channels also are used to spread the word.
He also noted “tremendous success” partnering with suppliers and brokers in terms of managing sales and helping with Commissary CLICK2GO promotions.
“We have iPads in stores signing people up, and we get brokers that help us with that. When we want to do sampling, we get help from our suppliers, and then obviously leveraging the promotions in the trade dollars that our suppliers give us is amazing, too, and helps augment our small marketing budget to ensure that we reach the most deserving eligible patrons.”
Fresh category offerings, meal solutions
Beyond traditional grocery items, DeCA is focusing on expanding its fresh and prepared food offerings.
“We try to look at everything through the lens of the patron. I think those at the stores have always been customer focused, and that’s one of the delights of going to the commissary. But everyone in the headquarters and support center, we’re really trying to focus on the customer experience and how the patron views things.”
He noted that the produce department is important to the overall impression of a store. However, as a government agency, there have been challenges with supply chain and logistics in providing fresh, quality produce. At a weekly meeting with the DeCA director, Walters said fresh produce is one of the items discussed.
“We’ll look at our savings. If our savings level isn’t where it needs to be, we make adjustments on that,” he explained.
“Quality is very important to our customers, so we are not only working with the produce suppliers to increase the quality, but we’ve also been working on produce training around the world with the stores, in particular, those who manage the produce departments, to make sure that we are receiving the produce optimally, that we’re keeping things at the right temperatures and that we’re giving it as much freshness as we can.”
Bridget Bennett, supervisory category manager for specialty/meat/produce, said a well-merchandised produce department is crucial for attracting and retaining customers.
“The merchandising team is always looking at the assortment available in the market to be sure that the commissary’s variety compares,” she said. “Social media is all the rage, and we work hard to make sure we have those trending items available for our customers.
“More and more, consumers are trying new recipes that include specialty produce, so we try to balance our assortment to include those trending items in addition to the staples.”
She added that the stores offer as much local produce as possible when in season, depending upon the growing region.
“This encourages our shoppers to choose the commissary for their produce needs, and marketing the local produce encourages shoppers to buy what’s fresh and local, enhancing both flavor and quality,” she said.
Walters said that the commissaries are known for their quality meat selections. “Our goal is to have people feeling about our produce the same way that they feel about our meat. We are doing that by working both from the supplier angle and then our store operations angle to make sure that, as an enterprise, we are improving that. It’s something that we won’t be satisfied with until our customers are completely satisfied.”
In the meat department, Walters said DeCA wants to continue to deliver savings and quality and to better communicate that to the shoppers, especially during an inflationary period when budgets are tight. Walters explained that the agency also aims to provide convenient meal solutions, such as ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat options.
One of DeCA’s recent initiatives is the introduction of 10 new prepared meals developed in partnership with a chef. The meals are designed to be microwavable and offer high-quality taste and value. 
“They are really good,” Walters said. “We went out and we benchmarked the quality, the taste and the pricing, and we can’t be beat on any one of those elements.”
He also noted the selection of marinated meats and other prepared food ready to eat, ready to heat or ready to cook. “The strategy is to have a selection at a good price and quality.”
Bennett added that the commissary delis offer ready-to-eat cold options such as sandwiches and salads and hot items like ribs, rotisserie chicken, lasagna, spaghetti, pizza and an assortment of sides.
“In addition to these items, we are planning an expansion of our breakfast options so that our shoppers on the go have a chance to grab breakfast, lunch or dinner,” she said.
Achieving savings for patrons
DeCA is committed to providing its patrons with significant savings.
In September 2022, Walters said the Secretary of Defense issued a memo on “taking care of our people.” One item in the memo was that DeCA will provide patrons with at least 25 percent savings.
In the continental U.S., he said the agency uses Nielsen data as a benchmark. “We’re not pulling that out of our hat.”
Walters outlined the agency’s strategies for achieving this goal, including strong cost of goods negotiation, everyday low pricing and focusing on key value items.
“We’re not about profit,” Walters stated. “We don’t look to make margin outside of a small margin to cover the gap between the appropriation we get in funding and how much it takes to run the stores. It’s a very small amount.
“We are really focused on strong cost of goods negotiation and really working to negotiate. We’ve negotiated very successfully with a lot of suppliers to get EDLP (everyday low price) pricing.”
In addition, DeCA has implemented a KVI (key value item) strategy, which focuses on pricing items that are most important to food-insecure patrons.
“We have a bunch of products that we have a strategy on, either the percentage savings that we will not be beat on, or in certain cases, a dollar or cents amount that we won’t be beat on,” Walters said.
The category managers, merchandisers and pricing teams work with suppliers, giving them goals and scorecards and staying in contact. “We hold the suppliers accountable, but we hold ourselves accountable, too.”
Sales performance, future plans
DeCA has experienced substantial growth in recent years, with sales increasing by nearly 10 percent in the previous year.
“We put over $1.4 billion in savings directly into the customers’ pockets. That was important for us,” Walters said.
He attributed this success to various initiatives, including increased savings, expanded product offerings and targeted marketing efforts.
He noted that the more commissaries sell and the more they buy will hopefully lower the cost of goods they are able to procure.
“It’s really an efficiency play that the more money we make, the more product we buy, and we hope to be able to deliver that into savings for the customers.”
Commitment to value, service
As DeCA continues to evolve and adapt to the changing needs of its patrons, the agency’s commitment to providing exceptional value and service remains unwavering.
“My charge is savings, availability, selection, working with our operations and logistics and supply chain and industry partners to make sure that we have the products that [customers] want on the shelf at the best price and to reach those that are eligible but not shopping,” Walters explained. “I want to exceed the expectation of our customers. This really is a passion and a mission.”
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