The new director and CEO of the Defense Commissary Agency wants to see more eligible younger service members and their families shopping at commissaries around the world.
That was the message William F. Moore passed on to senior staff Aug. 31 at agency headquarters, according to a release,
"Our patron base, those who are utilizing the commissaries, has slowly been getting smaller over time," he said. "We have got to find a way to reverse that trend.
Moore said DeCA has increased its number of eligible customers and now has to figure out what gets them into the commissary and then retain them as loyal customers.
"It's kind of surprising that so many (young eligible patrons don't shop the commissary,) and they don't, I think, because they perceive it as inconvenient,” he said. “So we have to think through what this generation deems important in terms of convenience and get them back into the commissary."
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Moore said the agency will build on its ongoing partnership with military exchanges; the computer-ordering, curbside pickup program known as CLICK2GO; the Your Everyday Savings! program, which lowers commissary pricing on trending products; and Commissary Store Brands that offer private label products at significant savings. Commissaries will also identify initiatives that improve their overall benefit to patrons.
"We always have to keep our eyes open on how we can deliver the benefit and do it in a more efficient way through better supply chain management -- there are all kinds of innovative ways we can do that,” he said.
For Moore, delivering the commissary benefit these days presents challenges that go beyond providing annual savings of more than 23 percent to military members, their families, retirees and now the disabled vets.
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"Obviously we want to maintain safety first, especially in a COVID environment," he said. "The most important thing we do - really our purpose - is delivering the benefit as efficiently as we can."