Posted on 01/09/2024 9:33:12 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
Consumers should anticipate two major alterations to their shopping experience in the coming year, an expert has warned.
A consumer specialist is forecasting a grim conclusion for two contentious supermarket policies that could reshape shoppers’ habits.
Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert has projected retail tendencies for a quarter of a century, and his recent predictions might come as good news to some shoppers.
In a conversation with The U.S. Sun, the expert explained that security concerns and consumer preferences may be the main drivers of these changes.
“From a security standpoint, what’s happened is the retailers with self-checkout have had to add employees, whether it’s security or other employees to help people at self-checkout.
“So, you know you’re not accomplishing anything. You’re not reducing labour, you’re not getting a better shopping experience.”
(Excerpt) Read more at the-express.com ...
One of our local groceries started single line for check out where everyone gets in one line and you go to the next available checker as some sort of safety measure during the pandemic. When the store is busy it is faster than self-check out (and a better experience). It is also a more efficient use of the checker’s time.
It was such a hit with the customers they haven’t gone back to the pick a lane method.
I also think this probably helps with some of the security issues.
I think store design should incorporate this method.
Or the 2 registers out of 20 they may have open. Then you wait in that line with a slow cashier who has to hunt for just the right bag to put something into.
I got checked out by a clerk at Costco - he missed a large jug of clothes detergent which was picked up at the exit by the employee checking the receipts. Our line was held up while they tried to figure it out. We told them to keep it but those that didn’t know what was going on though we were trying to pull one over!!!!
NOW - if I had checked myself out, I could have been accused to shoplifting, especially if the woman let me through to see if I would leave with something I hadn’t paid for. We had gone through the line with the checkout clerk which took the blame off of us - eventually it was taking so long that we just told them to keep it and left without it.
I use checkout lanes as much as possible to avoid a mistake on MY part and ending up being arrested for shoplifting.
If I’m paying the rising prices at the store, they can do the check out and bagging.
This is likely little more than a click bait “article.”
I much prefer to self-check. It’s way faster and I don’t end up with a car full of plastic bags, each containing only 3 or 4 items.
I just figured digital coupon out. Go to the store website. Create an account. Click on every coupon on the website just to make sure.. Go to store and buy stuff including your digital coupon items. When you checkout, enter your phone number instead of scanning your Safeway or Vons card. I saved 12 bucks on a 35 dollar purchase the other day!
The Costco employees want to take over and "help" but no thanks.
< plonk >
Thanks.
For people who fill up a cart (or two) with $300-$400 worth of groceries, self-service is an actual job doing all the bagging, pricing, and loading into the cart, and especially for a mom with some kids.
The store needs to do its job, not the customer.
Bring your own bags and self-checkout is for people stopping off for a bottle of wine, some cheese, and a baguette.
Lempert worked at McDonald’s and Howard Johnson’s in high school, and after graduating Drexel University he worked in his family’s food brokerage firm. He then attended Pratt Institute for graduate studies in package design and went on to create Lempert Design, Marketing & Advertising; during this time, Lempert began publishing the bi-weekly The Lempert Report. He went on to become senior vice president of Age Wave a lifestyle consulting firm that focuses on the life path of the baby boomer generation and then joined the Tribune Company as chairman of their food task force and created content for their newspapers, online services and television stations.
• I’m not getting paid
• not trained.
= I’ll wait for a cashier or go elsewhere
Same.
In the USA of today, we must all speak in code.
The unspoken part of this analysis is that ghetto/urban stores, where theft is a huge problem, will change back, put products behind plexiglass, or simply shut down.
Other areas will probably stay the same.
Self-checkout in my little town, which has different demographics, is here to stay. I simply can not see our local grocery hiring back 6 staff to manage each check-out line if its not needed.
I keep wondering why Walmart (and other retailers) have self-checkout counters, but need to have employees to help people using those counters and to clean them. Seems self-defeating for the companies involved.
I am a rewards member, have an online account, but don't want their app, so I can't get their digital discounts. I can get the discounts for the rewards members, shown in the aisles, though.
It's crazy and wrong. Why do they super incentivize app downloading? To see all the other apps you have to sell that information for ad and deanonymizing reasons.
Companies know its you with high certainty when you are the only person with that set of 89 apps. Two companies with that same information confirmed through a broker can now deanonymize you and sell you as a name, then, without compromising what they told you about the data they collected from their app, because, even though you gave them a name, they recreated your name from 3rd party source, and can do whatever they want with that, now.
I wish more stores would implement Scan-and-Go.
The cost of labor should be between the employer and employee. Let the “invincible hand” of Adam Smith determine labor cost and service will return. Unfortunately we are today operating in a corrupt system where the government sets the cost of labor which is often much higher then some employees bring to the business. Result higher prices, lower service.
The United States has moved a long ways from being a capitalist nation. We are now a semi-socialist nation where the Federal Government controls the economy. Unfortunately for our nation (and the world) governments can not effectively control the economy they can only make things worse. At some point the house of cards will collapse.
I’m with you except for the paper bags thing.
If I wanted to do self checkout, I’d expect them to happily give me a 10%-15% discount at the total.
The Walmarts in our area don’t check receipts. Only Costco.
Yes, Costco self check out is very fast especially if you only have a few items. It can take forever when you use regular check out lane and you’re behind someone with a lot of items or if their credit card doesn’t work.
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