I Scan, Therefore I am… the Cashier
Sunday, 12. 2. 2007 – Category: All Blog Posts, Customer Satisfaction, Workforce Development
In today’s New York Times, there’s a short article on online shopping (New Tradition: Eat the Turkey, Then Go Online) that says that Thanksgiving Day itself (vs. Black Friday) has been the busiest online retail shopping day of the holiday season for the last four years. According to the US Department of Commerce, e-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2007 accounted for 3.4% of total retail sales – still a small proportion of total retail sales, but roughly triple the rate of online purchases from 5 years ago.
Today was my first experience with Easy Shop – a new service from Stop & Shop wherein you use a handheld barcode scanner to scan your items as you walk around the store. At the self checkout line, you communicate your purchases via a single barcode swipe vs. scanning each item individually at the checkout. You bag your own groceries. You don’t have to interact with store personnel at all if you don’t want to.
In days not so long gone past, going to the market(place) was a social activity. You met your neighbors, caught up on the news, and supported local businesses with your trade. These businesses were owned by your neighbors, and supporting them strengthened your community. I live in the smallest town in Massachusetts – Nahant. There are no big box stores in this 1 square mile peninsular community. There are small locally owned businesses where the owner knows your name, and will trust you to come back later to pay back the couple of bucks you were short when you ran into the store.
With a full time job, a long commute, and multiple community and philanthropic commitments, my time is precious, and I do much of my household shopping on the Internet. Like lots of people worldwide, I appreciate the convenience and time savings, even if it means paying a premium for shipping. None of those online businesses, however, are ever going to spot me $5 when I need milk and have no cash.
Tags: ecommerce, online shopping, retail customer self service
3 Responses to “I Scan, Therefore I am… the Cashier”
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December 3rd, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Are stores even opened nationwide on Thanksgiving day? i wouldn’t know either because all my holiday shopping and weekly food shopping is all done online as well.
I also use http://www.6channel6.com to send reminders to my phone that I setup and also they suggest.
The tools are out there for us to find and discover. But it’s nice to walk into my favorite restaurant and they give me my favorite drink and appetizer without even asking.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:40 am
It’s amazing to me how much time people will spend moving from one queue to the next in a brick and mortar retailer when a few clicks will get the job done. Of course I commend a parent braving the elements and humanity to land their child an elusive gift like the Wii, but the experience of traffic, no parking and lines is just not for me. However, there are those local establishments where the people enhance the experience and keep me coming back… the bagel shop where like Popeye’s Whimpy, you still can pay tomorrow for a bagel enjoyed today, and “Sean Patrick’s,” where they treat my son like a celebrity and always make his now “off-menu” favorites. On-line or in-line, and with few exceptions, the customer experience is king.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
[...] a guest post from one of our board members, Mel Kleiman. We’ve written before about the increasing trend toward replacing customer service professionals with self service options. Mel muses here where [...]