351–360 of 374 posts
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Self-checkout? Best invention of the 2000's
Sorta. Took them a while to turn it off criminal mode. Wasn’t long ago you had to bag an item before you could scan the next. But I have more than 1 hand. Sometimes multiple people. French ones still run in criminal mode.
More then a few carts got left half unloaded.
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It sucks that while there are enumerable benefits to free market capitalism, there's also serious drawbacks. You tend to see the formation of mega corporations that can use economy of scale to secure and hold huge economic advantage. Short of some breakup, or government intervention, what can be done? The system is designed to reward those who find the best market fit. The problem is, there's no brake pedal on their…
This is interesting. Normally people say "innumerable" in a sentence like this, meaning "too many to count", but in this case there's a malapropism which literally reverses the meaning whilst keeping the sense of the original almost intact.
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Probably the best thing about COVID is now all stores here do curbside pickup. I don't understand why it took COVID to make companies realize that "hey, a large part of your clientele don't want to wander your aisles."
Grocery stores operate with razor thin margins of 2%. Pickup is more labor intensive and hastily scaled up COVID-19 pickup runs at a -5% profit. It’s better than no sales but is inherently a luxury service in a market with customers who are not willing to pay extra. Even Whole Foods had to find an exit as mainstream and discount grocers started grabbing organic market share.
They ended up just raising prices on all products purchased through Shipt (instacart) or through curbside. Most people don’t notice that a pack of batteries is 5.49 in store versus 5.99 in the app.
Some big ticket items, like Xboxes or other digital items, where customers generally know the price, were not increased. But in general it worked out well and became profitable.
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It sucks that while there are enumerable benefits to free market capitalism, there's also serious drawbacks. You tend to see the formation of mega corporations that can use economy of scale to secure and hold huge economic advantage. Short of some breakup, or government intervention, what can be done? The system is designed to reward those who find the best market fit. The problem is, there's no brake pedal on their…
This is interesting. Normally people say "innumerable" in a sentence like this, meaning "too many to count", but in this case there's a malapropism which literally reverses the meaning whilst keeping the sense of the original almost intact.
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Having worked retail stores, you really underestimate how little time you have as any individual to get your shit done and also help customers. That gaggle may be them deciding how to make the store look right with only 4 people when normally it’d take 8. If you want good customer service go somewhere they dont cut corners on staffing while paying the heroes that have to do 3 people’s jobs minimum wage.
>That gaggle may be them deciding Then take that gaggle to the back in a meeting room so that it's not visible to the customers. >If you want good customer service go somewhere they dont cut corners Where does this exist? I'm free this weekend. I'll see about taking a visit to this magical fairy land you speak. /s Seriously though, what public facing retail store doesn't cut corners on staffing or any other aspect? I…
Maybe they don’t care about offending you? Just a thought.
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Having worked retail stores, you really underestimate how little time you have as any individual to get your shit done and also help customers. That gaggle may be them deciding how to make the store look right with only 4 people when normally it’d take 8. If you want good customer service go somewhere they dont cut corners on staffing while paying the heroes that have to do 3 people’s jobs minimum wage.
>That gaggle may be them deciding Then take that gaggle to the back in a meeting room so that it's not visible to the customers. >If you want good customer service go somewhere they dont cut corners Where does this exist? I'm free this weekend. I'll see about taking a visit to this magical fairy land you speak. /s Seriously though, what public facing retail store doesn't cut corners on staffing or any other aspect? I…
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Observations about the nearest Wal-Mart: 1) All the employees look sad, all he time. 2) They've obviously carefully tuned their check out staffing so that the lines are always long. This is such a constant that it has to be intentional, and they're doing a good job of it. 3) Sometimes they attempt to check receipts at exit. I don't get that at any other non-membership store. 4) All the shoppers look sad. 5) It's the…
Most of what you're observing is simply a reflection of the area demographics. It's similar to visiting a small town DMV. Your description of gambling machines reminds me of my last visit back home in IL, after they legalized gambling. It's very jarring to walk past locals glued to video slot machines at 9AM in a gas station. It's depressing as hell, I'm sure the walmarts have cashed in on the action too but I didn't…
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I believe it, but what were they trying to optimize? If all of their changes are focused on near-term bottom line, is it really surprising if that comes at the expense of customer/employee satisfaction and brand reputation?
Walmart ultimately measures everything against lifetime customer value. They don't really care about maximizing revenue on a specific trip because most people come in to the store with a fixed budget of what they can spend anyway - but they sure as heck want you to return. Fixed income customers see things like an ultra clean speed and efficient store as 1) intimidating and 2) overhead that makes prices go up and "wa…
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There's something to #6. I agree it's pronounced at Walmarts. I've observed the same lack of sensitivity when going to a Costco in a poor side of town vs a more well to do, I've used that repeated experience as an Apples to Apples comparison. The shoppers in the poorer part demonstrate poor personal spatial habits and being oblivious to blocking others or other actions that demonstrate blinders and indifference to be…
It's a true point albeit a delicate one. I have a colleague who is not the brightest (not a developer ;)) and what I've noticed with him is that there's something of a misunderstanding of social contexts in that he interpretes things others do as in bad faith when they're anything but and which is why in such social contexts he's constantly agitated. So he's simply missing the empathy or emotional intelligence to see…
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Observations about the nearest Wal-Mart: 1) All the employees look sad, all he time. 2) They've obviously carefully tuned their check out staffing so that the lines are always long. This is such a constant that it has to be intentional, and they're doing a good job of it. 3) Sometimes they attempt to check receipts at exit. I don't get that at any other non-membership store. 4) All the shoppers look sad. 5) It's the…
> 2) They've obviously carefully tuned their check out staffing so that the lines are always long. This is such a constant that it has to be intentional, and they're doing a good job of it. They're also the only store I know of that shuts down their checkouts at closing time; if you were already in line, too bad, they'll check you out tomorrow. (Of course, a lot of their stores are 24x7)