Supermarket checkouts and longer queues, what happened, and why ?

[Justin Smith]

Do you all remember how supermarkets had checkouts with dividers which swung across to allow the next customer to be served whilst the preceeding one was packing away their shopping ?

Have you noticed how nearly all supermarkets have got rid of that excellent idea, so now we all have to wait (including the person on the checkout) whilst the shopper in front packs ?

How much time is wasted by getting rid of the dividers ?

How much stress is caused to those unnecessarily waiting in the queue, but also to those packing like mad so as not to keep a load of other people waiting ? That said, some people don`t seem to realise they`ve got a load of people waiting, and pack their shopping away far slower than my 85 year old mum could manage !

 

Why was such an excellent system got rid of ? I was talking to the manager at Morrisons Hillsborough, and even he didn`t know !

 

Added 4 Nov 15

 

Here`s a picture of one, they still use them abroad. This picture was taken in Spain, which is somewhat ironic as they`re infamous for the Mañana culture. Yet it`s us in the country who appear to be less bothered about wasting time, or, more accurately, the cretin supermarket manager who came up with the idea of dispensing with the flipper type checkout.....

Edited November 4, 2015 by Justin Smith

[Rupert_Baehr]

Saves money.

 

I remember going into the shop and either giving Aunty Bessie the shopping list (if I was in a hurry) or reading it out to her one item at a time.

 

The other people waited.

 

And food represented a far greater proportion of the family weekly spend.

 

Food is cheap.

 

How much more are you prepared to pay to have every checkout manned?

 

Couldn't you shop at 2am or on Sunday when the lines are shorter?

Edited May 7, 2011 by Rupert_Baehr

[Rupert_Baehr]

You could always submit an online order and have it delivered to your door.

[Justin Smith]

Saves money.

 

I remember going into the shop and either giving Aunty Bessie the shopping list (if I was in a hurry) or reading it out to her one item at a time.

 

The other people waited.

 

And food represented a far greater proportion of the family weekly spend.

 

Food is cheap.

 

How much more are you prepared to pay to have every checkout manned?

 

Couldn't you shop at 2am or on Sunday when the lines are shorter?

 

Maybe I`ve been unclear. The checkouts are still manned, it`s just that the bit on the far side of the checkout girl, where the products are pushed after being checked through, is a bit smaller than it used to be, and, critically, has no divider on it to allow the next customer to be served whilst the previous one is still packing. Instead all the people in the queue have to wait, for no good reason. It seems that Tesco/Morrisons/Asda don`t value my time at all, which rather annoys me......

[iansheff]

Saves money.

 

I remember going into the shop and either giving Aunty Bessie the shopping list (if I was in a hurry) or reading it out to her one item at a time.

 

The other people waited.

 

And food represented a far greater proportion of the family weekly spend.

 

Food is cheap.

 

How much more are you prepared to pay to have every checkout manned?

 

Couldn't you shop at 2am or on Sunday when the lines are shorter?

 

The big supermarkets aren't open at 2 am on a Sunday morning.

[HeadingNorth]

 

Couldn't you shop at 2am or on Sunday when the lines are shorter?

 

Sundays tend to be the busiest days of the week.

 

 

You can shop at 2am, but you will quite likely find that there are no checkout staff, and your only option is to use the self-service checkout.

[Deltic]

.........

How much stress is caused to those unnecessarily waiting in the queue, ..........

 

Why was such an excellent system got rid of ? I was talking to the manager at Morrisons Hillsborough, and even he didn`t know !

 

To anyone who has ever been to a supermarket before, and planned their time accordingly, very little stress is involved .

 

If you double the packing area you halve the number of checkouts and double the length of the queue. Most supermarkets now have >75% of their staff till trained so more and smaller checkouts should be more efficient, unfortunately the continuing reduction in staffing levels negates that to some degree. But that is a consequence of keeping prices as low as they are.

[chem1st]

I often find I have packed my shopping, paid in exact change and left the shop before the two customers in front of me have, often they are both still packing when a divider is in place.

[Mangoes]

Do you all remember how supermarkets had checkouts with dividers which swung across to allow the next customer to be served whilst the preceeding one was packing away their shopping ?

Have you noticed how nearly all supermarkets have got rid of that excellent idea, so now we all have to wait (including the person on the checkout) whilst the shopper in front packs ?

How much time is wasted by getting rid of the dividers ?

How much stress is caused to those unnecessarily waiting in the queue, but also to those packing like mad so as not to keep a load of other people waiting ? That said, some people don`t seem to realise they`ve got a load of people waiting, and pack their shopping away far slower than my 85 year old mum could manage !

 

Why was such an excellent system got rid of ? I was talking to the manager at Morrisons Hillsborough, and even he didn`t know !

 

You have not been unclear at all. I understood exactly what you meant.

[The Giraffe]

Why did they also get rid of the packing tables?

 

You literally paid for your shopping and bunged it all back into your trolley or basket and packed it at your leisure at a row of tables about 5 feet away from the end of the checkout.