my lunchbreak in a queue at Tesco.
As a former Tesco staff member for five years while at College and
University I remember one very boring training session (over ten years
ago) where we were told that a customer has ten interactions with
staff members during a shopping trip, from trolleyboy right through to
cashier. We were all encouraged to interact with the customers,
smiling and saying hello wherever possible.
These days I can walk into Tesco as a customer and avoid any human
contact with any of their staff by using the brilliant self service
checkouts. It's not that I'm looking to be unsociable, but when I am
in a hurry I want to go in, shop quickly and get out fast.... self
serve is therefore a great asset for people in a hurry.
Both Asda and B&Q have also invested in self service and face the same
issues Tesco do, so I guess what I've written here counts for all of
them.
Tesco Chelmsford was always a nightmare at lunchtime prior to self
service, massive queues at the traditional tills meant annoying
waiting times and often customers who had just a couple of items would
abandon them and walk out. I used to walk in at lunchtime and judge
if I was going to shop depending on the till queues, if they were bad
I'd walk straight out.
Then along came four self service tills with one Tesco staff member
watching over them, and all of a sudden the massive lunchtime queues
were reduced by customers serving themselves, and my custom could be
guaranteed if I walked onto the store.
Of course, when the tills were first introduced there were a few
problems and a couple were always out of action, but over a year
later, I think they finally have them all working well.
The issues are nolonger with the technology, the issues are now with
the abilities of the people who use them.
So.... I have a few ideas on how the whole experience could be made
even better to speed up the queue for people like me who want to get
out the shop as fast as possible. Here goes.....
1) Instead of having 4 tills, install 8 and have two staff members
looking after them between them.
2) Split the 8 tills into two banks of 4 tills.
3) For the first bank of four - make these tills exclusive for people
that know how to use them and can use them quickly. Make two 'cash
only'.
4) For the second bank of four - make these exclusive for those that
need help, are not in a hurry or have never used self service tills
before. These people really mess up the tills, I know they don't mean
to but having them in the same queue as people in a hurry gets really
frustrating.
5) When the shop gets busy I notice that the staff member who looks
after the self service tills often ends up working on a traditional
till, collecting baskets or running off to support other staff in
need. When they do this the self service tills mess up and there is
nobody to fix them, the queues get even worse while customers stand
like lemons while for no reason the till repeats 'please wait for
assistance' (and nobody comes). Leave the staff member to look after
the self service tills.
6) Stop idiots who cant read 'baskets only' and shop with trolleys
from using the self service tills. Consider giving them life bans
from the store if they even look at those tills.
7) Paint a Q line on the floor.
....and that's all I have to say about that.
Last time I blogged about BBC iPlayer with suggestions someone from
the BBC came back with feedback, I wonder if Tesco, Asda or B&Q will
too?
