[LINK] Google Wallet, Hate and Gloating in Forbes

[Jan Whitaker]

At 07:32 PM 18/12/2011, Fernando Cassia wrote:
>2. RFID tags built into every packing container of stuff you buy at
>the supermarket. That would really help the supermarket tally
>everything you´re walking away without the tedious unloading-reloading
>of stuff. But in this approach the cashier at the supermarket would
>keep his job (it has to, anyway, for people that would still pay
>cash)

Not quite. Here's my story re payment methods.

This week I've used self-checkout twice, once in 
a department store and once a supermarket. I 
didn't examine each of the stations, but the dept 
store one I used was plastic only. Worked fine, 
but I still had a person come over when I 
couldn't get the hang of the bagging process in 
relation to the stupid computer not liking the 
continual weight change on the platform as I 
tried to put my various purchases into bags 
before paying with my credit card. Then I got a 
bit cross when it wouldn't shut up asking me to 
do something near the end of the process while I 
was trying to work out how the stupid thing 
worked. It was somewhat efficient, but I wasn't a 
happy customer by the end of the process.

Yesterday I used a combined unit, cash or 
plastic, at a Coles store. I didn't have any 
items sold by weight, so it was quite easy. Plus 
I now knew about not moving things on and off the 
platform ( I can learn!). Their slots for 
inserting notes was ambiguous and I tried to use 
the 'out' slot instead of the 'in' slot. Luckily 
there was a SYT (sweet young thing) with braces 
on her teeth to point me in the right direction. 
She even offered to deal with the stupid plastic 
bags that all stick together so I could do other 
things. I was a less unhappy customer in this instance.

I think people will have different learning 
curves on these things. The machines aren't 
standard from store to store, but you'll learn 
the ones you use most often. When the queues in 
the few items check-outs are long, I'll opt for 
this. If you're not in the mood to stand behind a 
chatty mum or put up with kicking kids in the 
trolley, I'll go for this. And I even had more of 
a conversation with SYT than I normally do at the 
usual checkout to avoid holding up the mums with 
kicking kids behind me. But that's just me.

Not sure what this has to do with Google wallet. 
Guess I should read the article. :-) As for 
reducing staff in stores, many have already 
reached the tipping point in that regard. Ever 
try to find help in a Myer store? Fugedaboudit. 
This story and the associated comments are quite 
revealing on this: 
http://www.theage.com.au/business/myer-to-close-or-shrink-stores-as-retail-malaise-bites-20111218-1p0q4.html

Re the Forbes story (I went back and read the 
link), the writer is a 'contributor' who runs a 
consulting business, not a journalist. Still, I'm 
with him about the loading/unloading. Removing 
any of the 6-7 steps from shelf in the store to 
shelf in your pantry would be wonderful! (into 
the cart, onto the checkout belt, into the cart 
(Aldi shopper me) or into the bag, bags into the 
car, bags into the house, items out of the bags and onto the shelf.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the 
world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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