I had to run some errands today at Home Depot. After I found what I was looking for, I tried to check out using the new self-service check out registers. The first time I used self-service check out was two years ago, in Tennessee, but this was the first time I had used such a thing here in Silicon Valley, where we are slow to get such new-fangled technology. Ah, irony.
You could tell it was the first time for most of the people in Home Depot. I waited for six people in front of me; not one of them got through without needing help from the harried-looking employee. Each appeared to be having a different problem. Finally, when it was my turn, I finished the transaction without any trouble at all. Congratulating myself on actually getting through without needing help, I headed for the door -- only to be intercepted by the aforementioned employee. It turned out that my purchase needed to be taken over to a regular cash register so that the anti-theft tag could be deactivated before I walked out the door.
Oh well...
Tidbits from: http://www.crmdaily.com/perl/story/16162.html
"....a study commissioned by NCR that found that 33 percent of consumers indicated that self-checkout would be a differentiator that would make them more loyal to one retailer over another. Other studies have shown that between 20 percent and 40 percent of consumers opt for self-checkout when offered a choice. And for retailers that providing this option, there is a 7 percent to 9 percent improvement in customer satisfaction"
- Mike, you're ruining the stats
But I must add that my experience is similar. I used self-service checkout at another retailer. I was buying a pair of jumper cables. When I scanned them the display responded with a bunch of question marks. Tried again and got the same response.
A clerk noticed I was having trouble and snickered that I didn't know what I was doing. So I let him try.
He scanned them and the same question marks appeared. Seems that my cables weren't in the computer database. So after pulling out his scan card, entering 5000 or so digits into the keypad he picked up the jumper cables, waved them in my direction and said, "Do you know how much they are?"
Technology at its best.
Posted by: al on June 23, 2003 09:47 PMThis past week's 'For Beter or For Worse p' strips deal with this exact same issue .
From the Treo, I remain...
Posted by: mere on June 24, 2003 01:04 PM