Comments on: The most important retail space

By: Steve Curtin

Steve Curtin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 04:50:00 +0000

Brian, great point. Absolutely agree. Car rental companies figured it out with technology that was available in the ’90s. And the Apple Store lead the way with hand-held payment devices during the most recent decade.
What was state-of-the-art has become commonplace. My last purchase at Nordstrom was executed from a hand-held device and the last pizza I bought from a vendor outside the Denver Beer Company was executed by the Square Register App on an iPad. If the pizza vendor can figure it out then, to your point, so should Office Depot.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.

By: DenverBrian

DenverBrian — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:34:00 +0000

Part of this is a technology barrier as well. There is no reason, in 2012, that every employee at an Office Depot isn’t carrying a mobile register that accepts credit cards. The car rental companies have been doing this for years; there is no reason retail can’t do the same. Imagine not having to “line up” at a register station at all – instead, flag down an employee and say “ring me up, right here!

By: Steve Curtin

Steve Curtin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:54:00 +0000

That’s a good point. Maybe, like airlines, wireless service providers, and cable companies who ignore calls to their 800 numbers, Office Depot is just trying to drive customers from its expensive bricks-and-mortar stores to its website where the transaction costs are significantly less? : )

By: Stuart Clark

Stuart Clark — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:43:00 +0000

Well said, it’s an annoyance of mine as well. Particuarly in this age when a customer can order online stores must give reasons for the customer to come in.

By: Steve Curtin

Steve Curtin — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 05:20:00 +0000

Jeff, exactly. Customers will remember items at the last minute and hurry off to retrieve them. In most cases, unless the cashier cancels the order (which may not be the best solution), customers will have to make allowances for the customer’s oversight. It happens. But, as you mentioned, the cashier has options: contract with the customer to complete her current transaction (and, perhaps, expedite her second transaction involving the paperclips), call for support (to open a second register), etc. Issues arise when employees do nothing and act as though their hands are tied when, in fact, they have options.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.

By: Jeff Toister

Jeff Toister — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Your post highlights the need for retailers to manage customer perceptions when there is a line at the cash register. I suspect you wouldn’t have timed your wait if any of the following had occurred:

* Another employee opened a second register as you suggested.
* The cashier offered to ring up the next person in line while the first person finished shopping.
* The other employees in the store were busy assisting other customers (rather than engaging in less-important tasks like stocking)