Archived And The Next Big New Thing Is -

[pellinore]

Oh, when we need back-up cashiers we just press a button that says over the walkies: "additional cashiers to the front lanes."

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

We don't use code one at my store. Hit the button or the Gstl/GSA will call for backup.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Well, Hubby is... Hubby ... He's doing better, has to get back surgery done now... well more like spine surgery. There's some nerv half damaged/pinched and needs to be 're-activated'.
I was on vacation for 2 weeks as well because my family was in town, which I enjoyed tremendously...

:X

I am glad he is ok!

 

[redeye58]

Code One is when the lanes are busy and they call for backup cashiers from the floor.

^What he said.
All SFTMs are cashier-trained so any one can respond if needed. Whether they WILL is another thing entirely...

 

[mrknownothing]

We don't use code one at my store. Hit the button or the Gstl/GSA will call for backup.

Yeah, that's how it is at my store too.

 

[Producer]

nothing new under the sun

 

[Retail Girl]

Old thread, much?

 

[commiecorvus]

Is this a trend with bringing back old threads?

 

[Retail Girl]

Maybe that's the next big thing?

 

[Rock Lobster]

I think Self-Checkouts are great to rollout. The biggest advantage is that they will turn wasted space into something productive. In all honesty, most people will rarely use 4+ lanes at any given time throughout the year. Almost every store has at least some express lanes (or even some regular) that are never ever used. Let's put something useful up there. I know my store has 6 express lanes that are NEVER used outside of Black Friday. Convert them to Self-Checkouts and have somebody oversee them...

 

[Retail Girl]

@Rock Lobster , I generally agree with much of your wisdom..bit I see two major problems with this...first, the "somebody" overseeing them is going to be the GSA who is going to be in a billion different places at once as it is. And second, I suspect these will be like the registry kiosks and photo kiosks, which are both ridiculously easy as self serve machines, but guests will still not be willing to use them without a TM to do the entire thing for them, but will still want to use them because it would be faster than going to a register with an actual human.

 

[TargetMitchell]

And second, I suspect these will be like the registry kiosks and photo kiosks, which are both ridiculously easy as self serve machines, but guests will still not be willing to use them without a TM to do the entire thing for them, but will still want to use them because it would be faster than going to a register with an actual human.

This. I was using SCO the other day, and about half way through ringing up my order, I noticed a woman taking a very long time using the machine next to me. I finished my order and went over to help her; turns out she didn't know that you have to press the large, blinking "Finish & Pay" button to finish the transaction.

 

[Rock Lobster]

@Rock Lobster , I generally agree with much of your wisdom..bit I see two major problems with this...first, the "somebody" overseeing them is going to be the GSA who is going to be in a billion different places at once as it is. And second, I suspect these will be like the registry kiosks and photo kiosks, which are both ridiculously easy as self serve machines, but guests will still not be willing to use them without a TM to do the entire thing for them, but will still want to use them because it would be faster than going to a register with an actual human.

It all depends on how they operate and how Target decides to allocate payroll once they are installed. That is up to them however. As of right now, structurally, it makes more sense to have SCO then just empty lanes without the payroll to ever use them in the first place. Target needs to start evaluating what square footage in their stores are wasting money, and checkouts without anybody running them is definitely one.

 

[eleuthreophile]

the "somebody" overseeing them is going to be the GSA

My local grocery store has a regular cashier overseeing six SCOs.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

I'd like the "next new" to be making the last new things work. Our registers are still crashing and the new iPods at guest service aren't working.

 

[thee]

And second, I suspect these will be like the registry kiosks and photo kiosks, which are both ridiculously easy as self serve machines, but guests will still not be willing to use them without a TM to do the entire thing for them, but will still want to use them because it would be faster than going to a register with an actual human.

This. I was using SCO the other day, and about half way through ringing up my order, I noticed a woman taking a very long time using the machine next to me. I finished my order and went over to help her; turns out she didn't know that you have to press the large, blinking "Finish & Pay" button to finish the transaction.

Problem is that at many locations, folks don't have to press the Finish & Pay button. As soon as you start swiping your card or inserting cash, it auto goes into tender mode.

 

[mrknownothing]

Maybe that's the next big thing?

Well, we all know how Spot likes to recycle ideas and re-brand them. 😀

 

[Flabbergasted]

I think the biggest drawback for Spot is the inevitably reduced conversion stores will have if several of their cashiers are replaced with machines. Think about how easy it is for a guest to skip a prompt, whereas a cashier can be threatened with termination if they're not badgering every guest. Forget about how stupid people are and how much help they'll need checking themselves out; corporate bigwigs don't care about things like that. It's the REDcards they want to make sure they're pushing, and they know how easy it is for people to skip a screen asking them if they'd like to save 5%, versus a human cashier they need to personally tell "no."

Not to give them any ideas but, I could foresee corporate slapping some poor GSA in front of the machines and making them in charge of pushing REDcards for all the self-checkout guests. Then, they'll score the GSA so if too many guests are skipping prompts, it'll be the GSA's fault. This way they don't have to pay five cashiers minimum wage to get one REDcard; they'll only need to pay one GSA 50 cents above minimum wage. Yikes.

 

[looseseal]

I think the biggest drawback for Spot is the inevitably reduced conversion stores will have if several of their cashiers are replaced with machines. Think about how easy it is for a guest to skip a prompt, whereas a cashier can be threatened with termination if they're not badgering every guest. Forget about how stupid people are and how much help they'll need checking themselves out; corporate bigwigs don't care about things like that. It's the REDcards they want to make sure they're pushing, and they know how easy it is for people to skip a screen asking them if they'd like to save 5%, versus a human cashier they need to personally tell "no."

Not to give them any ideas but, I could foresee corporate slapping some poor GSA in front of the machines and making them in charge of pushing REDcards for all the self-checkout guests. Then, they'll score the GSA so if too many guests are skipping prompts, it'll be the GSA's fault. This way they don't have to pay five cashiers minimum wage to get one REDcard; they'll only need to pay one GSA 50 cents above minimum wage. Yikes.

Don't go giving corporate any ideas now!

 

[researchr]

They should have one SCO for team members only so you can buy something on break quickly.

 

[TargetMitchell]

Problem is that at many locations, folks don't have to press the Finish & Pay button. As soon as you start swiping your card or inserting cash, it auto goes into tender mode.

That doesn't work at the majority of stores in my area. Plus, she was using a gift card, so she needed to hit Finish & Pay before it would go through.