Service & Engagement New SCO Pilot

[Not My Name]

Hopefully they phase you out first

I worked for Target for 10.5 years. I don't want it to happen because a lot of great people work there but the writing is on the wall. The moment that Ulrich retired is pretty much the moment that the company took a turn from expanding their footprint and caring about in store brand to... not. Yes, they still opened more stores after but there was a massive slowdown.

There's a lot going on here overall. 2008 hit, Steinhaffel eliminated a bunch of positions as a result and used it as an excuse to continue to eliminate hours and positions regardless of it needing to happen or not, to not just maintain profitability but to increase it. He also had a massive ego with no long term vision and his implementation of the rollout into Canada was a disaster for multiple reasons. They were doing instocks on pen and paper and it was his idea to scrap the US system, lol. At least for a while, I didn't stay tuned into it.

Then Cornell came and made it abundantly clear that literally the only thing that mattered was short term profit. Guest experience and in store cleanliness mattered about a tenth of what it used to. He likely has no care in his heart for the long term. Again, golden parachute.

Couple these clowns/psychos with the fact that online shopping is putting a ton of pressure on them and it's just so obvious.

If you've been aware of the Target experience for the past 20+ years, there should be no question that the in store experience is night and day comparing then to now.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I worked for Target for 10.5 years. I don't want it to happen because a lot of great people work there but the writing is on the wall. The moment that Ulrich retired is pretty much the moment that the company took a turn from expanding their footprint and caring about in store brand to... not. Yes, they still opened more stores after but there was a massive slowdown.

There's a lot going on here overall. 2008 hit, Steinhaffel eliminated a bunch of positions as a result and used it as an excuse to continue to eliminate hours and positions regardless of it needing to happen or not, to not just maintain profitability but to increase it. He also had a massive ego with no long term vision and his implementation of the rollout into Canada was a disaster for multiple reasons. They were doing instocks on pen and paper and it was his idea to scrap the US system, lol. At least for a while, I didn't stay tuned into it.

Then Cornell came and made it abundantly clear that literally the only thing that mattered was short term profit. Guest experience and in store cleanliness mattered about a tenth of what it used to. He likely has no care in his heart for the long term. Again, golden parachute.

Couple these clowns/psychos with the fact that online shopping is putting a ton of pressure on them and it's just so obvious.

If you've been aware of the Target experience for the past 20+ years, there should be no question that the in store experience is night and day comparing then to now.

very true. i have seen all the leaders & changes listed above.

 

[Caliwest]

It is also a lot easier for 1 person to make sure 9 people aren't stealing when they have 10 items or less vs people with cartful of items and scan them in the cart and/or throw bags over items in the cart that never get lifted out and scanned.

Wow! 3rd customer thru reopened sco did this. Astonishing. No shame. Over the "10 or less" always happens when I m stuck fixing a double scan etc. Guests still suck.

 

[Caliwest]

I worked for Target for 10.5 years. I don't want it to happen because a lot of great people work there but the writing is on the wall. The moment that Ulrich retired is pretty much the moment that the company took a turn from expanding their footprint and caring about in store brand to... not. Yes, they still opened more stores after but there was a massive slowdown.

There's a lot going on here overall. 2008 hit, Steinhaffel eliminated a bunch of positions as a result and used it as an excuse to continue to eliminate hours and positions regardless of it needing to happen or not, to not just maintain profitability but to increase it. He also had a massive ego with no long term vision and his implementation of the rollout into Canada was a disaster for multiple reasons. They were doing instocks on pen and paper and it was his idea to scrap the US system, lol. At least for a while, I didn't stay tuned into it.

Then Cornell came and made it abundantly clear that literally the only thing that mattered was short term profit. Guest experience and in store cleanliness mattered about a tenth of what it used to. He likely has no care in his heart for the long term. Again, golden parachute.

Couple these clowns/psychos with the fact that online shopping is putting a ton of pressure on them and it's just so obvious.

If you've been aware of the Target experience for the past 20+ years, there should be no question that the in store experience is night and day comparing then to now.

Glaringly apparent since pandemic. We used to have a switchboard operator behind style dressing rooms prior to the pandemic. Upon reopen...everyone was supposed to turn on their phones to answer any department call but we were never shown how to transfer a call. Fast forward 2 years ish and NO ONE answers the phone. Guests are livid about this. Complain left and right. Submit surveys and reviews online as well and nothing s changed. Target doesn't give a crap about shoppers any more.

 

[happygoth]

I worked for Target for 10.5 years. I don't want it to happen because a lot of great people work there but the writing is on the wall. The moment that Ulrich retired is pretty much the moment that the company took a turn from expanding their footprint and caring about in store brand to... not. Yes, they still opened more stores after but there was a massive slowdown.

There's a lot going on here overall. 2008 hit, Steinhaffel eliminated a bunch of positions as a result and used it as an excuse to continue to eliminate hours and positions regardless of it needing to happen or not, to not just maintain profitability but to increase it. He also had a massive ego with no long term vision and his implementation of the rollout into Canada was a disaster for multiple reasons. They were doing instocks on pen and paper and it was his idea to scrap the US system, lol. At least for a while, I didn't stay tuned into it.

Then Cornell came and made it abundantly clear that literally the only thing that mattered was short term profit. Guest experience and in store cleanliness mattered about a tenth of what it used to. He likely has no care in his heart for the long term. Again, golden parachute.

Couple these clowns/psychos with the fact that online shopping is putting a ton of pressure on them and it's just so obvious.

If you've been aware of the Target experience for the past 20+ years, there should be no question that the in store experience is night and day comparing then to now.

This happens with nearly every retail company. And other companies as well. Payroll cuts are nothing new. It's a fast way to control expenses.

As for online sales, they are healthy but if the pandemic didn't kill brick and mortar stores, nothing will. Based on the hoards I see coming and going from my car when I'm on breaks, Target stores will be around for quite some time.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Target doesn't give a crap about shoppers any more.

How true. Our local Spot is limiting SCO to ten items or less, and they have a grand total of ONE cashier in the morning to check out everyone else. Doesn’t really make you feel valued as a “guest” to wait in line to get rung up by that one overworked cashier while gazing over at six empty SCO registers, wasting all that time because Target is punishing you for buying too many items. All Spot seems to care about is hearing the cash register ring, but they are too cheap to schedule cashiers and now they won’t even allow full use of SCO. What a system! And they wonder why they are losing sales.🙄

 

[boobooduck]

I can see a lot of people deciding it is easier and a boost in time savings to go online and just have the product delivered versus buying it inside. Who knows, maybe that is what corporate wants🤔

 

[redeye58]

Over the "10 or less" always happens when I m stuck fixing a double scan etc. Guests still suck.

We had a couple that would split up at SCO; one would be stashing & skipping items to scan while the cashier is tied up with the other (decoy) who *conveniently* had several pricing issues long enough for the thief to finish & get out the door.

 

[happygoth]

We had a couple that would split up at SCO; one would be stashing & skipping items to scan while the cashier is tied up with the other (decoy) who *conveniently* had several pricing issues long enough for the thief to finish & get out the door.

The distraction trick, a tale as old as time...!

 

[Caliwest]

It is also a lot easier for 1 person to make sure 9 people aren't stealing when they have 10 items or less vs people with cartful of items and scan them in the cart and/or throw bags over items in the cart that never get lifted out and scanned.

Wow we must have the same "guest". Bag throw over and everything. 1 st time I saw this was the first day after a month of having sco closed. 2 ND guest. Wow.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

everyone was supposed to turn on their phones to answer any department call

I'm gonna level with you. I will run a register, do OPU/DU, do most things in a store. But there are 2 things I absolutely refuse to do. Answer calls (with exception of when I do SCO), and do carts.

They don't pay me enough to get yelled at for this that and the other thing (insert a lecture on how 'we need to be doing things THIS WAY, said a tone so condescending Kai Winn would tell them to ease up, when I've been doing it the last way they said to do it, lecture on ALWAYS DO X, then later, WHY ARENT YOU DOING Y and Z? It needs to get done!) while doing register work. If I take calls at the register I'll get sh** for it. If I don't I'll get sh** for it. I literally cannot win.

I'm out of mental spoons. The spoon factory has shut down.

They've taken every second of my workday they possibly can and they do not pay me enough to pretend I'm a call center worker on top of everything else. No point in doing it, since they'll find something wrong with how I did THAT too.

 

[commiecorvus]

I'm gonna level with you. I will run a register, do OPU/DU, do most things in a store. But there are 2 things I absolutely refuse to do. Answer calls (with exception of when I do SCO), and do carts.

They don't pay me enough to get yelled at for this that and the other thing (insert a lecture on how 'we need to be doing things THIS WAY, said a tone so condescending Kai Winn would tell them to ease up, when I've been doing it the last way they said to do it, lecture on ALWAYS DO X, then later, WHY ARENT YOU DOING Y and Z? It needs to get done!) while doing register work. If I take calls at the register I'll get sh** for it. If I don't I'll get sh** for it. I literally cannot win.

I'm out of mental spoons. The spoon factory has shut down.

They've taken every second of my workday they possibly can and they do not pay me enough to pretend I'm a call center worker on top of everything else. No point in doing it, since they'll find something wrong with how I did THAT too.

+10 points for the DS9 reference, my child.

 

[redeye58]

+10 points for the DS9 reference, my child.

This.
I'm still cleaning up my keyboard.

 

[nevermind]

If they try this at my store that would be impossible. We have 5 SCOs and 2 registers (remember, I work at a small format) and prioritizing those two registers would be HELL on our already understaffed store

My small format is smaller than your small format. We have 4 SCOs.

 

[nevermind]

This was already happening. Now they are increasing hours to the front and decreasing from the sales floor. Now when they call for back up there is less to pull from the floor. We are running less people in tech, apparel and beauty because those hours are going to the front.

As a tech, apparel, or beauty TM scheduled for a cashier shift I'm calling out. Sorry Spot, I hate cashiering.

 

[Nauzhror]

We have 4 SCO's as well, and we're not small format. We do have 8 checklanes though, I can't imagine having 2 this time of year.

 

[Zxy123456]

As a tech, apparel, or beauty TM scheduled for a cashier shift I'm calling out. Sorry Spot, I hate cashiering.

Do this and watch your hours get cut or you get a crappy schedule.

 

[animalcrossing]

My small format is smaller than your small format. We have 4 SCOs.

My store is only 10,000 square feet...if yours is smaller than that then I will be amazed

 

[Guest Avocado]

Heard there was some chain wide news regarding SCO and Checklanes that seems to be based on the pilot that my store was participating in. Anybody have more details on it?

 

[BKop16]

Heard there was some chain wide news regarding SCO and Checklanes that seems to be based on the pilot that my store was participating in. Anybody have more details on it?

I've heard stores will have sco closed outside of peak hours based in sales volume but they'll receive additional s&e payroll. But nothing beyond that.

 

[Guest Avocado]

That sounds like what my store has been doing since October with the 10 items or less pilot. As a SuperTarget, we have two banks of SCO. One on Grocery side (green side) with 8 SCOs and one of GM side (blue side) with 4 SCOs. When we first started the pilot, GM SCO was only open on Weekends during peak. Around the start of Q4, GM SCO became always closed. Grocery SCO has remained the same besides the 10 items or less limit.

We've also received much more Cashier payroll. We have 17 Checklanes, and usually have 10-15 Cashiers during the afternoon peak on Weekdays, and every lane open during peak on Weekends.

 

[TurgetCirkl]

We've also received much more Cashier payroll. We have 17 Checklanes, and usually have 10-15 Cashiers during the afternoon peak on Weekdays, and every lane open during peak on Weekends.

for the non Super Duper Targets out there, we got about 70 ish additional hours to support people.

Mind you we’re a HV

 

[JohnSith373]

Looks like they might be expanding closing SCO fully. They’re closing SCO at a AAA volume store nearby.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

I'm not sure that would go well here...I know there's a reasonable amount of theft but you KNOW they're not going to increase hours as a result...

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Looks like they might be expanding closing SCO fully. They’re closing SCO at a AAA volume store nearby.

There’s only about 20 stores total that are closing SCO completely. It goes into effect March 17th and it is only high volume ultra high shortage stores.

They also haven’t announced it yet but by the end of March all stores will be 10 items or less for SCO.