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Memories of the 28th Century

Retail Without People

Rating: 2 votes, 5.00 average.
12 Comments
by
PeterL
, 06-06-2013 at 03:20 PM (2588 Views)
I don’t go to retail stores often, but I recently went to several, and I notice a very disturbing trend; they are getting rid of cashiers. I will not tolerate this. If I owned stock in a retailer, then I would be even more annoyed with this trend. I wasn’t surprised to see that Wal-Mart is going with those business killers, just as I wasn’t surprised that Home Depot started using them a few years ago; they were clearly for overflow and to speed some contractors through. But I was surprised to see those things in a CVS.

CVS is the kind of store that requires communication with the customer, at least in some cases, when the clerk suggested that I use one of those things, I simply refused, and the clerk rang my order.

I suspect that CVS will abandon the things after a short test, because they will find that they require too much attention from people, because they don’t do a good job. Those things cost more to run that do human clerks, even though the manufacturers put out marketing material that claim lower cost. I also suspect that Wal-Mart will keep the things and claim that they save money. But those machines may be the beginning of the end for Wal-Mart.

Retailers have been living in paradise for the last several decades. They have been making money in all sorts of markets, but recently I have seen signs that retailers are not doing well. In addition to store closings there have been reductions in store size, and stores are just not as busy. The endless recession is doing its dirty work on another kind of business.

But back to Wal-Mart. I looked at a few things and decided not to buy, because what I wanted was mismarked, so I went to Target and found a store that was pleasanter, neater, better stocked, and having power prices than the W place, and their Pharmacy looked as good as or better than CVS, and Target doesn’t have self-service checkouts. Why did I waste my time going to those other places?

I wonder if Wal-Mart and CVS and other stores that use those things realize that they are throwing away customers by having those things. The people who used to be cashiers are out of work, so they can’t afford the luxury of buying things. It’s one thing to insult your customers, but throwing away customers is stupidity. There may be a small after-tax advantage to those things, but after they will be written off without a significant tax deduction, then they will be costs. By then customers will have learned to go to stores that treat them a little more respectfully, and the cashiers will have new jobs. There is no sea of new customers, so sales would not increase to cover the costs. Maybe it’s close to time to sell Wal-Mart.
Tags: recession, retail
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Comments

  1. cafolini's Avatar
    Walmart will not sell. It's part of the deal to globalize democracy all over the world. If Walmart went under 1 cm, the rest would be 3 mt. Target doesn't even have 1/10 the stock and the prices of Walmart, counting the Internet and delivery ways. The one that has most of those machines right now is Ralph's and they work very well. Ralph's is another leader into the future.
  2. Darcy88's Avatar
    I'm vehemently against it as well. Pretty young cashiers were the practice dummies on which I perfected my flirting game. Plus it's just another sign of the rise of the machines. Terminators will be next.
  3. cafolini's Avatar
    You'll terminate yourself with that perspective, Darcy.
  4. Darcy88's Avatar
    No Cafolini. When the great plague of which Peter foretells lays waste civilization my primitive luddite tendencies will save me while those who are reliant on technology will perish.
  5. cafolini's Avatar
    By that time you will be a model without the technology to have a show.
    ROFLMAO
  6. PeterL's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88
    I'm vehemently against it as well. Pretty young cashiers were the practice dummies on which I perfected my flirting game. Plus it's just another sign of the rise of the machines. Terminators will be next.
    Yes, without pretty, young cashiers there wouldn't be any reason to go to any stores.
  7. Darcy88's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by PeterL
    Yes, without pretty, young cashiers there wouldn't be any reason to go to any stores.
    I won't use the machines. It is like the store saying it can't be bothered to attend to you. Plus it eliminates jobs. I hope cashiers don't go the way of gas station attendants.
  8. PeterL's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88
    I won't use the machines. It is like the store saying it can't be bothered to attend to you. Plus it eliminates jobs. I hope cashiers don't go the way of gas station attendants.
    Yes, they don't care about you, except to take your money. I wonder how they missed the fact that getting rid of personnel means fewer potential employees.
  9. Silas Thorne's Avatar
    I think if cashiers have robot jobs let the robots do them, within reason (you still need people around in case something goes wrong or the software is limited for what the customer requires). Mindless keypunching and scripted questions seem essence destroying. I dont really understand why lovers of literature would be in favour of people working as cashiers and baggers, particularly in supermarkets. However, for retailers whose job is to help their customers buy what they want or need, sell or persuade people to buy products, Im all for the humans.
  10. Virgil's Avatar
    The CVS by me has done the same, but it seems like they've got the same number of people (which wasn't many) roaming the aisles. I guess the trade of lower prices (from having less cashiers) verses the better customer service is more of a draw to the store. Personally though I hate those self cashier (forget what they're called) machines. I will almost always go to a manned register.
  11. Dark Muse's Avatar
    I have to say I pretty much agree with Silas on this one. It is a good idea to have some humans planted in the store to answer questions (though half the time when you do try and ask them a question about products in the store they are working in they just stare at you like you are speaking Martian.) and help you find something you are looking for (again it seems hit or miss how often they can provide you with this information) and I would imagine people would be needed to handle returns.

    But when it comes to just going in getting what you want and paying for it, I feel no real need for a human cashire, in fact not having one simply means I will have to deal with even less human interaction which is ideal for me. I do not need someone who is being paid to smile at me and ask me how my day is, I don't want to discuss my day with them, and they don't really care. Giving my money to a cold emotionless machine would be rather suited to my taste, no obligation to be even minimally polite to such devices. Plus I would not have to explain to a machine every time that I brought my own bag.
  12. PeterL's Avatar
    Yesterday I mentioned this in a bar, and the bartender said that they had recently removed the self-serv checkoutss from one supermarket in the area. One of the known problems wih those thing sis that they require more repairs than do humans.