Grocery stores have been doing big into a “self-service” checkout queues. From their perspective, it’s a way to save money, since it reduces the staff they need to hire.
It turns out it costs them money, too, since it dramatically reduces the impulse buys at the check-out counter.
According to IHL, consumers report buying junk food, supermarket tabloids and the like 45% less frequently while scanning their own purchases than when checking out the old-fashioned way.
“Retailers are being forced to rethink their merchandising at the front end as they deploy self-checkout systems,” says IHL President Greg Buzek in a press release. “The impulse displays have not caught up to this new technology. By definition these are impulse items – thus they must engage the senses. Retailers such as Meijer and Kroger have adjusted by offering items such as rotisserie chickens and fresh baked breads to rely more on the sense of smell to drive sales rather than simply visuals when
trapped in a staffed lane.”
The scandal rags may have to use bigger headline type or adjust their ratios of celebrity to alien-abduction news (that’s not in the report; just my free advice).
It’s not likely to change the trend toward increasing self-service, though — the cut in impulse buys doesn’t actually match the labor savings, and I suspect that they’ll figure out ways to push candy bars and magazines all the more effectively.
(via GeekPress)