Check Up on Your Check Out

Check Up On Your Check Out    by Andrea Waltz 

Retail Wire’s recent white paper on checkout time and its impact on the customer service relationship concluded what we’ve all known for a long time: for most retailers, price and selection are no longer the only competitive advantages… the key differentiator is customer service. Next, the study reveals that checkout time dramatically impacts customer service perceptions.

And this is true most definitely in brick and mortal locations, in which 90% of all purchasing transactions are still made. I would contend that brand, is now a major differentiator… but that’s more a market share issue so we can put that aside for now.

According to this study, long checkout lines impact sales in three ways:

   ·          One is cart abandonment. Customers who leave the checkout line because it is too long. 
   ·          Two is "put-backs": Customers shop and upon seeing long lines put their item/s back on the shelf and leave. 
   ·          Three is "drive-bys": Customers see the lines are too long or perceive them as too long so don’t bother to come in.

So obviously we have a major challenge here. Keep the lines short, but in our opinion, not too short. Most customers don’t mind being in line especially when they are next.

On our Retail Service Across America Tour we found, that for "All Retailers" shopped, taking into account weekends and weekdays, 1.94 associates were at the cash wrap for every one customer in line. Retailing 101: it doesn’t take almost 2 people to ring up one customer. By the way, on the weekdays, this number was 2.78!

Therefore the good news is that retailers as a whole do not have a struggle getting their people to hang out behind the cash wrap. Now the second piece of course is to increase efficiency and speed when it’s busy.

We went to a play a while back and in the lobby area there were several bars all along the side of the room with about 15 bartenders working. The lines were about 20 people deep… and barely moving. It was about twenty minutes before the show and people were anxious to get their drinks and get into the theater.

What shocked us was to see bartenders hunting around for different bottles of wine. At one point we watched a bartender struggle to open one bottle of wine for two minutes. (Two minutes feels like 20 in line doesn’t it?) You’re probably thinking what we were thinking… couldn’t they have opened 10 (20? 30?) bottles for all of these bartenders in advance or at least had someone back there opening bottles for them? Not only that, there was going to be an intermission so it wasn’t like they couldn’t take a chance opening a few bottles of wine before the show.

So what does this have to do with your store? Ask what processes could be handled during the wait that will reduce the time customers spend at the register.

·       Could you have a "bagger" opening bags, wrapping merchandise, doing the packaging functions?
·          Could you have a floater to sell while people wait? (i.e. recommend "needed" items to people in line such as batteries, or other special offers and discounts) 

Do what you can to reduce wait time and increase the perception of service… the mark of an exceptional retailer especially during the holidays! People will be happy to shop with you over and over.

Tech Tips 

Personalize your receipts and reports by adding your store logo to them. To do this, Save a copy of your store logo in the Pictures folder under Microsoft Retail Management>Store Operations. In Store Operations Administrator, click on File>Configuration>Register, in Store Logo, click the looking glass and select your store logo.

How to Catch the Eye of the Gen Y.

Millennials, echo boomers, digital millennials, kidemployees, are just a few names of the young adults that were born between 1980 and 2000.  They are 80 million strong and there are predictions that they will grow to 100 million. They are the most influential generation and they have shown more spending power and stronger opinions at an earlier age.  The economic opportunity is enormous and one every retailer needs to embrace.  Whether they are your customers or your employees, you need to adjust your training as well as your marketing techniques to them.

After reviewing the top five requests of Gen Y-er's, you may find yourself not so different than they are. 

1. Don't fake it.  This is not a customer to try to impress.  They are smart, savvy as well as media bombarded and probably more knowledgeable about your product than you are.  Be straightforward and concise in how you communicate with them and they will appreciate your style. If they are your employee, be straightforward with your requirements.  Explain the "why" behind the task as this is a generation that "needs to know" before they will successfully complete the project.

2. Listen to me.  This customer is the epitome of multi-tasking.  Too often employers and business owners see this as a way of "turning off" what doesn't interest them.  On the contrary, they are able to do far more things at one time and actually do them well.  Listen to your Gen Y employee or customer and don't just give them "ear service" assuming they really don’t care, because they do.  This generation does not appreciate a "talking head" so if you are training, add various types of media throughout the process to keep their attention.

3. Be Original.  This generation grew up being told they are special and that they can do anything they want.  They have a solid sense of identity and you can see that in how they "personalize" much of what they own.  From ring tones, to i-Pods, to how they text message, it is all about originality.  Look for the unique things to offer this generation as well as how to train and motivate them as your employees.  The old "atta boy" name recognition on the break room bulletin board doesn't cut it anymore.  This is a generation that has shelves of trophies and awards at home from their accomplishments over the years.  They are used to public recognition so don't hold back when it comes to acknowledging a good job.

4. Know My Communication Style.  Research found that 18-26 year-olds spend 28 percent more time online than 27-40 year-olds,  read blogs twice as often and are 50 percent more likely to instant message.  They will wait just three seconds for a page to download before they click away.  They also process website information five times faster than older generations.

But just as important as their expertise in technology is the power that lies in their friendships. This isn't a group that will read the newspaper with a cup of coffee and run across your ad.  They instant message, text message, blog, and chat on MySpace and check out YouTube.  No other group is more adept at leveraging technologies than Gen Y.  Look out for video email to be the next powerhouse to market to this group.  If they like your product, they don't just tell a few friends at lunch; they can send a mass message in seconds. The challenge in marketing to Gen Y-er's means giving them what they want, when they want it, in a quick, easy format and they'll share it with the world, literally.

At the NRF convention in New York this month, a "magic mirror" was unveiled!  The technology was featured in the "store of the future" exhibit but it has been reported that it will be seen in stores before the end of 2007.  The interactive mirror is placed in the fitting room and an internet user away from the fitting room can see the person and send the user a comment that will be seen on the mirror.  Comments like, "I love that on you" or "Try the red one on again" are ways to get the important feedback most young shoppers require. This device is geared to the 17-24-year-old-group. The mirror also offers viewers other apparel pieces to try on!  So much for your friendly, helpful sales associate!

New research now shows that 67 percent of the Gen Y group  say that their peers and friends play the biggest role in their decision of what to buy.  Nearly 30 percent of teens say they use the "e-mail a friend" link on a website to gain advice.

If you are training a technology savvy Gen Y employee, understanding their communication style is key.  Evaluate your current training material as well as trend setting marketing ideas and decide what new techniques you can add that will make the information more interesting to your younger employees as well as customers.  There are a number of web-based training programs that may fill that void.  Offering downloadable podcasts as an addition to your training will fit into their busy lifestyle and they will appreciate your flexibility.

If you look at these four areas realistically, you may find yourself being more like a Gen Y yourself.  This generation has raised the bar on how we communicate and relate on a global basis.  There is so much more we can learn from them and so much more business we can generate if we just choose to see things the way they do.