Cutting Down on Checkout Line Waiting

One of the aspects of the in-store shopping experience that aggravates consumers the most is too long a wait on a checkout line. People get very impatient when they think their time is being wasted. Now, Kroger — the supermarket chain — is one of the retailers that is actively addressing this issue.
As Julie Jargon writes for the Wall Street Journal: “Supermarket giant Kroger Co. is winning the war against lengthy checkout lines with a powerful weapon: infrared cameras long used by the military and law-enforcement to track people. These cameras, which detect body heat, sit at the entrances and above cash registers at most of Kroger’s roughly 2,400 stores. Paired with in-house software that determines the number of lanes that need to be open, the technology has reduced the customer’s average wait time to 26 seconds. That compares with an average of four minutes before Kroger began installing the cameras in 2010.”
Click the image to read more.

Photo source: Kroger

 

Posted in Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Technology in Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Retailers Experimenting with Mobile Devices and the Job Search

Many retailers have been using some form of computerized job search tools for a quite. Now — slowly — retailers have begun incorporating mobile media in the process.
As reported by Lauren Weber for the Wall Street Journal: “‘With the hiring volume we have, it’s much easier when someone comes into a restaurant and can apply right there on a phone instead of filling out a paper application,’ said Nicholas Statler, director of employment strategy at McDonald’s. It also cuts down on the time managers spend on new applicants since the managers no longer need to input all the information into a computer.”
Click the image for a WSJ video.

Chart by Tim Robinson

 

Posted in Career Video Clips, Careers in Retailing, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lessons on Social Media Behavior

I recently gave a talk about how to be more careful online — especially with social media. More and more, identity theft, invasion of one’s privacy, and other forms of online misbehavior have been occurring. Whether it involves Twitter, the New York Times, or a private citizen, hacking has become a greater problem.
My presentation is available at YouTube. For easy viewing, the presentation is divided into 5 segments. Just click below to access the clips.
PLEASE NOTE: the PART 1 to PART 4 CLIPS have the most information. There are valuable tips at each of these clips.
Introduction
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Privacy and Identity Theft Issues, Social Media and Retailing, Video Clips (non-career) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment