Quicker Checkout for Better Service

chillibreeze writer — Agnes Raja George

I had been to a big supermarket last week to shop for some things in Bangalore. It took 45 minutes (just to buy some eight items) for me to finish the shopping, it took almost 45 minutes to reach the billing counter and some more taken by the cashier to bill my goods. Retail in India is booming and so are the queues in all shops. When customers choose a store to shop from, lesser billing time is one of the key factors they consider.

How is it possible for retailers in developed countries? When I was in the UK a couple of months back, even during the busiest of times, you would hardly see two customers in front of you; you would see hundreds of billing counters and everyone of them operational. Why can’t the retailers in India open more checkouts to improve service levels?

One of the fundamentals in operating a store is the cost of employees. Since Indian stores are focusing more on providing services at the counter, they employ more staff on the floor but at the same time, they should also consider the importance of the service at the checkout. If a customer is not happy when he leaves the store, it will affect the loyalty of the store in the consumer's mind.

What the retailers have to do is focus on servicing better at checkouts while customers are leaving the store. They can look at reducing the staff strength at stores and employ them on the checkouts. In a supermarket, the main reason a customer seeks help is so he can find a product placement. If the store has clear signage, proper assortment of products and well-described shelves labeled, customers can easily identify products. You do not need to employ staff for every aisle to assist a customer. The staff can look at replenishing or arranging the goods for easy identification by the customers.

If the customer has to be less dependent on the staff, communication with the customer needs to be improved. The store can do the following things to increase the self-service standards:

Well-planned and spacious aisles – this is to make easier customer movement. In many stores, we notice during busy times, we cannot even enter a section to get the required product. A customer has to depend on the sales staff for help. If we have spacious aisles, this can be avoided.
Clear ranging/demarcation of product and proper signage – Clear Department signage helps customers to identify their products easily. It should be visible from a distance. The signage can be like Dairy, Fresh Vegetables, Frozen Vegetables, Frozen Food, Froze Meat, hair care, body care etc.,
A well described Shelf-Edge Label to describe the product – Many times, it is very difficult to find the product description on the package. A meaningful description on the Shelf-Edge Label would help the customer. In developed countries, the Shelf-Edge Label is a mode of communicating price to the consumers. The products will not have the prices.
Well-Trained Checkout staff – to fasten the billing process. We often see the staff searching for the barcode. This poses a problem. If the staff are trained properly they can work more effectively.

In many developed countries, retailers work hard to improve the service at checkouts. Tesco UK uses “Thermal Imaging” technology to count the queue length so that based on the requirements, they can open additional counters. ASDA, a German retailer, has introduced bigger barcodes for faster scanning of products. Adding conveyer belts in checkout counters common to all stores around the world. These things may take some time to come to India and meanwhile, our stores are at least looking to open more checkout counters for better service while customers leave the store.

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—About our writer:

Agnes says, "Be Cool' is my motto in life. Born in a small town in Tamil Nadu and moved to Chennai for my career after my graduation, city life taught me lot in my life. Being a important part of the growing retail industry for over seven years is a great opportunity. I love reading business magazines, traveling, music and cooking are my time pass."

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