Mars and Jewel checkouts

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pseudo3d
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Mars and Jewel checkouts

Post by pseudo3d »

This is an article about a month ago but I found it interesting because it sheds some light on how Jewel and the greater Albertsons company is run.
Jewel-Osco, the Chicago-area grocery banner of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Cos., has tried to remodel its checkout lanes to resemble those at electronics big box Best Buy, using theater ropes to direct people to the shortest lanes. Yet the plan failed when neither store employees nor shoppers could figure out how to navigate the new system. However, Mars Chocolate and Wrigley had a solution when the grocer sought a better approach.

"We really didn't have the data and research to help us make the right decisions," Jeff Hancock, Jewel-Osco's assistant sales manager of confection and beverage, said during a May 24 panel discussion at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago. "Mars came to me with presentations outlining ... data from other retailers with similar configurations and had great insights on those queuing lines to meet our shoppers needs."
What's especially telling is that it just illustrates how lost Albertsons tends to be sometimes, a general idea of how their stores should be but lacking the drive needed to execute said ideas properly.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/indust ... p-checkout
rwsandiego
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Re: Mars and Jewel checkouts

Post by rwsandiego »

pseudo3d wrote:This is an article about a month ago but I found it interesting because it sheds some light on how Jewel and the greater Albertsons company is run.
Jewel-Osco, the Chicago-area grocery banner of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Cos., has tried to remodel its checkout lanes to resemble those at electronics big box Best Buy, using theater ropes to direct people to the shortest lanes. Yet the plan failed when neither store employees nor shoppers could figure out how to navigate the new system. However, Mars Chocolate and Wrigley had a solution when the grocer sought a better approach.

"We really didn't have the data and research to help us make the right decisions," Jeff Hancock, Jewel-Osco's assistant sales manager of confection and beverage, said during a May 24 panel discussion at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago. "Mars came to me with presentations outlining ... data from other retailers with similar configurations and had great insights on those queuing lines to meet our shoppers needs."
What's especially telling is that it just illustrates how lost Albertsons tends to be sometimes, a general idea of how their stores should be but lacking the drive needed to execute said ideas properly.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/indust ... p-checkout
At first, I thought the same as you do. Upon further reflection it occurred to me that companies bring in consulting firms on a regular basis, spending multi-millions to do what a different client of the consulting firm did for a hefty fee. Sounds like Jewel went with a vendor, who probably charged significantly less than what a PWC, EY, or Accenture would for the assistance. They probably have a plethora of data about their current checkout lanes, but not a lot about a design they are not using.
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Re: Mars and Jewel checkouts

Post by storewanderer »

What I don't like about using a "one line" system in a grocery store is the amount of turning at sharp angles of the cart that is required to facilitate this. I think a "one line" system is great for express lanes and/or self checkouts (already used at many stores). But for full service lanes that are processing primarily carts, it is customer unfriendly due to having to keep turning the cart from one angle to another to enter the queue, get into the queue itself, then another sharp turn to move toward the open register, and yet another sharp turn to move the cart into the open register.

As far as the set up they are using based on the photo it looks just like how Rite Aid's single line checkout is set up in some of the newer wellness remodels. The different is Rite Aid also sprinkles in some seasonal goods and travel goods into the waiting area. I think this set up works fine at Rite Aid with mostly small transactions but even there it is cumbersome if you have customers with carts for alcohol, plants, etc.

I also think there is a psychological thing with customers about long length lines. Even though one line with 20 carts waiting in it for the 10 open registers is the same as having 10 open registers and 2 in each line, customers hate a long line. Plus you have to keep inching forward, 19 times, and wait for everyone else to inch forward, before it is finally your turn. I am not sure if it is even faster to set it up this way, but it is more fair. If there are 10 open registers, you just walk up to the one you want with your cart and push it forward once and you are served.

Single line idea is a loser especially for high volume stores like Jewel Osco. It may work fine in low volume Albertsons Stores in Oregon and Washington that rarely have more than a few lanes open and rarely a high volume of customers up front at once.
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Re: Mars and Jewel checkouts

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: Single line idea is a loser especially for high volume stores like Jewel Osco. It may work fine in low volume Albertsons Stores in Oregon and Washington that rarely have more than a few lanes open and rarely a high volume of customers up front at once.
They should do what everyone else does (well-run stores like H-E-B) and just direct customers to the shortest line. Problem with this is (at least at H-E-B) is they often redirect me to an express lane and there's no one to bag groceries. Ah well, H-E-B does tend to operate like a warehouse foods store at times anyway...
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Re: Mars and Jewel checkouts

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote:...Single line idea is a loser especially for high volume stores like Jewel Osco. It may work fine in low volume Albertsons Stores in Oregon and Washington that rarely have more than a few lanes open and rarely a high volume of customers up front at once.
Agree 100%. When I was a kid, my parents shopped at the Harlem-Foster Jewel from 1967 to the late 1980's when they moved to a different neighborhood. It was one of pre-ASC Jewel's "lab" stores, where they would try new ideas. The single-line concept was one of the ideas they tried. It flopped.
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Re: Mars and Jewel checkouts

Post by architect »

At the Central Market location in DFW, the express lanes are set up with a common line, while the standard lanes have individual lines. This works well for this type of format, as many shoppers tend to come in more frequently for 2-5 items, rather than making a large weekly grocery run like most traditional grocers. I can;t imagine how dysfunctional this would be in a store such as Jewel though, particularly if the store wasn't originally designed for it from a space standpoint.
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