Shopping - Do It Yourself!

by Carol Bevitt

 

 

Shopping has undergone a revolution since the 1960’s; if you wanted to buy food or clothes, or larger items like household furniture, there would be an assistant to serve you-whether it was a small local shop or a more imposing department store on the high street.

They would know what was available, and where to find it. You would be given a written receipt to accompany your carefully packed and wrapped purchase. And it was all done with a smile, so when you left the shop they knew you would come back again.

When changes began it was a novelty to the shopper, to be able to pick up a basket and wander around the shelves picking up packets or tins and studying the labels, before dropping them in your wire basket, and going to the till to pay for your purchases- with their prices on little sticky labels.

Supermarkets began to appear, not as big as the huge stores we use now, more the size of a major high street card shop. With the new outlets came variety and a choice of brands,what more could the busy housewife ask for?

Many of the public embraced the brave new shopping world, while the rest mourned the loss of the personal touch. Stores with dark polished wooden shelves were replaced with bright lights, head high open shelving and touch-ability.

Then the self-service ideal moved to the petrol station. Rather than the assistant, who filled your tank and then took your payment into the office, and returned with change, you the driver had to get out of the car to fill up and go into the office to pay.

No newspapers, flowers and grocery items in those early days, just spare parts and oil. And the pumps weren’t connected to the tills inside the office, where cash and sometimes cheques were the normal methods of payment, and no need for forecourt CCTV as most people were honest.

Now we have the next generation, a new system of self-service appearing in supermarkets and larger stores. It’s the shop, scan and pay system.

You may have seen it in your supermarket, which is where I first discovered its uses, and disadvantages. And now the system is spreading further a field.

My first experience of the new equipment came one lunchtime, when the city centre supermarket was heaving with customers, queues tailing back along the aisles, and there were only four items in my basket. So I decided to try out the new system, and the queue was shorter too. But I quickly discovered the weak spots.

There is a set of verbal instructions about scanning the item, and placing the purchase in the bagging area, then scan the next item etc. I could scan and bag quicker than the system, so the message got cut short each time (a relief). The only problem came when I passed a bottle of wine through the scanner, and was instructed to wait for an assistant- who was busy helping someone else with their scanning problem. And meanwhile the system would not let me carry on scanning the rest of my shopping- until the allocated assistant had pressed a button on her desk- obviously indicating I looked old enough to purchase alcohol.

I came out of the store considering it might have been quicker in one of the longer queues.

It was sometime before I encountered anymore of these fast-track devices; and when I did it was in the main Boots store in Nottingham. Not only had these units appeared but the number of staff occupied check-out desks had been halved, so the goods relocated by the installation of the new system, were now in the area formerly occupied by tills and staff.

Unfortunately the spare staff didn’t seem to be around in any other capacity, and there was one solitary figure lurking by the machines to assist confused or struggling customers. When there were no customers the assistant just stood there waiting for some.

Then the fun began. The instruction voice is quite loud in less busy times, telling all around that your purchase is “49 pence” or “ten pounds and fifty pence”, though it is comforting to know your fellow shoppers will not know exactly what your purchases are- unless they happen to be bagging their own shopping next to you, almost shoulder to shoulder.

My last experience with them was a series of delays. In the plastic bag (that you have to use, due to the bagging area being weight sensitive) was a leaflet about the latest three for two offers, and after I scanned the first item and put it in the bag,the system told me I had an item not scanned in my bag. No panic, I took the leaflet out, and all began working again.
Then I came to the Cadbury’s Crème Eggs with their barcode scrunched up in the manufacturer’s foil wrapping process. The assistant had a list of chocolate egg barcodes and sorted that for me, but then the machine began playing up again telling me I hadn’t bagged an item when I had and refusing to continue until I did- no matter how many times I frantically put the item in and out. The assistant helped again, suggesting I kept it to one side and put it in the bag afterwards, and after her pressing more buttons I was finally able to finish, pay and take my shopping away- with great relief, vowing never to use these ‘quick’ systems again.

So here are some tips for dealing with these new systems in stores-
Unless there is a long queue at the staffed check-outs, don’t use the machines (unless you are very patient or not in a rush).

If any of your shopping is an odd shape, like individual chocolate eggs, or the packaging, with the bar code on, is very wrinkled- don’t use it either. Or be prepared to spend some time smoothing out the wrinkles first.

Be prepared to have to use the plastic bags provided- the machine currently cannot seem to deal with people using their own or not wanting to use a plastic bag at all. (Who wants to put a six pint plastic carton of milk,with carrying handle, in a carrier bag unless you have to?)

If the machine doesn’t do what you want, call the ssistant.

I can see a use for these scan, pack and pay systems at busy times, or if you have one or two items. But you have to ask is this just a way of reducing business costs? After all a machine doesn’t have an entitlement to holidays and sick pay, and a machine doesn’t have other commitments.

What does the future hold for shopping? You will have as much idea as I, but we all know that the manufacturers and retailers will always want to get us into their stores to tempt us with ‘special offers’, and sell us more than we intended to buy in the first place.

Perhaps there was something to be said for the old fashioned way of shopping . . .

© Carol Bevitt 2008