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I've worked in retail for many years and something I've noticed at just about every location I've been is that customers always seem to check out at the same time, often causing lines and wait times.
They don't come in together, but they certainly seem to want to leave at the same time.
Anyway, other than attributing it to the "lemming effect" does anyone have any explanation why this happens?
I've worked in retail for many years and something I've noticed at just about every location I've been is that customers always seem to check out at the same time, often causing lines and wait times.
They don't come in together, but they certainly seem to want to leave at the same time.
Anyway, other than attributing it to the "lemming effect" does anyone have any explanation why this happens?
?
You've proposed a hypothesis, based on subjective evaluation: "customers always seem to check out at the same time."
...as opposed to one here, one there, or some other fashion that would improve process flow, from a Lean Six Sigma perspective anyway? Better capacity planning could then be done by the retailer?
Part 2: "they don't come in together, but...leave at the same time"
Leading to the non sequiter: "So why do they do that?"
mmKay, how about this: I don't think so, and no they don't. Totally, completely anecdotal.
Wal Mart, Fred Meier, other major retailers with access to statistical data measure average length of stay, what people buy, etc. etc. and plan capacity accordingly. It's a complex study, if you're not into that, though I am and find Operations to be quite interesting. Forward planning of staffing, inventory, seasonality, etc. There must be online Operations videos that aren't rocket science; I had two classes on it in business school about nine years ago.
If that wasn't well-understood by this time, airliners would not fly, nor taxis serve their constituents in a timely manner, nor would Wal Mart sustain their business model.
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That's the nature of retail. They all come in at different times freely, there is no barrier to coming in. Regardless of how long they take to shop, a certain number will have to wait, because it takes time to check out. It's like attending a baseball/football game, or concert. people dribble in a few at a time but all leave at the same time so the traffic jams up leaving the parking lots and garages. This is why Amazon has created the store where the items are scanned on the way out so no cashiers and no wait to leave. It holds great appeal for the impatient, as well as for the tech nerds that can't resist anything new and innovative.
Thanks for the answers but I'm thinking I didn't make myself clear regarding this 'phenomenon'.
Let's say you are cashiering in a 15k sf store that has 20 customers in it that entered separately over a 30 minute time frame.
Suddenly, within a minutes, 12 of these customers all head to the checkout area at the same time.
I've seen this happen many times. It's spontaneous and there's no way to predict or schedule employees in advance of this happening. I'm just curious if anyone has an explanation. Thanks.
Thanks for the answers but I'm thinking I didn't make myself clear regarding this 'phenomenon'.
Let's say you are cashiering in a 15k sf store that has 20 customers in it that entered separately over a 30 minute time frame.
Suddenly, within a minutes, 12 of these customers all head to the checkout area at the same time.
I've seen this happen many times. It's spontaneous and there's no way to predict or schedule employees in advance of this happening. I'm just curious if anyone has an explanation. Thanks.
Have you tracked the 20 customers to make sure the 12 of these heading to the checkout area are the same 20 that entered together?
My guess is there's already 50+ customers spread out around the store and you are seeing 12 of them head to the registers.
Thanks for the answers but I'm thinking I didn't make myself clear regarding this 'phenomenon'.
Let's say you are cashiering in a 15k sf store that has 20 customers in it that entered separately over a 30 minute time frame.
Suddenly, within a minutes, 12 of these customers all head to the checkout area at the same time.
I've seen this happen many times. It's spontaneous and there's no way to predict or schedule employees in advance of this happening. I'm just curious if anyone has an explanation. Thanks.
I don't think it happens like that. I think you are having observation bias or selective memory.
Or maybe someone just announced over the PA "attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 5 minutes".
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