Question for grocery store cashiers!

[heatherindeskies]

Quote:
Ah, get the order going the way you kinda want it bagged?

good idea actually. The awesome things one can learn on a chicken forum!

 

[newchickgal]

Quote:
What is a waitperson?

waiter/waitress

 

[sheila3935]

I worked as a cashier at a Walmart and the poster is right about rings per hour on your evaluation. You have to ring so many items per hour. Being short it is hard to reach into a basket to retrieve the items and ring them in a timely manner. I was one who also bagged according to item, such as cans in one sack frozen in another etc except when they had only a few items. Never put meat in with fresh vegetables that got you screamed at by a customer. Also never overload a bag unless customer said so. Many elderly can not carry heavy bags so bag light. You really have to watch the customer to decide how to bag. Where I work now I lift heavy items. I work in a feed store. What is frustrating to me is when a grown man with no obvious problems will tell you to put 10- 50lb bags on the cart, and then wheel it up front. I am a small person 5'2" and weigh a 120lbs, But I do it anyway. Thats my job. I often wonder who is going to unload it and get it to their barn when they get home.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Ah, get the order going the way you kinda want it bagged?

good idea actually. The awesome things one can learn on a chicken forum!

It makes sense....The days of old, when a cashier actually used their brains and paper bags were the way to go, things got put into bags in groups...You didn't even have to worry about it. It was part of their training. Canned goods and dry goods in one bag. cold stuff was double bagged, if requested. You know, the 8 mile drive, in 95 degree heat. Cleaning products and such, together.

Actually, that was the bagger's job....Back when grocery bagging was a real profession. When watching a good bagger was like watching a good short order cook.

Now, it's two items in a plastic bag, spin the carousel, etc....They must be getting a bonus on who can use the most bags.

Oh, yeah..Bread on top.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

The only times I have not unloaded a handbasket was when there were no "dividers" in sight or reach. Question though....what happens to a cashier's efficiency score when they have to stop and get someone to run to find a price? or like the other day..a lady was using WIC and the bagger had to keep running to get replacement/different products. The cashier was saying WIC changes what products / brands were allowed each month and if they were out of that brand she had a list of replacement brands..what a hassle for the poor cashier!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I do this with more critical stuff, like bread at the end, frozen in one pile. Often you can tell what a particular cashier has been fussed at about, as in, packing cleaning products separately from bread, even extra bagging them.

I always use a cart out of pure laziness (or being old I want the wheels. Often a bagger empties the bottom for me as I empty the child seat, where I've crammed most of my stuff. I remember being taught (as a teenage clerk) how to bag, when there was only paper. A row of cans on the bottom, soft bags like pasta or boxes, then something really squishy like bread or marshmallows. Make a flat spot on top for eggs, or leave them out. Frozen together, always, maybe cold in there, too. At least they usually still pack the frozen stuff together; I live several miles from any store so this is good in any weather. Of course I arrive home with a squished loaf of bread now and then, too.

I reuse the plastic bags all the time, though they've gotten so generous with them, I do get an excess now and then.

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
Usually, if I put them in that order, that's how they get bagged. And a lot of places if I reguest paper and plastic for cold stuff (30 mile drive in 95 degree heat), they do it. Our Walmart has smaller paper bags at the end of the frozen isles to put frozen products in, and we use them. Then ask the casher to put them in a plastic bag, too. I put large items up first so I can grab them and put them in the cart first, then pile smaller items on top of them. Like the big bags of cheap cat food for the barn cats. The cheap stuff like Kit n Kaboodle and Friskies are some of the few cat foods that don't have rice and one barn cat has a rice allergy

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Usually, if I put them in that order, that's how they get bagged. And a lot of places if I reguest paper and plastic for cold stuff (30 mile drive in 95 degree heat), they do it. Our Walmart has smaller paper bags at the end of the frozen isles to put frozen products in, and we use them. Then ask the casher to put them in a plastic bag, too. I put large items up first so I can grab them and put them in the cart first, then pile smaller items on top of them. Like the big bags of cheap cat food for the barn cats. The cheap stuff like Kit n Kaboodle and Friskies are some of the few cat foods that don't have rice and one barn cat has a rice allergy

This is exactly what I do.

 

[lishah2000]

I always emptied the basket, never thought not to. Now that I've been on the other side (cashier) I can really see how much of a help this is to the cashier. Makes things go so much faster. Imagine 20-30 small cans of cat food, takes a long time to pull them all out and scan them.

I am really surprised at the number of people who do not even empty their cart. Big items yes, but many will have a cart full of little things and just stand there (they are usually the ones that complain about it taking so long). I find this very rude, but it happens a lot.

That said, I would never force someone to empty the basket. Although a few rude people that didn't empty the cart - I just stood and waited. (These were not people with any health issues that made it hard for them.)

At the grocery I usually organize my stuff on the belt and put the barcodes up or facing the cashier.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I'm old enough that I remember when the counters at the grocery store were shaped so the shopper went on one side to the cashier, and the shopper went on the other. The cashier unloaded the cart, keyed in the item, and someone bagged the groceries. First the discount stores started making people unload their own groceries, now it is universal.

I always unload my basket or cart. i put things on the conveyor is a certain order, because I want stuff bagged in that order. I want cold foods together, pantry items together, and non-food items separate from food items.

On a side note, I remember when ATMs came in. They greatly reduced the banks' costs by eliminating tellers and bank personnel. They were a way for banks to save money.....today almost every bank charges fees for ATM use. They still don't have to pay for tellers, and a cost of electronic transaction isn't $1.50 or $3.00. It is simply a profit generator for the banks.

When there are system changes on a national level, that all similar businesses follow, profit is usually the motive. Think electronic ticketing fees for movies and concerts, bundling of services for phone/cable/internet, cable and car "packages" that you must buy to get the options you want, and many other examples. The changes are generally gradual, or not very noticable but have lovely effects of the corporate bottom line.