Training customers

[Pixelated]

Several years ago I worked for a cheap-o grocery store. One of the 'penalties' of paying lower prices is that you bagged your own groceries. I (as a cashier) would ask if you wanted bags today and that was the end of my involvement in the bagging process.

I'm now working for a "higher-class" grocery store and guess what ... 95% of the time, customers bag their own groceries! I can stop ringing things up (and have done so, in some situations) in order to at least start the bagging process, but all that does is slow the whole line down even more.

It kind of surprises me that people are willing to pay higher prices and yet do their own bagging ... and I'll bet you many of these are the same people who won't use self-checkout because "I don't work here."

I should add that we do have wandering 'helpers' (mostly front-end supervisors) but of course there is definitely NOT one per open register. They do the best they can but ...

[RealUnimportant]

I can't think of any chain supermarket here that has baggers. Sometimes if it's a bank of checkouts designed to get people in & out through the lunch rush there's a way for the cashier to drop your stuff straight into a bag, but that's a definite exception and very unusual outside major urban centres.

[TheSHAD0W]

I personally would rather spend less time in stores waiting in line and waiting for things to be rung up. If a cashier has to spend extra time bagging stuff, it annoys me. Wally World's setup with bagging carousels where cashiers can bag nearly as quickly as they ring up items is acceptable. Even so, I usually hit the SCO. I prefer having something to do instead of twiddling my thumbs while the cashier scans everything.

I don't think I'd pay more money to have dedicated baggers for checkout lines, even if I'd be okay with it getting me out of there sooner. I might pay more money for better merchandise, which is common enough for upscale stores.

[greek_jester]

Are you in the US, Pixelated? This post leaves me feeling a bit since over here in the UK the only people who automatically get help packing are the elderly, the disabled, and someone who's on their own with a massive trolley full of goods (this is because everything grinds to a halt while they run backwards and forwards trying to unload, then pack, then unload, then pack...) Anyone else is expected to shift for themselves.

[Tama]

Around here you get help bagging sometimes at Kroger, but that's just because the conveyor belt is so short

[Minflick]

Here in California, all the major stores I've been to have baggers. Not a ton of them, but they exist. There's a discount store I've been to where you bag your own, and it's been years since I've been there, so I don't remember the name, but most of the stores have baggers.

That said, an awful lot of the baggers pack very poorly. The mentally disabled, which a lot of them are, aren't any worse that the non-disabled baggers. Squishy fruit goes under oranges, bread goes next to loose glass bottles and jars. One time, somebody put a plastic tub of cut pineapple in the bag sideways, causing it to leak a LOT of pineapple juice all over everything in the bag. It's a lottery on what will get damaged.... And that is why, unless I have alcohol or I'm super tired, I generally use the SCO. Then I have only myself to blame if I mess something up.

[telecom_goddess]

The problem with cashiers and baggers here is they don't know how to pack at all! They are supposed to be the "professionals" and they suck at it. Every single heavy item gets put in one bag, making it weigh 50 pounds, while light stuff goes in the other. Ever hear of packing weight evenly?