Attention curmudgeons: Hate dealing with sales clerks? These days, you can shop without talking to a single store employee.
Grocery stores are already loaded with self-scan checkouts. But more and more retailers are getting in on the game. Right now there are just shy of 1.2 million kiosks in use in North America, according to Summit Research Associates. Kiosks are everywhere: in hotel lobbies, in airports, and, of course, in stores. Sears, for example, lets you check and order from their online catalog while on the store floor.
But a recent experience of mine pointed up a big shortfall of kiosks. I was in Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, looking for a specific book on butterflies. That particular branch is always teeming with people, so I went to a computer marked “information,” punched in the name of the book, and learned that yes, it was in stock in “new non-fiction” section.
Not. I looked in non-fiction, tramped downstairs to look in nature, and spent more than a few minutes trying to figure out where it might be. I finally had to flag down a salesperson. The book was on a display table near the front door, something the computer, in all its artificial intelligence, didn’t know.
Turns out the human brain isn’t quite replaceable. Yet.
But there is a bright spot: A 2008 study from consulting firm IHL Group showed that when women use self-checkout, their impulse purchases drop 31 percent. So is the tradeoff between service and saving money? Silly me: when I hand over my hard-earned cash in a store, I want both.
