Electronic Self-checkout System Essay -- Technology, Cashier Checkout

A number of empirical studies have concluded that a customer’s attribution of the cause of a delay significantly affects its emotional consequences (see Taylor, 1994; Tom and Lucey, 1995). According to these investigations, customers are more unsatisfied with longer than expected waits caused by difficulties that the store could have remedied (e.g. inefficient checkout personnel, understaffing, failure to provide express checkouts) than with delays due to external factors such as random variations in store crowding, till breakdowns, the time of day (some periods are inevitably busier than others) or the presence of customers with large amounts of shopping. This was especially true if little effort on the part of the service provider was needed to improve the situation and/or the problem creating the delay was a regular occurrence. It appeared, therefore, that the reasons for a long queue were major determinants of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction, not just the delayâ⠂¬â„¢s duration. The Psychology of Combining Queues Combining queues have proven not to be a good technique for managing queues in grocery stores and supermarkets. Studies have shown that even though combining queues have been successful in some service organizations, these techniques have proven to have negative results in grocery stores. Among the factors that cause delays of customers who are in line at the checkout counter in grocery stores is management’s attempt to combine queues. Contrary to common calculations, there are reasons for believing that combining queues, especially queues of customers in checkout lines in grocery stores, may at times be counterproductive. Rothkopf and Rech (1987) in their seminar had one participant citing the practice of combini... ...e service more valuable and were willing to pay much more for it when they found out there were more people behind the positions that were held for them. There exists a universal human tendency to learn about ones self through comparison with others (Gilbert, Price and Allan, 1995). Customers in checkout lines tend to compare their position in line with those of other customers. However, seeing people behind is somewhat a comfort since ―there are people worse off than meâ€â€", therefore making the experience less painful. The study outlined three sets of factors (queue factors, personal factors, and situational factors) that might shape the extent of social comparisons, each of which is tested. Hkust and Hkust (2002) expressed that limited research studies have been conducted to determine how service waits can be controlled. To control the time customers’ wait in line,