August 2008

When I go grocery shopping, I have the following strategy: For produce, I try to go to markets, and, for other things, like soy milk, canned stuff and similar, I tend to go to supermarkets. No, I don’t do a one-stop-shopping. Since I live close to several supermarkets, which one I go is more of a coin flip. Well, not really, 95% of the time I go to either T&T Supermarket or Great Canadian Superstore. I go to Safeway, Save-on-Foods or IGA but only for specialty stuff.

Having said that some people do not seem to like T&T and, specially not, Superstore because of the presentation of some products (like meats). Well, I understand you; just that in my case, I am used to it. In Panama, there is one market I went with my mom and there you could see the carcass of the cow/pig hanging while they prepare the different cuts. And, yes, if you want a “special” cut, they will cut if for you on the spot.

So, is there anything that bugs me in a supermarket? Well, sometimes things are not ordered logically (why honey and mapple syrup are on different aisles?) and people messing things around. However, my biggest pet peeve is at the cashier and, in the case of Superstore, the self-serve cashier. To those who haven’t seen it yet, the process is the following: It asks you how many bags you want (remember, in Superstore they charge you for it), start scanning your items, put them in the bag, rinse, repeat, pay. Simple steps, right? Most of the time yes, there are few instances that are difficult, like products without barcode (which you will have to either enter the BIN number or choose the item from a list); but, in general, it is a straight forward process.

Or is it? Well, going back to Superstore, I see people struggling with them. A lot of times, they scan the product and do not put them in the bags are (the bags are on a rack on top of a platform). Why this last part is important? Because that’s how the computer knows that item has been accounted for. Likewise, people do not like to read what is on screen. Once they are set and want to pay, they try to force the bill/card into the feeder without realizing the computer is asking them for the appropriate payment method. As a result of this, an operation that could take a minute at most can easily take four or five, which partially defeats the purpose in my opinion.

Despite all these “problems”, I will keep on using the self-serve. Human cashiers do not necessarily work faster but, at least I can control how fast I go. In a way it proves a Murphy phrase: “Don’t try to make anything idiotproof; people are quite ingenious”.