Photo: Jumbo
Will Slow Checkout Lanes Appeal To Americans?
Jumbo, the Dutch grocery chain, has introduced a special checkout lane – Kletskassa (“chat checkout”) – designed for customers, particularly older people, who don’t want to be rushed and who look forward to some social time with the cashier.
The first “slow” lane opened in 2019 to support a Dutch government initiative, “One Against Loneliness.” According to Statistics Netherlands, 1.3 million Dutch citizens are over 75 and one-third have reported feeling at least moderately lonely.
Jumbo now has 200 of the lanes across the country and has also introduced a “chat corner,” where local residents can gather for a cup of coffee.
“Our shops are a meeting place and that means we can do something to combat loneliness,” Jumbo CCO Colette Cloosterman-Van Eerd said in a press release. “The Kletskassa is just one of the things we can do. It’s a small gesture but it’s a valuable one, particularly in a world that is becoming more digital and faster.”
In France, Carrefour and Hyper U. have opened similar slower-paced lanes. “The concept is simple: the checkout is indicated in the aisle by a poster and each customer can choose to go there. The idea is to take the time to chat with the people who want it,” Gaelle Prampart, customer experience manager at Carrefour, told The Republic of Seine et Marne.
Writing for The Robin Report, Arick Wierson said that “slow-moving, chit-chat checkout lines” align with “slow food” and other movements that have arisen as reactions to to societal pressures to move quickly and that the lanes offer appeal beyond older adults. An unexpected benefit, he said, is that many cashiers favor working the chatty lanes.
Mr. Wierson wrote, “While there are no specific time limits for the customer, the trained cashiers cum kibitzers try to keep the chats to a reasonable length and respect those waiting in line for their chance to palaver.”
At U.S. grocers, the big push is toward investing in self-checkout, an option studies have shown many older consumers find intimidating.
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Jumbo fires the starting shot for the opening of 200 Kletskassa's — Jumbo
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Dutch Supermarket Adds “Slow Checkout Lanes” for Senior Citizens Who Could Use a Chat — My Modern Met
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Carrefour launches blabla checkouts, where you can take the time to chat — The Republic of Seine et Marne
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Slow Checkout Is a Competitive Advantage — The Robin Report
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Why the elderly hate 'unfriendly' self-service tills: Quarter find the machines intimidating and miss the real people they can talk to at the checkout — The Daily Mail
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Ageism in the Self-checkout Lane — Next Avenue
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Should grocers open slow checkout lanes for seniors? — RetailWire
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Would slow checkout lanes appeal to older people and other shoppers who don’t want to be rushed? Do you see profitability or execution challenges around such checkout lanes?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
John Lietsch
Chief Operating Officer, Bloo Kanoo
Bob Phibbs
President/CEO, The Retail Doctor
Sure, slower paced “chatty” checkout lines may appeal to a very narrow segment of the population, but this is more a novelty than something with practical value. Profitability and execution challenges are both in-play to deliver this type of shopping experience. While I believe this is an interesting way to differentiate and get a little PR (another chain in Canada recently promoted this idea), it will not be something we see broadly.
I agree with Mark. It seems like a very small audience will find a slow checkout line appealing. I think the “chat corner,” where local residents can gather for a cup of coffee, is a better way to address the loneliness issue. If the option is self-checkout or a slow checkout line, anyone that doesn’t like self-checkout could get stuck in a very slow line. In that case the store may need three checkout options: regular cashier, slow cashier or self-checkout, which seems too complex.
Not in the U.S. The person who wants to chitchat and take their time talking to the cashier with no concern for the line behind them is the same one who moments ago was grumbling about how slow the line was moving.
Peter, your post is so true. Or how about the older (I can say that because I am one) customer who doesn’t take their credit card out until the cashier scans the entire order?
Or customers who still pay with checks!
Peter I agree. Not here in the U.S. It a cultural thing. Americans are almost always in a hurry.
To those of us who have been stuck behind people that don’t want to be rushed, slow checkout lanes already exist and we’ve had to become adept at “slow-lane” identification and avoidance. I spoke to someone about this at Shoptalk and I think it’s a great idea even though it poses inherent profitability and execution challenges. Any time you slow down a process you need something (more people, more self-checkout lines) to relieve the backup or overall quality of service will suffer. Cashiers will have to learn to become like waiters who have become masterful at talking just enough to deliver great service but not too much to risk their income by not turning over tables. Maybe cashiers should have tip jars – why not – everyone else is doing it!
We already have these all across the U.S. in Trader Joe’s stores.
Really? Not in my Trader Joe’s. TJ’s has the fastest checkout process I have ever experienced.
Aldi cashiers are super fast. They are timed per shopper and are reprimanded if they are too slow.
Aldi has an entirely different service model from Trader Joe’s.
I don’t think this is as much about speed as human connections. Simple eye contact and a smile are a good start. Conversations happen naturally when regulars are in the store.
I agree a smile and eye contact are critical. But please don’t ask me, “How is your family?” That is the job of my barber.
LOL
Had this question last night from a checker we’ve known for years and it’s a natural question. She has interfaced with my family, watched the kids grow up. We don’t find it intrusive. We enjoy it.
Yes, more than anything else what I want is a human connection. It takes two seconds to make eye contact, smile and ask me if I found everything. Imagine when robots take this over…
Training people to be nice when working as cashiers could be everywhere, but it is an investment in store culture. Some may say that it can’t work. To that I would say, check Trader Joe’s and other retailers who have people who genuinely like their jobs, are paid well and are eager to connect.
Great idea! Maybe the chatty people will head for this line instead of being in front of me in the line I pick–every time.
This is an interesting concept by Jumbo, but I don’t think it warrants separate lanes in US stores. Instead, I like the idea of a chat corner where anyone, regardless of age, can sit down, have a water or cup of coffee and carry on a discussion while not in the checkout lane.
“I like the idea of a chat corner where anyone, regardless of age, can sit down, have a water or cup of coffee and carry on a discussion while not in the checkout lane.” I like it, too.
The alta cocker line. Hmmm. I supposed that applies to me, and I would probably use it. When I complain about checking out at a grocer or big box store, it’s almost always because I resent being pushed into the self-checkout line, not because some cashier was nice to me and I somehow inconvenienced people in line behind me because I chatted with them.
The real value of this idea in the U.S. would be to put a big sign over the “slow” cashier so the rest of us can avoid it. The problem is that the “slow” cashier might rarely be utilized.
Culturally, no country in the world values time as much as the U.S. Even in the checkout line, “time is money.”
I don’t know. I just came from Tuscon. Every checkout was the slow lane.
A nice idea but I can’t see this working well in the U.S. where most people want speed and efficiency from the checkout lane. Having an area where people can gather to chat – such as in a coffee shop or foodservice area of the store – is a nice idea but, to some extent, this can happen organically.
…and it does happen organically in some places. We have an upscale neighborhood country market to which middle-aged to older customers come just to buy a coffee, a bagel and STAND around to chat with their neighbors while all others get in and out.
It’s a worthwhile experiment to conduct. One lane to start, watch it carefully, figure out the next move. I also propose that the need for slow checkout may (as does most everything else) vary with the demographics of each store. In a neighborhood or rental apartments development, populated by twenty- to thirty-somethings, I would not include a slow-checkout lane in the nearby store.
I remember reading about the Dutch grocery chain that implemented several things, like carts with brakes, and carts with seats if you need to stop and rest awhile. All were designed for customers who need a little help to shop easier. And not just the elderly–moms, too.
Personally, too much chitchat at the checkout makes my head explode but for those who need or prefer it, I think it’s a wonderful idea that more American grocers should adopt.
The main reason Jumbo started this initiative is to help address loneliness and give people who do not see or speak to others from one day to the next an opportunity to do so. It is a community initiative and as long as it does not slow others down, which by having a dedicated slow lane it does not, then it can be beneficial. It also has the added advantage of removing these people from the other lanes so those lanes move faster. The chat corner is an extension of this but it is not practical in many stores that are tight on space.
This is a brilliant idea. Not if it is applied in every store in a chain, but where the demographics and staffing support it. Where there is a heavy concentration of senior shoppers (or however the target is defined), the store will not only be “doing good” in alleviating a mental health challenge, but also creating a stronger connection between shoppers and staff, which is good for both sides. And likely generating more traffic, loyalty and share of wallet from those customers.
the trained cashiers cum kibitzers try to keep the chats to a reasonable length
While I wish them well, I think they underestimate the ability of a single chataholic to never stop.
Larger chain stores don’t seem a likely place where slow checkout lanes would do well.
But chatting and making a human connection does continue to thrive today, mostly in the checkout lanes of smaller or independently owned grocery stores. Local grocers are naturally more connected to the community, sometimes with shared interests in food culture, and where regular customers and tenured employees naturally enjoy each other.
Slow checkout lanes would appeal to retired Americans who get to chat with younger people. The store would have to hire cashiers who like to chat with these customers.
It might not be the most efficient way to run the checkout lanes, but maybe grocers should put happy customers before profitability for once. It will pay off with shopper loyalty in the end.
I can’t get past the irony of Jumbo and Carrefours providing slower, human-attended checkout lanes. Didn’t all checkouts used to be “chatty” before we got the bright idea to push shoppers to self-service?
Any “store of the community” must be prepared to serve shoppers of all stripes – from time-pressed moms on the go to older or disabled people who need a little more time.
The current emphasis on self-checkout tills could be interpreted as ageist. Perhaps that is not intentional, but the usability designs I have encountered seem poorly thought out and are often frustrating to shoppers. Queuing is often atrocious. Landing areas for scanned items are too small. Price lookup experience is generally poor. You need an attendant’s help to buy beer or cough medicine.
Most importantly, I’m convinced (based on experience) they don’t save shoppers any time at all.
This a demographic decision. Most consumers are interested in a pleasant cashier experience, not a leisurely cashier experience. I’ll define pleasant as friendly and efficient. In other words, get me through quickly but with a smile. That said, if my store were in a retirement community, I’d be looking at other ways to engage my older consumers who might consider a trip to the grocery store as an experience as much as it is a necessity.
Nope. Not in the U.S. And while we are thinking about alternative lanes, how about a lane for people who spend more instead, to get them out faster. I think that’d be more popular.