Long Checkout Lines
Posted July 9th, 2008 by Eric WilderCategories: Uncategorized
How many of us no longer shop at a place whose merchandise we like but whose long checkout times have scared us away from shopping there anymore? I have always wondered what the average person’s time tolerance is for waiting in line. For the most part the only two places I ever experience long checkout lines is at the grocery store (and most seem to be the same) and Home Depot (especially on weekends).
In both cases I don’t have much choice since I need groceries and sometimes Home Depot is the only place to find a particular item I need. This is why I only shop at Home Depot for something only they stock, otherwise I avoid the place like the plague. I simply won’t tolerate any other business where my purchase is optional or where I can find the same or similar item somewhere else.
So what actually constitutes a long wait in the eyes of consumers? The M/A/R/C Research and Consulting firm resently completed a survey of more than 13,000 shoppers and found that 79% of consumers would tolerate a wait time of four minutes or less. The only place where they were willing to tolerate a slightly longer wait time was at club stores where the wait was the price they had to pay in exchange for heavy savings.
After the four minute threshold, most consumers satisfaction level dropped considerably with 10% of those surveyed willing to walk away from their purchase out of frustration. The retail areas that satisfaction levels dropped the most were (surprise!) grocery, consumer electronics, department, drug, home improvement, mass merchandisers, and office supply stores whose average wait times are well above the four minute threshold.
The largest retailers who recieved the highest satisfaction ratings in the survey were Lowe’s, Publix, Best Buy, Target, Longs Drugs, Staples, B.J.’s Wholesale Club, and Kohl’s. The survey also found that long checkout lines affected 43% of consumers decision to shop at a particular retailer in the future. 21% would completely avoid a place if they new it had long checkout lines, and 19% said they would only shop at a place with long lines to pick up a specific item they could not find anywhere else.
In other words, if we are forced to shop at a place where we don’t have any choice for finding a particular item, we simply grin and bear it. I guess I’m not alone in the way I feel. So how long are your checkout lines? Unless you’re the only place in town, it’s something you had better pay attention to. And no, “it’s spring”, “the weekend” or “our busy season” doesn’t cut it for an excuse.
