Today we would like to spotlight Walmart. Consider this. What is the worse part of shopping at a big box store? If you answered check out, you likely agree with most shoppers, especially if you do much shopping online. Everyone knows that the term “shopping cart” is really that little box you click on in the right-hand corner of your favorite vendor page. However, if today it means the wobbly rolling shopping cart you push in front of you with a boat load of groceries, then check out is far more complicated. So, today we would like to highlight Walmart for implementing a simple quick service check out system. It is likely that you have not seen this new idea. So, let me explain.
We live in the shadow of the “Vacation Kingdom of the World”. Last year Central Florida boosted some 70 million visitors. And given how hard it is to find a parking space, I am quite sure that most of them at one time during their stay put the word “Walmart” into their Google Maps app and drove to same store that I frequent. Unlike other Walmarts across the country, vacationers are always forgeting something, sunblock, flipflops, batteries, the list goes on. That means big business for Walmart and it’s why you find aisles of such sundries pushed to the front of the store. It also means long, long lines for the locals. So, last week I was standing in a line at Walmart with too much stuff to use self-checkout, when along comes this lady.
The bright yellow banner she wore over her shoulder quickly caught my attention. “Check out with me”. Ha! This is the Apple Store meets Walmart! Wandering through the lines, this employee’s job was to spot folks with a just few items in their cart and check them out right there. And guess what? The longer she hung around, the shorter the lines became.
Three cheers for Walmart! Customer service is not just how your employees speak to your customers. It’s also, thinking out of the “big box”, to find ways to make your customer’s experience less of a hassle.
To see examples of how Disney thinks through the guest persona in designing its queue experience, click here.
To understand the critical challenges and solutions for dealing with waiting in line, visit this post.
