Changes for the Frone End staff at work

[snugglegirl05]

These changes came from the Front End Coordinator who is over an area of Kroger stores due to many complaints about 1) long lines, 2) customers waiting too long to be rung up, 3) cashiers not being friendly nor greeting the customer and so on.

One of the Front End supervisors was in charge of training every cashier and every courtesy clerk one on one.

The training for the cashiers consisted of the following...

1) greet the customer and immediately ask for their Kroger card when possible
2) ask them how they will be paying. If by debit/credit, let them know that they can insert or swipe their card in the card reader
3) wait to start scanning until the belt is at least halfway full
4) thank the customer

The cashiers are doing what they can do, but the customers also play a big role in this.

Here is what I and other cashiers have experienced regarding the customers...

1) the customer has to fish for their Kroger card or they tell us that they will entire their alt id *the phone number for that their Kroger card is attached to* in the card reader when they are ready.
2) the customers slowly unload their groceries from their cart
3) the customer forgets something and leaves to get it either before you start to scan or while you are scanning
4) the customer forgets to label the bag of bulk nut, candy and other items in the organic section. There is a machine in that section where you print out a label for what you put in the bag. Or you can just write down the code for what you put in the bag. So that means someone from the Front End has to go back to that section and put a label on that bag. I let a Front End supervisor or manager know about this when it happens to me.
5) the person who has the Kroger card or alt id is not with them at the moment, but will be coming to the line soon to either have me scan it or input their alt id into the card reader

Just this week I dealt with a young couple who clearly wanted to do things the way they wanted to. I asked the guy for his Kroger card, and he said "yes, I have one." Then he proceeded to talk to his girlfriend/significant other, load groceries into the cart, and look at the merchandise that was in front of my register. When I asked him again for his Kroger card, his girlfriend/significant other said "I will enter it at the end of the transaction." So I said "I can enter it myself if you like." She then said in an annoyed/frustrated tone of voice "Don't you get tired of asking this all day?" I then said "Senior management is training us to do this as quickly as possible." She rolled her eyes, and then she entered the alt id.

Kroger Senior management also wants the q vision score to be 95% or above. My guess is that the q vision is based on 1) how long the customers are waiting in line, and 2) how long the entire transaction takes.

Kroger Senior management also wants our ring tender score to increase to 95%.

As with the card reader, the chip function does not always properly work. When the customer inserts their chip while I am scanning their groceries, the card reader beeps.

[Pixelated]

Generally speaking, IMO "senior management" has never had to deal with a real-life customer, EVER. They assume that your customers are robots who are programmed to do things in a specific order, and have no clue that customers rarely run along these pre-programmed lines.

If you (generic "you" here) can get this through to senior management, they might back off a tad. If not, they are going to wonder and whine about their revolving-door employee situation.

It should be a requirement for senior management to spend six consecutive months on the front lines, as it were. Most of 'em need a strong dose of reality.

[snugglegirl05]

Generally speaking, IMO "senior management" has never had to deal with a real-life customer, EVER. They assume that your customers are robots who are programmed to do things in a specific order, and have no clue that customers rarely run along these pre-programmed lines.

If you (generic "you" here) can get this through to senior management, they might back off a tad. If not, they are going to wonder and whine about their revolving-door employee situation.

It should be a requirement for senior management to spend six consecutive months on the front lines, as it were. Most of 'em need a strong dose of reality.

Thanks for your post.

That is how I feel about this situation.

It seems to me that Senior Management is trying control how our customers act.

Beginning in July we get a chance to complete annual employee survey.

I could mention that when completing the survey since when I completed it last year, there was a section where you could write down anything you wanted Kroger to know.

[notalwaysright]

3) wait to start scanning until the belt is at least halfway full

Not sure I understand the logic behind this... Oh no, is it so customers don't feel rushed? Because that's nonsense. Also it seems silly to ask payment method unless it's something the cashier needs to enter. Like one store needs to enter debit or credit, but most that I shop at don't. They don't ask then direct me to the machine which most normal people who've shopped in the last decade know about.

[EricKei]

Ditto on the belt thing -- Seems like it would just slow things down, while they, of course, want you to simultaneously speed things up. If I didn't have anyone in front of me and the cashier waited until I had half the belt full before they started, I'd give 'em a strange look, tbh. Then I'd shrug and keep unloading my basket, but...yeah. That one's weird. As for the card, I don't think I've *ever* had a transaction at the local K where they didn't ask for my card, first thing.

[crazyofficeclerk]

The belt thing might have to do with either the items per minute scanned or to help the baggers out by having more items to choose from at the end of the counter.

[snugglegirl05]

The belt thing might have to do with either the items per minute scanned or to help the baggers out by having more items to choose from at the end of the counter.

Yes, that is correct.

Senior Management wants our items per minute and our ring tender to go up.

[EricKei]

Ahhh. I just assumed that the timer began once the last customer's receipt printed. mkay.

[crazyofficeclerk]

Usually the timer starts the second the first item is scanned and continues until the total button is pressed. One of the managers at my previous job would scan one item and then press the total button. After. Each. Item. His IPM's were in the 100's because of this.

[EricKei]

I would imagine his IPT's sucked ass, though You would think that someone at Corporate would be able to catch this sort of thing, though. Or, better yet, his superior at the actual store. The number being that absurd should have been enough. Also, it reveals a glitch/exploit inherent in that system -- it should really finalize the IPM count when the transaction is PAID (still stop the timer at one minute, then just add it all up and add time if need be; I'm sure these things can tell when the txn began).

[crazyofficeclerk]

Nope, he was the store manager. The store was small so everyone had to be able to run register. And of course the head office loved his numbers. They only saw fault with him when they changed the ordering system and the next thing you knew there was only a path big enough for a standard grocery cart through the back room. We would get 12 or 15 pallets a truck twice a week. I know for a fact that at one point we were about 3 or 4 weeks behind on non perishables. It was so bad at one point boxes were stacked about 8-9 feet tall just haphazardly. Randomly the district manager came in and freaked out about that. That manager got moved back to his old smaller store and soon after left for a different job. New manager came in and I began my long stretch of 35 days in a row of working trying to help catch up the stock in the backroom, cleaning on the floor and covering the mess the manager, co manager and CSM had made of the office.

[snugglegirl05]

I found this out yesterday regarding our Que Vision score.

This is a link to what Que Vision is...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...-times/2443975

I overheard this from one of the Assistant Managers at work yesterday.

So customers want more checkouts open so there are shorter lines.

There are 8 checkouts open, but only 5 of them are being used by customers.

There are lines at each of these 5 registers.

The number of customers waiting in line affects our Que Vision score.

Kroger Senior Management wants our Que Vision score to be 95% or more.

Lately it has been in the 80's.

The cashiers announce over the store intercom that register # *x* is open with no waiting, but few customers move over to the open registers.

So what is the best solution to this problem?

[EricKei]

Redlining is about it -- if they don't have you doing so already. I.e., leaving the register and walking up to people and saying, "I can help you over on #X." -- People tend to gravitate towards a) lines and b) the register closest to the exit they get to first, logic be damned.

[Tama]

This is what Walmart does. If there's no one in line you stand at the back of the aisle and try to get the customer's attention. That usually does it.

[snugglegirl05]

Redlining is about it -- if they don't have you doing so already. I.e., leaving the register and walking up to people and saying, "I can help you over on #X." -- People tend to gravitate towards a) lines and b) the register closest to the exit they get to first, logic be damned.

Yet they complain about long lines and a longer checkout process.

So technology is improved so the payment process is faster, but that is only one aspect of the checkout process.

How do we get through our customers heads that their choosing to wait in a long line is a reason for their complaints?