What Do You Want? (Spin-Off of "Is this the new thing in grocery shopping?")

[Amara]

One of the reasons I hate those rewards cards is because I don't want every corporation under the sun tracking what I buy and where I buy it.

I posted this suggestion once and some eHellions hated it, but I use it all the time. Don't get any of the rewards cards. Instead, when they ask if you have one say you don't have it with you (true) but you have a phone number. Then rattle off the number of the largest employer in your areas. It is a sure bet that more than one person who works there has used that number.

[WillyNilly]

Huh.

So many of these things are normal to my grocery shopping experiences.

I haven't seen a beggar, or anyone selling things, or looking for signatures outside a store in years, maybe over a decade, and even then it was a rarity.

Plenty of lanes don't have candy, instead they have phone chargers, batteries, eyeglass repair kits, beverage coolers, magazines, etc.

Fairway, my favorite grocery store, doesn't use customer loyalty cards at all, Waldbaums and Keyfood, my other usuals don't require any personal information to get a card.

Lines are never more then 1 or 2 customers ahead.

Cigarettes are exclusively sold at the service counter, never at the registers.

Oh and at Fairway you can buy the ready made lunch foods at its own register/line.


Baggers are the only difference - they are not normal in any of the stores, either the cashiers bag as they ring things up, or the customer bags their own stuff (which quite frankly, I prefer.)

[JeanFromBNA]

I don't really care who tracks my purchases.  I'm pretty sure that Amazon checks to see if I'm alive if I haven't placed an order from them in a couple of weeks.  I'm glad somebody cares.

But I have a stack of loyalty cards several inches thick that would never fit in my wallet, which means that I forget them at home most of the time.  Why has nobody jumped on the opportunity to turn this into an ap?

[stargazer]

One of the reasons I hate those rewards cards is because I don't want every corporation under the sun tracking what I buy and where I buy it.

I posted this suggestion once and some eHellions hated it, but I use it all the time. Don't get any of the rewards cards. Instead, when they ask if you have one say you don't have it with you (true) but you have a phone number. Then rattle off the number of the largest employer in your areas. It is a sure bet that more than one person who works there has used that number.

That wouldn't really work for Safeway.  Their Just for U and online coupons are often based on what you buy and you load those coupons to your card.  If you don't care about what coupons are on the card, sure.  But I saved over $50 at the store today that included about $20 of my Just for U coupons.

[Tabby Uprising]

I don't really care who tracks my purchases. I'm pretty sure that Amazon checks to see if I'm alive if I haven't placed an order from them in a couple of weeks.  I'm glad somebody cares.

But I have a stack of loyalty cards several inches thick that would never fit in my wallet, which means that I forget them at home most of the time.  Why has nobody jumped on the opportunity to turn this into an ap?

Ha! You and me both 

[snowdragon]

I don't really care who tracks my purchases. I'm pretty sure that Amazon checks to see if I'm alive if I haven't placed an order from them in a couple of weeks.  I'm glad somebody cares.

But I have a stack of loyalty cards several inches thick that would never fit in my wallet, which means that I forget them at home most of the time.  Why has nobody jumped on the opportunity to turn this into an ap?

Ha! You and me both 

They have. there are several on both the itunes and android markets, most free
The one I use is Keyring and I even have my library card on it.

[CocoCamm]

I don't really care who tracks my purchases.  I'm pretty sure that Amazon checks to see if I'm alive if I haven't placed an order from them in a couple of weeks.  I'm glad somebody cares.

But I have a stack of loyalty cards several inches thick that would never fit in my wallet, which means that I forget them at home most of the time.  Why has nobody jumped on the opportunity to turn this into an ap?

They have... Not sure of the name but the hubby uses it.

[Raintree]

I used to care about those loyalty cards tracking my purchases, but I've thrown my hands up in the air and realized there's no privacy anyway. Credit card companies track our purchases, Facebook has mounds of data on us (I could opt not to use FB but I find the benefits in terms of my real life social life outweigh everything); as another poster mentioned, Amazon seems to know what books I might be interested in reading next, etc etc etc.

But yes, I would like to be able to get the sale price without signing up for one of those things. I have loyalty cards for stores I use often, but I'm tired of being pressured in stores I hardly ever use.

I think the idea of separate lanes for everything is a bit far-fetched and impractical, but I agree with many of the other things brought up.

What I'd really like most of all is not to be followed and pestered around the store. Let me shop in peace, but please be available if I need you. (I do like it when clothing stores check on you in the changing room as I might want another size without having to get dressed again to go out and find it). I really don't like being followed around when I shop.

[cicero]

these are a few that go on in my country - not sure what it's like in other places.

1. I want to cashiers to run my things thru the scanner, take my money, and say goodbye. I don't want them to try to sell me "specials" (there is no need to ask me - i *see* them at the cashier, i can read the sign. if i want them, i'll ask for them). (yes, i know they get incentives but that's not my problem - use the money to better train them and to raise their salaries. that should be a better incentive). I don't want the cashier to get me to donate to "cause of the month" and then give me a guilt-inducing look for saying no. (don't worry, i never break down, but really).

2. Either have a deal or not. i hate deals that come with all kinds of intricate strings ("chickens on sale!" says the big sign. small print says: " but only if you spend 100 $ on other items, and only if your names starts with V, and only on tuesday morning and thursday evening, and only chicken wings and thighs" and of course next day when you come to get the wings it's "only breast and drum sticks").

3. do have the cashiers trained to say something other than "but that's what comes up in the register". I've been shopping here for 10 years, you know me, i rarely complain about things. If I'm telling you that the sign on the shelf says that this is on special, then -- while you don't have to necessarily believe me off the bat --- at least check it out before saying "that's what comes up".

[jaxsue]

Stop fronting the shelves.  If the store is out of a product, leave the danged space empty.  In our neighborhood store, when this happens, the shelf space is filled with whatever, and the proper product doesn't get ordered.

Also offer a beggar-free entrance/exit.  Just one.  Please.

That is what's called "plugged." I'm a vendor and my job is to make sure the stores have product and that it's in the right place. Sometimes stockers get lazy or there is overstock, and the wrong items get put in a spot. It is irritating for the customer.

[jaxsue]

As much as #5 in the OP sounds nice, it's not doable (in your average store). First of all, companies are holding costs down by limiting hours and hiring freezes, so there aren't people to spare.

 Secondly, stores can label checkout lanes for special situations, but that doesn't mean that people will obey the rules for that checkout lane. And cashiers can say nothing. How many times have you seen a person with a full cart in the "10 items or less" express lane? The same thing would happen in this case.

[Yvaine]

But yes, I would like to be able to get the sale price without signing up for one of those things. I have loyalty cards for stores I use often, but I'm tired of being pressured in stores I hardly ever use.

Earlier reply eaten by the usual morning outage, and I don't feel like typing it up again, but i totally agree--a few months ago I suddenly found out a store had switched to this program and wanted to sign me up right then...while I was in a hurry and there were also 10 people behind me.

What I'd really like most of all is not to be followed and pestered around the store. Let me shop in peace, but please be available if I need you. (I do like it when clothing stores check on you in the changing room as I might want another size without having to get dressed again to go out and find it). I really don't like being followed around when I shop.

This too. I was a poor and badly dressed kid growing up, and so when I experience this, my mind goes back to when I was definitely being followed for security reasons rather than sales reasons, and my "lizard brain" still always thinks that's what they're doing. So not only do I end up annoyed because I can't shop in peace, I can never quite shake "Store X thinks I'm going to steal."

[Sharnita]

What can be done about shoppers who are not only shopping for themselves but for about 3 other people as well and want all of the orders rung up separately?  I was once behind someone who had 5 separate orders! 

Why can't there be a rule that if only one person is shopping then you only get one combined order.  They can then go home and do the math to figure out who owes for what.

IN same cases the other order might be for church, school or some other organization that has a tax exempt status.  Those items would have to be rung up under the tax exempt number while personal purchase wouldn't qualify.

[jemma]

No baggers in the self checkout aisle.  I'm using it because I don't want to catch your employees' colds, and I'm picky about how my stuff is bagged.

Basic hygiene for all employees--no one needs to touch their face at the checkout, but if they do, have them clean their hands.  Also, have them clean their hands after handing meat and produce to avoid cross contamination.  And if you can move employees who appear sick to non customer contact jobs, even better. 

[Miss March]

In my area, we have "Big Y" stores. In the beginning, you could get a standard Big Y card. It was a free savings card that you could sign up for. On the plus side, you get all their sale prices without the fuss of needing to clip coupons, while on the minus side, they can monitor your spending habits.

Then they started running a  "slot game" at the checkout where they scan your store card and then you press a button and see if you match up a row and win a 'coin.' They started offering special sale prices if you had certain coins-- so now it's not enough to have the basic store card, you need to have a blue/red/silver or gold coin to get extra tiers of savings. So now you need to deal these cheap plastic coins when you shop, and try not to be the person standing at the checkout saying "Wait, I know I have a gold coin here somewhere," while rooting through your bag. The novelty of this game wore off quickly.

To top things off, they now offer a new store savings card- one that will give you the 'silver coin' price on your items, but you need to pay X amount a year to get the card. So basically, if you want access to the best savings they offer, you need to 1) get the basic Big Y card, 2) play the slot game and try to win gold or blue coins (the highest tiered savings), and 3) buy a "Silver Coin Savings card" so that you get (at least) the lowest coin savings on your items. The amount of hoops that customers have to jump through has gotten ridiculous.