SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

Sandra Kay's FREE Consulting for Computer Programmers in the Retail Industry by (me!) sandra, tvgp

Welcome you handsome programmer/coder types.. I am very happy to see you..

let us start by listening to a song:  I believe this is sherry lewis singing button factory.   /and everyone giggles as the lyrics reveal how the boss adds more and more and more and more on for the employee to do..

and now let us next watch a few scenes from my favorite comedy of all time: the jerk, staring Steve martin...   /everyone laughs..

-see how exciting when the eyeglasses solve a problem...  the money, the fame, the fortune..

-see how the eyeglasses which solved a problem, created yet a new problem..

-funny huh..

-let us next visit some doctors offices, urgent care centers, surgery units and physical therapy wards..

we do not have glasses that caused anyone to go cross-eyed, but what we do have is.. 

Carpal tunnel syndrome..

tendinitis..

and this grandma here who is unable to play with her new grandchild because her wrist is in so much pain...  Look! She can't even untwist the lid off the bottle to feed the baby..

UNACCEPTABLE!

you can help.  you. And you alone.. you can save the world from carpal tunnel and tendinitis.

I'll give the answer first.  you don't even have to guess how to solve. I have the solution for you.  Your job is just to make it a reality.

S/HE WHO DESIGNS THE PROGRAMS WHICH ACCOMPLISH THE MOST WITH THE FEWEST KEYSTROKES REQUIRED FOR THE LOWEST PRICE TO THE RETAIL OWNER -WINS!!

now, i love my boss, i love my job, i love my coworkers, and i love my customers

none of that is an issue here.  but what is an issue is the button factory nature of what has happened at the cash register:

1. an antiquated system which can sometimes require up to 72! keystrokes to process 1 Frickin' product.  what causes this insane and unjustifiable highly repetitive typing for just one product is this:

* every single time you ring something up you must enter your employee number.  -that's 5 keystrokes over, over, over, every customer, every time.  Your number + enter to confirm.  God forbid you make an innocent typo error.. add 5 strokes to correct and re-enter..

then you must manually enter the SKU.. that can be anywhere from 5 to 7 numbers...  Again, GOD forbid innocent typos..

then manually enter the price, including decimals..

and! If the item is on sale..  that's a good 20 more keystrokes to get to the field that allows you to override the original price..  

now..  Several more keystrokes are used to identify how the customer is paying..  Cash or credit..   and then you need verify and confirm..

And! If the customer is paying with a credit card which is 80% of the population..On a Separate machine all together..  You must swipe card, enter amount AGAIN.. Verify/confirm AGAIN.. 

and so we were at about 70 keystrokes for one item but have added 5 star system..

Now.. I am a fan and advocate of 5 star.. I do not offer the card when people sign up because if one more retailer offers me a card to carry I'm liable to...   to...   to do something very unchristian alike which I would need lots of grace and forgiveness for after the fact..

"Enough with the frickin' ! Cards !"

k.  But with 5 star, you can just give your telephone number..

So I am like a champion 5 star ambassador which means I sign up almost 100% of my customers..  that's several more key strokes on a different program within the same machine..  telephone number, name, etc..

we have exceeded  -far exceeded the justifiable amount of keystrokes per product, per customer.. 

and keep in mind here..  I see many many customers per day, and most customers purchase several items not one.

And! We still have the cash paying customer which requires highly repetitive motion of placing in money and giving change.  my write hand is currently refusing by way of very sharp pain to dig/scoop for quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies..  I've had to switch hands..

So.. We have the cash register program (72 key strokes), the separate credit card machine, (several more keystrokes) and the 5 star.. (Several many more keystrokes)

multiplied out by many customers buying many products.

***

We are phasing out one system, and adopting another..  But still left with 3 different programs to deal with: 1. Primary cash register.  2. Credit card machine. 3. 5 star.

Your job is to create ONE system, which minimizes to the extreme! the amount of keystrokes required to purchase a product

And! make it cost effective for the retail owner.

***
Card & Coupon FaTIGue..   FED UP CONSUMERS.

I like what Safeway and Walgreen's are doing..  no coupon. No stupid card.  The CUSTOMER.. not the customer service person.. Enters their own telephone number..   /that relieves the cash register person of a lot of keystrokes!

pay with credit card.. that relieves having to scoop change..

while we are there.  -cash should be a thing of the past already.. Its yucky, dirty, and a pain to count..  Pennies, nickels, dimes..   -feels stupid.   ATMS, CREDIT CARDS, PAYPAL, BITCOINS..  anything please but cash and coins..  Plus! This Eliminates any cause in small retail shops for petty thieves to steal...eliminates cash register robberies..

***

Have you ever felt your insides -shut down.  that is what happened to me at CVS recently..  I was a fan for a while of their program.. As a customer I entered my own phone number for discount ts, etc.

the other day I went in, and the salesperson at the register handed me a trifold brochure with a NEW card to sign up for..

MY ENTIRE INSIDES SHUT DOWN IN AN INTERNAL FIT OF RESENTMENT..

-another frickin' card?!?   someone END THIS..  !  every single store you walk in, every store you visit, every register... 

Here is what I am willing to do:  I enter my telephone number.  -that's it.  I don't want a card. I am not filling out one more Frickin form. I am not creating one more Frickin password.. I am not filling out a survey.. 

I want to be left the Frick alone..  I want to buy whatever it is I needed, and pay, and have you say, "thank you" and not attack me at the register with forms, brochures, programs or cards...

***

And that concludes my free consulting for programmers/coders in the retail industry.

You may be excused now to go save cash register personnel from carpal tunnel and tendinitis..  -and having to deal with; yucky, dirty,cash n coins..

and save yourselves from attack of the cards...

posted by SHE @ 8:37 AM