Shopping psychology ('splain this to me, Lucy)

[Ace-Garageguy]

38 minutes ago, bobss396 said:

I used to drive a tow truck in & out of NYC between 1978 and 1981. Mostly The Bronx and Queens.

We would stop in Queens to bodegas and other small shops to pick up smokes and coffee.

Some in Queens were partitioned off. The storefront was set back enough to keep "shoppers" out of the rain.

You could not walk into the building at all. Put your order in, they had people to gather everything and deliver it to the front counter. After paying, the bags were slid out of a plexiglass window. I'd say that shoplifting was about 0%.

So...I'm assuming those were in high-crime areas.

It's just so special that that is becoming the norm.

Ain't progress grand?

[bobss396]

18 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

So...I'm assuming those were in high-crime areas.

It's just so special that that is becoming the norm.

Ain't progress grand?

It was no worse than many areas in Queens and Brooklyn. I guess that sone shop owners got jacked up one time too many.

[sidcharles]

i take it no one here has tried to buy cigarettes or baby formula in the past 20 years. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, sidcharles said:

i take it no one here has tried to buy cigarettes or baby formula in the past 20 years. 

Cigarettes had already been removed from easy access 25 years ago (largely, I thought, to limit availability to minors) when I 'quit' smoking, but last time I bought an 'occasional' pack, the price was such a shocker I'm surprised they don't keep 'em in a vault now.

I didn't realize baby formula was locked up too, but knowing how evil some people can be, it's probably not a bad idea.

Still...it didn't used to be this way, and I STILL lament the passing of a world where locking everything down was NOT the norm.

Edited Saturday at 04:20 PM by Ace-Garageguy
punctiliousness

[bobthehobbyguy]

Although theft is the reason for locking up items the one problem I see is understaffing as a contributing factor. I used to shop at coscto and they always had a person checking what was in the cart and the receipt. Walmart only has someone mark the receipt so it can't be reused.

Locking up everything is fine if there is enough staff to open cases. Walmart tends to understaff and the creates a horrible shopping experience. My sister has commented it makes more sense to use parking lot pickup if you have enough items that are locked up.. An added advantage for Walmart is that those transactions are credit or debit. Eliminating cash means no cash drawers to be counted which saves money. In addition no cash means no armored car pickups which saves money.

Just something to think about.

 

 

[Monty]

Have to be careful how I phrase this, but I really don’t want us to eventually drift into a cashless society.

I’ll leave it at that.

🫥

 

[Rob Hall]

9 minutes ago, Monty said:

Have to be careful how I phrase this, but I really don’t want us to eventually drift into a cashless society.

I’ll leave it at that.

🫥

 

I rarely use cash, but this morning went to vet to pick up some meds for one of my dogs, $19.80 so I paid with a $20.  Took 5 min for them to find change.  And print a 3 page receipt….

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

I rarely use cash, but this morning went to vet to pick up some meds for one of my dogs, $19.80 so I paid with a $20.  Took 5 min for them to find change.  And print a 3 page receipt….

It took them so long because some were in back counting on their fingers trying to figure out how much change to give you, as nobody understood when the AI they asked answered "$.20".

Or the answer to the follow up question: "Like...how many quarters is that?"

Edited Saturday at 07:59 PM by Ace-Garageguy

[Monty]

Don’t wanna step all over my own point but something similar happened about a month ago at my local Taco-Whatever drive-thru.

When they told me the total, I grabbed some change so I’d get a $5 bill back.

Apparently, I made things worse ‘cuz Binky The Wonder Chimp was incapable of doing 3rd grade math and shorted me on my change.  I just handed it back and said “Try again.”  Luckily his manager stepped in and resolved it.

 

 

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, Monty said:

Don’t wanna step all over my own point but something similar happened about a month ago at my local Taco-Whatever drive-thru.

When they told me the total, I grabbed some change so I’d get a $5 bill back.

Apparently, I made things worse ‘cuz Binky The Wonder Chimp was incapable of doing 3rd grade math and shorted me on my change.  I just handed it back and said “Try again.”  Luckily his manager stepped in and resolved it.

Used to was, if I'd post something like that, I'd get dogpiled on for being such a luddite in the oh-so-mo-better techie age where nobody had to know stuff like making change or telling time on a round clock because that was past-it-old-man-shouting-at-clouds-think.

Mayhap some rationality is returning to the world...but I'm not holding my breath.

[Tim W. SoCal]

On 11/11/2025 at 11:37 AM, Monty said:

My (admittedly long-winded) question was why do people purposely choose an option that's more time-consuming instead of just using regular checkouts?

Could it be by the same reasoning that when they enter a freeway, instead of merging into gaps between cars in the lane to their left, they always proceed to the end of the on ramp, are forced to stop and then attempt to wedge their way into traffic, impeding the traffic flow of the entire section of freeway?

[Ace-Garageguy]

16 minutes ago, Tim W. SoCal said:

Could it be by the same reasoning that when they enter a freeway, instead of merging into gaps between cars in the lane to their left, they always proceed to the end of the on ramp, are forced to stop and then attempt to wedge their way into traffic, impeding the traffic flow of the entire section of freeway?

The word you seek begins with S T and ends with O O P I D, grasshopper.

PS: "Reasoning" has nothing to do with it.

Edited Saturday at 09:44 PM by Ace-Garageguy

[Monty]

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Used to was, if I'd post something like that, I'd get dogpiled on for being such a luddite in the oh-so-mo-better techie age where nobody had to know stuff like making change or telling time on a round clock because that was past-it-old-man-shouting-at-clouds-think.

Mayhap some rationality is returning to the world...but I'm not holding my breath.

Agreed.  This will be me some day, wondering why my toilet needs to be "linked in":

[mcs1056]

A helpful tip for anyone shopping in the greater Detroit area; DO NOT get in line behind me. I always pick the wrong lane...always switch to the wrong lane...always get behind the problem purchase (no price, or, "this is supposed to be on sale), the Grandma writing a check, or the guy needing cigarettes from the cage 1/2 store away.

I might make a t-shirt with, "Try Another Lane: Dark Cloud Shopper Here" on the back.

[Monty]

1 hour ago, mcs1056 said:

A helpful tip for anyone shopping in the greater Detroit area; DO NOT get in line behind me. I always pick the wrong lane...always switch to the wrong lane...always get behind the problem purchase (no price, or, "this is supposed to be on sale), the Grandma writing a check, or the guy needing cigarettes from the cage 1/2 store away.

I might make a t-shirt with, "Try Another Lane: Dark Cloud Shopper Here" on the back.

I had no idea I had a twin.  

Can you imagine the absolute train wreck that would result if we were in adjacent checkout lines at the same time?

[sidcharles]

i always find the register with one sale left on the tape. of course the cashier has not been trained in paper receipt-changing, so the trouble light gets turned on whilst we wait for someone in the AV club to straighten things out. 

[bobss396]

On 11/18/2025 at 8:49 AM, mcs1056 said:

A helpful tip for anyone shopping in the greater Detroit area; DO NOT get in line behind me. I always pick the wrong lane...always switch to the wrong lane...always get behind the problem purchase (no price, or, "this is supposed to be on sale), the Grandma writing a check, or the guy needing cigarettes from the cage 1/2 store away.

I might make a t-shirt with, "Try Another Lane: Dark Cloud Shopper Here" on the back.

I go out of my way to pick the item without a barcode when I go to home improvement stores.

The odds of TWO people being in line missing a bar code are slim... nice to be in control once in a while.

Self checkout supermarkets... I always make sure I'm buying beer... so someone has to come over to help me.

[Rob Hall]

27 minutes ago, bobss396 said:

I go out of my way to pick the item without a barcode when I go to home improvement stores.

 

When I go to Home Depot and buy pavers or other stone blocks (did a bunch this year), I take a photo of the bar code and price on the shelf...inevitably the clerk doesn't know the price, so I show them the photo..  and as always, I get an email and text message from HD asking about my experience...I keep it simple...'went looking for blocks and rocks, found good blocks and rocks'....

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

...'went looking for blocks and rocks, found blocks and rocks'...

...gainfully employed at your store.

[Bugatti Fan]

Self Checkouts

After going through one ask if you can use the staff canteen.

If you get refused say ' Doesn't having to do your job by scanning and putting my own shopping through a checkout qualify me as a member of staff? '