How do stores pick which lane to open?

[cjd]

I notice stores don’t always open the same checkout lane nor the same lanes closed, and don’t necessarily have adjacent lanes open.

How does it determine which ones they have open? Do certain employees use certain lanes?

And I always wondered why stores often have more lanes open than they ever use. Walmart is a good example.

[BillyGr]

I notice stores don’t always open the same checkout lane nor the same lanes closed, and don’t necessarily have adjacent lanes open.

How does it determine which ones they have open? Do certain employees use certain lanes?

And I always wondered why stores often have more lanes open than they ever use. Walmart is a good example.

Some stores (most likely supermarkets) will actually have every register operating on a few selected days - today would likely be one of them, maybe tomorrow for those open in the AM. But it's surely not often overall.

I guess having a spare or two is good for the inevitable breakdowns, and they may alternate which ones are used when employees take breaks (so as to have track of who was using a given register in case there are issues of shortfall or excess funds).

If nothing else, it would make sense to alternate which ones are used over time so that they all get a similar amount of usage over a given time period (rather than one being used to a point it breaks down while another sits barely used).

[ClownLoach]

We always had a daily roster where registers were assigned. Since we did not take the tills back and empty them until close of business, it was important to have an assigned register for each employee. Usually a register was shared but only by two employees, one cashier and one backup from the floor. Otherwise you wind up with chaos where multiple people used the same register and it's impossible to figure out how losses occurred. When someone does steal its easy to use a over/short log and report to figure out who is stealing, even if it's a manager or lead, you just note every shortage plus another list where you mark every time a employee is working when there is a shortage and pretty soon you're going to have one person with a lot of tally marks next to their name. If an employee was suspected of poor cash handling or actual theft, they would be isolated onto their own register with enough of a time window to allow for the manager to pull the till with a witness once their shift ended, count and verify funds in the cash room, then put it back for the next backup cashier's shift. We did plan on trying to use every register daily. The "regular" cashier registers were usually planned to be those closest to the doors, and the "backup" cashiers aka sales floor help and others would be the middle registers with less visibility. Being closest to the doors helps discourage less ambitious/amateur thieves.

Having worked in a department store type setup where many different people used the same register, it was a nightmare to figure out shortages and usually the Loss Prevention manager had to review electronic journals and video to figure it out because it was too time consuming for the other managers to sit there and sort it out.

Now from the corporate side, you probably notice when stores are remodeled or POS systems upgraded these days there will be a reduction in registers. Most modern register systems are much faster than 15+ years ago when most stores were built. A massive store like Walmart might have needed 40 lanes open on Black Friday and still had lines, but with faster registers, high speed internet for card processing, reduction or elimination of check payments, and of course curbside pickup, there is no longer a need for so much equipment. The corporate office generates reports to determine how many transactions per hour go through and the average time. They can figure out how many registers the store needs in the worst case scenario while also allowing for growth and that's all they will get in the next update or remodel. So maybe the store used to have 6 of the green screen registers but they'll only have 3 after the new faster system goes in because they never used more than 3 at a time. You see many Walmart and Target stores undergo remodels and they remove many checkstands. Even stores like Home Depot and Lowes used to have as many as a couple of dozen, now they have maybe 8 at the most self checkouts and a couple of registers at a pro desk. I saw a Best Buy that is a busy location remove 16 old checkout stands and replace them with only 5 registers on a single counter.

Last, I expect to see a complete elimination of traditional point of sale devices aside from maybe a manager workstation in most low velocity stores like clothing and specialty. For example Lego, Nike, and Apple do not use their registers and/or have removed them in favor of putting everything on a handheld, usually an iPhone with a wirelessly networked PIN pad for the customer, printer, and sometimes cash till. They're doing just fine without the bulky register and it allows for smaller counters so they can fit more merchandise into the stores.

[storewanderer]

For some stores the lane that is open if only one lane is open has to be an ADA accessible lane.

In some newer stores every lane is ADA accessible so this is not a thing.

Some stores it is just a matter of which lane has money in it and which lane does not based on when the count down lanes.

Some stores deliberately open a lane near the door or a lane positioned in a way to view some area with theft concerns (usually liquor or drug/HBA).

I have worked in stores where there are lanes "down on the end" that literally almost never got used. On the rare occasion they got used it was funny using them because the equipment was brand new. But then what sometimes happened was those few "never used" lanes got taken apart and used for parts on the other registers. So then the "never used" lanes became "useless."

[veteran+]

I notice stores don’t always open the same checkout lane nor the same lanes closed, and don’t necessarily have adjacent lanes open.

How does it determine which ones they have open? Do certain employees use certain lanes?

And I always wondered why stores often have more lanes open than they ever use. Walmart is a good example.

Great question.

All the responses above are correct depending on the company, location and the store manager.

When I managed a store I started the day with the register closest to the exit and then every other register from there. As the day progesses things change constantly. I also took note on which registers were not used as often and tried bringing them into the mix.

That was for slower stores in my early days. Next were the uber high volume stores (and combo formats) and that was different. Open registers at opposite ends near the exits and start filling in with (every other) towards the middle. Pretty soon all are open. Variances apply constantly.

[ClownLoach]

I notice stores don’t always open the same checkout lane nor the same lanes closed, and don’t necessarily have adjacent lanes open.

How does it determine which ones they have open? Do certain employees use certain lanes?

And I always wondered why stores often have more lanes open than they ever use. Walmart is a good example.

Great question.

All the responses above are correct depending on the company, location and the store manager.

When I managed a store I started the day with the register closest to the exit and then every other register from there. As the day progesses things change constantly. I also took note on which registers were not used as often and tried bringing them into the mix.

That was for slower stores in my early days. Next were the uber high volume stores (and combo formats) and that was different. Open registers at opposite ends near the exits and start filling in with (every other) towards the middle. Pretty soon all are open. Variances apply constantly.

Every company is going to do it differently based on procedures and equipment, and I think everyone here has shared great insights. The one thing that matters most is the Manager on Duty (or equivalent supervisor) at opening has set up some sort of plan for the employees and what registers they should use. It sounds simple but I've seen where it doesn't happen or they aren't good at decision making and create chaos like the two available backups in the afternoon both assigned to the same lane and such. With bad plans you wind up with a haphazard mess, and you can tell as a customer because nobody wants to come to the front to open a lane. When they do get there they can't figure out where to go, might try to open and then realize that there's no money in the till when you pay cash, etc. And the lines just keep building and chaos reigns.

[cjd]

Speaking of handheld checkout, I remember JCPenney tried this a long time ago. I would say around 2012/13. They had wireless devices, something like a black iPhone. I remember an employee checking us out once with one of these devices, and the receipt of course printed out at the nearest register.

This didn’t seem to last long, though.

[SamSpade]

Off Topic

Speaking of handheld checkout, I remember JCPenney tried this a long time ago. I would say around 2012/13. They had wireless devices, something like a black iPhone. I remember an employee checking us out once with one of these devices, and the receipt of course printed out at the nearest register.

This didn’t seem to last long, though.

This was the Johnson era, trying to flip JCPenney into an Apple-like checkout experience (largely paperless/email, with "bagging stations" around departments). At the time Nordstrom Rack was also offering a similar service model. I do not believe they do at this time?

The other thought was that this way associates could provide better department straightening and service, rather than being anchored to the cash wrap(s).

[storewanderer]

Off Topic

Speaking of handheld checkout, I remember JCPenney tried this a long time ago. I would say around 2012/13. They had wireless devices, something like a black iPhone. I remember an employee checking us out once with one of these devices, and the receipt of course printed out at the nearest register.

This didn’t seem to last long, though.

This was the Johnson era, trying to flip JCPenney into an Apple-like checkout experience (largely paperless/email, with "bagging stations" around departments). At the time Nordstrom Rack was also offering a similar service model. I do not believe they do at this time?

The other thought was that this way associates could provide better department straightening and service, rather than being anchored to the cash wrap(s).

No "on the floor checkout" at Nordstrom Rack since COVID.

[ClownLoach]

Off Topic

Speaking of handheld checkout, I remember JCPenney tried this a long time ago. I would say around 2012/13. They had wireless devices, something like a black iPhone. I remember an employee checking us out once with one of these devices, and the receipt of course printed out at the nearest register.

This didn’t seem to last long, though.

This was the Johnson era, trying to flip JCPenney into an Apple-like checkout experience (largely paperless/email, with "bagging stations" around departments). At the time Nordstrom Rack was also offering a similar service model. I do not believe they do at this time?

The other thought was that this way associates could provide better department straightening and service, rather than being anchored to the cash wrap(s).

No "on the floor checkout" at Nordstrom Rack since COVID.

I remember when Nordstrom Rack tried to do this in some new stores and put the "cashiers" in neon green shirts. No checkout counter, you were supposed to take your purchase to the green shirt employees who had little kiosks around the store and handhelds. They did have a returns counter and everyone wound up there to purchase. The process did not last long before the counter was turned back into normal checkout. They did have on the floor still available until COVID but I'm not sure that many people used it.