Accepting Payments - does your process work for your customers?
Yesterday, I was doing some Christmas Shopping for my daughter at Forever 21 and after I had selected the items that I wanted to purchase I walked to the end of the line. I waited at least 20 minutes to check out, and I thought to myself ‘there is no way that I am doing this again’. If I would have seen the line prior to walking in the store, I would have gone somewhere else.
There are too many choices for consumers to spend money, and it is amazing that when it comes to collecting it, many companies don’t know when they are destroying the goodwill that the shopping experience may have created.
A month or so ago, my husband, daughter, and I were shopping at Apple, and again, it took forever to pay because we were getting a computer for our company, and businesses get a discount. When we mentioned this, the staff seemed caught off guard. We had to fill out a form, managers had to approve it. We were very close to walking out without a computer because it took about an hour to check out. Interestingly enough, we were very excited that the Apple store had opened locally, so our enthusiasm definitely dimmed when we realized that it wasn’t going to be easy.
Many companies don’t give much thought to the experience of paying for merchandise. They assume that if the customer got so far as the payment line, that they are going to complete the transaction. And, most likely they will. But, they may think twice about returning any time soon. They may mention to a friend: “I really liked that store, but you have to wait forever to check out”.
Why make it difficult for someone to give you their money?
On the flip side, a long payment line gives the impression to potential customers, that the store is popular, and that they may be missing something. So, if there is a long payment line, make it fun for the people who are waiting or create ways to make it go as fast as possible. Learn the busy times, and increase staff during those times. The more customers who you are able to accomodate will pay for the extra staff personnel.
Barnes and Nobel is very good about handling long lines. When the check out line gets to a certain point, they often call for assistance. This makes me feel that they have everything under control.
How do customers like your process for accepting payment? You’ll have to ask. They probably won’t tell you.
I welcome your comments.
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Another example of poor checkout procedures is the AT&T store. I’ve personally seen people turn around and leave because they get so tired of waiting when all they want to do is buy an accessory.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I agree with Grace, I have time and time again avoided the Verizon store. But on my husband’s 25th birthday I couldn’t. All he wanted was a new phone the latest in smart phones, so we showed up at about 7:00 pm to make purchase of the new phone and were surprised when we were asked to take a number, like we were at a deli counter. And there we stood for 3.5 hours just waiting for our number to be called, I had to wait 3.5 hours to give Verizon close to $500 dollars worst part I was 8 months pregnant there was nowhere to sit and not once did someone ask me if I needed a chair. If it wasn’t my husband’s birthday, and he wasn’t so excited about this new toy… I’d have left.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Grace & Katie experienced what most retailers forget about; the final Customer “Touch Point” of the sale! When the Seller handles the final “Touch Point” correctly, buyer’s remorse is reduced, sometimes eliminated. We buy trucks from LB Smith with a simple phone call and 5 minutes of signing the paperwork! I figure it’s about $6,000 per minute!
November 26th, 2008 at 6:54 am
My favorite is when it is a busy time and the retail stores have someone new who is in “training.” First of all, if I ran the store, I would anticipate the busy season(s) and be sure to give new employees enough training time before the rush, so that customers do not have to wait in lines, which are already long to begin with, but are made longer because of someone who is inexperienced. I think that was part of the problem at the Apple store. Because it was new, the employees were not experienced and obviously did not have enough training before the store opened to ensure customers received excellent service from the time they walk into the store to when they checkout.