Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Please Take Your Receipt and Thank You for Shopping at...

A recent poll conducted by IHL Consulting Group found that 16% of the 1000+ people surveyed would be more likely to use self-checkout if they could choose the voice of the self-checkout machine.

  • 21% would like to have Tom Brokaw or Walter Cronkite tell them to, for example, "please rescan your item and put it in the bag."


  • 13% would prefer the "Movie Trailer Guy" to ask them to perhaps "scan your Kroger Plus Card now."


  • 12% wanted Darth Vader to inquire as to whether or not they "have any coupons or Coin Star."


While I find those choices amusing, it would be much more helpful to me and my pocketbook if...

  • after I scanned some potpourri or Hamburger Helper, the voice of my ex-husband would say, "What are you buying that crap for?"


  • after I scanned the latest issue of Cosmo, the voice of my grandfather would say, "Lo-Lo, that magazine is just advertise! Look. Advertise. Advertise. Advertise!"


  • after I scanned some do-it-yourself home repair gadget, the voice of my son would say, "Mom, put that back! I'll fix it for you."


  • after I scanned a couple of fresh steaks, the voice of my dad would say, "Baby, you can save $1 a pound if you buy from the almost expired bin!"



Note: There are other interesting tidbits of information in the survey about impulse buying and the preferred brands purchased by people who use self-checkout. Click on the blog post title or the above link to find out more.

7 comments:

Rebecca Hickman said...

You're so funny. I especially liked the ex-husband's comment.

Leslie said...

I'd prefer Barry White telling me, "Scan that item, baby."

Lorna said...

I always feel like I'm advancing my professional skills by doing the self-scan thing. I want mine done with "Evanescence" as the sound track, singing "Call me when you're sober".

TBM said...

One store that I usually go to (in England) just put in two self-checkout machines. A helpful, slightly worried person hovers nearby to make sure everything is alright. She'll ask others in line, "Would you like to check out here?" And after glancing skeptically at the machine, they give a sort of frantic shake of their heads. Oh well, more for me. I live in the land of no pay at the pump.

I’m with Leslie--bring on Barry White! Actually, I would prefer if they just not talk to me at all. I like the strong and silent type ;-)

Laurie said...

40 Forever - He was a real charmer.

Leslie - HAHAHAHAH!!!! Yes!

Lorna - Evanescence! That would be great. I'll take Green Day or the Ramones. That should wake people up.

Just - The self-checkout machines over here have become so popular there's a line for those, too!

Grimm said...

Better yet, when you scan that bottle of wine, Yoda comes on.

"Yes, Drunk you will get."

Laurie said...

Grimm - HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!