Archived More things for cashiers to stress over?

[dutifulTM]

Yesterday I looked to the side-wall of my register, and noticed a new posting regarding offering service plans for certain items.

I asked my gsa about it, and she mentioned that it was something we had to do only when prompted.

Which got me to thinking... so is this yet another thing we're going to be scored on?

Ugh.

 

[insiteful1]

There is a new bag usage metric, too. Good stuff.

 

[Wislans52]

There is a new bag usage metric, too. Good stuff.

What does that mean?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Better numbers for you & your team on electroincs attachments.

 

[RednTacky]

Yesterday I looked to the side-wall of my register, and noticed a new posting regarding offering service plans for certain items.

I asked my gsa about it, and she mentioned that it was something we had to do only when prompted.

Which got me to thinking... so is this yet another thing we're going to be scored on?

Ugh.

Doubtful. It'll definitely be something you're encouraged to do, but you won't be individually scored. We don't even get individually scored in Electronics for them, it's just something to help your store's Accessory Attachment %.

 

[insiteful1]

What does that mean?

I saw it in an email. I won't be back in the store until Monday. I'll fill you in then. I'm sure others know about the new metrics, maybe someone can help me out.

 

[Squid7085]

I just put all those signs up in my registers today. I let my cashiers know to keep them in mind, I dont expect them to push them the way electronics though, but if a Dyson goes through the line, I'd like it mentioned. I put up hooks on the light pole with a few just to make them more accessible. Red cards are hard enough, so baby steps.

There is a new bag usage metric, too. Good stuff.

I don't even have an idea on how to work on that. Though I do agree that something needs to be done, I see more bags ripped and thrown away because they came off the peg than walk out the door.

 

[Kalaen]

Yesterday I looked to the side-wall of my register, and noticed a new posting regarding offering service plans for certain items.

I asked my gsa about it, and she mentioned that it was something we had to do only when prompted.

Which got me to thinking... so is this yet another thing we're going to be scored on?

Ugh.

I don't think that there are prompts on the POS for it. That's the reason the posting is supposed to be at all the registers, is to show the cashiers which sort of items they should be asking if they want a service plan for. If you wait for a prompt, you're never gonna be asking anybody.

 

[GlobalTargetTM]

hahha a bag metric? oh man what will they think of next....

 

[dutifulTM]

I just put all those signs up in my registers today. I let my cashiers know to keep them in mind, I dont expect them to push them the way electronics though, but if a Dyson goes through the line, I'd like it mentioned. I put up hooks on the light pole with a few just to make them more accessible. Red cards are hard enough, so baby steps.



I don't even have an idea on how to work on that. Though I do agree that something needs to be done, I see more bags ripped and thrown away because they came off the peg than walk out the door.

@Last part: Well if the bags all came easily detatchable from one another, then perhaps so many wouldn't get wasted from us just trying to get them apart, ya? It's sad how excited us cashiers get when we get a "good" batch of bags. <_<;

But... uh. Wondering what this whole metric system is myself.

 

[MrMrIce]

@Last part: Well if the bags all came easily detatchable from one another, then perhaps so many wouldn't get wasted from us just trying to get them apart, ya? It's sad how excited us cashiers get when we get a "good" batch of bags. <_<;

But... uh. Wondering what this whole metric system is myself.

Lol.

Yeah me and all the cashiers at my store get sad when we realize our batch of bags are the ones where you pull one and it pulls half the stack or they rip super easily. You really can't help it for the most part, they just suck.

 

[mrknownothing]

Lol.

Yeah me and all the cashiers at my store get sad when we realize our batch of bags are the ones where you pull one and it pulls half the stack or they rip super easily. You really can't help it for the most part, they just suck.

You have no idea how excited I get when I get a batch that doesn't stick together, come off the pegs when you only want one bag, or rip. At my store, we try to collect all the junk bags and recycle them if they can't be used.

A bag use metric? When they could be using all that time and money to find a better bag manufacturer........

 

[Squid7085]

Pull off one side, run your hand around the back side to break the bag away and then pull off the other side. Takes a lot less time then putting all the bags you just ripped off back on the pegs. I don't agree with a lot of things that Target does, but I agree with this one. There needs to be some accountability when it comes to bags, it's better they do this then start using cheap thinner bags like our competitors use.

 

[mrknownothing]

Pull off one side, run your hand around the back side to break the bag away and then pull off the other side. Takes a lot less time then putting all the bags you just ripped off back on the pegs. I don't agree with a lot of things that Target does, but I agree with this one. There needs to be some accountability when it comes to bags, it's better they do this then start using cheap thinner bags like our competitors use.

Yeah, that's what I do. It takes longer, but it saves a lot of bags. It always irks me when the GSTL/GSA has to do an alcohol sale for me and they just rip the bags off. Or when the guest feels the need to reach over the counter and grab their own bags (I HATE when people do this).

 

[pellinore]

not only are the bags awful to use, but they take weeks to get to the store. Our GSTL put a request in for big bags and for handles. She asked for them on August 1. They got ordered on August 8. As of Sunday September 11 we still don't have either of these items. How do they expect us to do our job properly when we can't get the bags in??

At our store they talk about the price of a pallet being $1,000. That the bags are quite expensive. Well, get with the program people we're retail and guests have a right to expect that they can get their items in a bag. In RED magazine or some other Target propaganda they have said that bags are the single biggest expense Target has. No Kidding! Target could save a lot of money if they would require guests to bring in their own bags or they don't get any from the store.......look how much money Target could save! Another idea is to charge guests to use a bag. Maybe .25 or so then guests would bring in their own bags. I bet then we'd save Target a lot of money and then MAKE money by charging the guests for bags!

 

[redeye58]

Re: pulling off one side & running your hand behind it to separate it doesn't even work when the bags are fused together at the opening. The current batch is such a crap load because of this & our latest batch hasn't arrived yet.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

I like that people are using reusable bags so much more. The only issue I have is some of them are just plain disgusting. When I put food in some of them I gag. I have had some that are crispy because they have been wet and dried with some kind of juice on them. The chart that shows how long it should take to ring different items doesn't take into account how long it takes to open the darn bags or take just that one of the hook without getting the next 5 bags with it. To really get some of the leaders and team members to understand how difficult it can be, we had a scanning/bagging contest at the lanes. Anyone could participate. It took less than 5 minutes of anyones time and they could do it on their way to break or when their break was done. We kept a list of the times and the issues that came up.We had the same items for each person including a shirt with no tag, a clearance item with the ticket place over the bar code, 2 folded towels that looked alike but were actually different,a pillow, a package of ground beef, a package of raw chicken, a big pack of tp, a pair of shoes in the box and a bottle of id required cold medicine. We timed anyone who wanted to participate. We also found out who really knew the rules for bagging. All of the ETLS put the chicken and beef in the same bag (big no no) 3 ETLs did not realize the DPCI was actually on the red clearance ticket and could be scanned. Almost everyone scanned the shoe box and just double scanned one of the towels.The team member with the best time and won a $5 GC was a SF team member that came from the checklanes. When the contest was done we found out that we need to revisit some basic scanning and bagging rules at huddles.
Everyone had trouble opening the plastic bags. We ordered some of the sticky stuff that banks use (available on TIPP)to keep at each lane and have them kept on the key boards. You can just rub your fingers on the surface and it will help you be able to pull the bags apart

 

[Squid7085]

not only are the bags awful to use, but they take weeks to get to the store. Our GSTL put a request in for big bags and for handles. She asked for them on August 1. They got ordered on August 8. As of Sunday September 11 we still don't have either of these items. How do they expect us to do our job properly when we can't get the bags in??

At our store they talk about the price of a pallet being $1,000. That the bags are quite expensive. Well, get with the program people we're retail and guests have a right to expect that they can get their items in a bag. In RED magazine or some other Target propaganda they have said that bags are the single biggest expense Target has. No Kidding! Target could save a lot of money if they would require guests to bring in their own bags or they don't get any from the store.......look how much money Target could save! Another idea is to charge guests to use a bag. Maybe .25 or so then guests would bring in their own bags. I bet then we'd save Target a lot of money and then MAKE money by charging the guests for bags!

Right... That would kill our sales. If PAYING the guests to use a reusable bag doesn't work for most, charging them for a bag will just cause anarchy. Like I said, the number of bags that are wasted is huge, just in my store.

 

[MisterLogistics]

Plastic bags are either restricted or completely banned in more than 25 percent of the world. Belgium, Italy (total ban since January 1, 2011), Ireland, and Hong Kong have legislation discouraging the use and encouraging the recycling of plastic bags by imposing a fixed or minimum levy for the supply of plastic bags or obliging retailers to recycle. In other jurisdictions, including Bangladesh, South Africa, Thailand, and three states/territories of Australia, plastic bags are banned. The plastic bag levy introduced in Ireland in 2002, resulted in a reduction of over 90% in the issuing of plastic shopping bags. The "ban on free plastic bags" in China introduced in 2008 resulted in a reduction by two thirds.

In the United States bans were imposed at the local level starting with San Francisco in 2007. In 2008 Westport, Connecticut banned plastic bags in grocery stores. In 2009 Edmonds, Washington banned plastic bags at retail stores. In 2010 Los Angeles County, Brownsville, Texas, and Bethel, Alaska approved similar bans. In the first few months of 2011 bans went into effect in North Carolina's Outerbanks Region banning all plastic bags at all retailers. Similar bans at municipality level were imposed in India, Mexico, and the UK. In the United States, the California legislature rejected a 25-cent bag tax in June 2009. In August 2009, Seattle voters rejected a 20-cent bag tax previously approved by city leaders. A five-cent tax levied on plastic bags in Washington, DC in January 2010 resulted in a decrease in consumption from 22.5 million to 3 million bags in the first month alone.

 

[SuzyTarget]

"Almost everyone scanned the shoe box and just double scanned one of the towels."


I hate that TMs do this. So often guest services ends up playing guessing games with the guest's returns because of this kind of thing. Being fast doesn't count if you are not accurate. There is also a shocking amount of merchandise that doesn't get scanned at all and not because of anything the guest did.

"3 ETLs did not realize the DPCI was actually on the red clearance ticket and could be scanned."

This is just sad.

 

[dutifulTM]

So... in regards to the clearance "failure" - I'll be honest. If there is a clearance tag over the actual barcode, I WILL peel it back enough so that I can scan the actual barcode. That way, if the price that comes up is different than the one listed on the clearance tag, I can input the clearance tag's number and compare.

There are often times the clearance tag is incorrect and not for the item it was on.

(Of course, for that matter often times the clearance tag states one price and another comes up, but both the actual DPCI and the DPCI on the clearance tag itself do match up for the correct item... but the price wasn't changed in the computers. -facepalm-)


I hardly get clearanced items with scannable tags, unless it's a repackaged tagged one.



That aside, that contest sounds fun.

 

[DotWarner]

Like I was told when I started working flow, focus on accuracy first. You pick up speed with practice but it's better to be *a little* slower and more accurate. It's even more important when cashiering because your dealing with guests' money and also you want to make it easier for everyone if they do wind up returning stuff.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Dut, if UPC & dpci don't match, ck price.

 

[smurf101]

I don't think that there are prompts on the POS for it. That's the reason the posting is supposed to be at all the registers, is to show the cashiers which sort of items they should be asking if they want a service plan for. If you wait for a prompt, you're never gonna be asking anybody.

my store has been doing this since Christmas at least. we were told you can sell it with anything electrical. i mysupported last Christmas about selling it with kids leap frog and those types of things. i think in feb, is when we were told, anything electrical in the store at all.

 

[SuzyTarget]

"So... in regards to the clearance "failure" - I'll be honest. If there is a clearance tag over the actual barcode, I WILL peel it back enough so that I can scan the actual barcode. That way, if the price that comes up is different than the one listed on the clearance tag, I can input the clearance tag's number and compare.

There are often times the clearance tag is incorrect and not for the item it was on.

(Of course, for that matter often times the clearance tag states one price and another comes up, but both the actual DPCI and the DPCI on the clearance tag itself do match up for the correct item... but the price wasn't changed in the computers. -facepalm-)


I hardly get clearanced items with scannable tags, unless it's a repackaged tagged one."





dutifulTM---you make a good point here. It's always best to scan the barcode even if you have to work a little to get to it since its possible the clearance ticket isn't the right one for the product. If I scan a barcode on a product with a clearance ticket and it doesn't match the price I also handkey the clearance ticket DPCI to see if its a match for the product. If its not I call over the GSTL since mismatched clearance tickets should be reported to AP.

When the product has a clearance ticket priced differently than what it scans at but with a matching DPCI its most likely the computer is right but the ticket is wrong. If the clearance ticket is higher than the scanned price the pricing team probably just missed reticketing the item, if its lower the item was probably purchased at a different Target (clearance ticketing is done on an individual store basis), returned to your Target and either guest services or salesfloor failed to catch the price difference and put it on the floor with the wrong clearance ticket for your store. It's also possible for an item to become "unclearanced". I don't know how often that happens but a couple of months ago we had an entire endcap with some Crayola brand products that had been clearanced a while back but were now regular price. Someone had pulled items that had been held in the backroom with their old clearance tickets on them and didn't take them off before setting the endcap. I'm guessing that doesn't happen much since most clearance goes salvage eventually.