The question is no longer paper or plastic when checking out at grocery stores, but if you’ve brought your own bags.  If you live in Washington D.C , then a recently passed law allows store owners to charge you 5 cents per bag….a great incentive to bring your own.

Several states are anxiously watching how consumers react to this law, since it may be a solution to reducing the amount of plastic waste generated each year.  Most grocery stores have made their own attempts by encouraging consumers to buy reusable ‘green’ bags.

Is this a sign of what’s to come in the near future?  If yes, then how will it affect business owners and consumers?  It almost seems like the hidden cost of ‘green’ hasn’t been fully examined….

During a recent trip to the grocery store, I had the opportunity to see first hand the challenges of using these ‘green’ bags.  The cashier struggled with trying to keep these bags open because each one was a different size and had different handles, making it impossible to use the bag opener typically used on plastic.  The customer had bought the bags from several different stores (you could see the different logos on each one).

It took the cashier at least 3 times as long to bag a small amount of groceries because the customer had introduced variation into the bagging process….and the cashiers frustration was very apparent.

I understand and appreciate the need to reduce plastic waste and always do my part when possible, but it seems like a few questions need to be answered before we unanimously convert to the ‘green’ approach….

• What is the additional cost to the store owner if the cashier takes longer to bag less groceries?  From a process point of view, you’re introducing variation and inefficiencies into a process that results in a reduced output.  Are we inadvertently making it difficult for a business owner to remain profitable?
• How much turnover will a store owner have to deal with if you increase a cashier’s frustrations?  Will the quality of the bagging be reduced, resulting in unhappy customers?….just think of broken eggs and flattened bread.
• Will consumers be willing to wait longer in line?  Will store owners be forced to hire dedicated baggers to speed up the checkout process?
• Will people mind bringing their own bags? Most people probably won’t mind as long as they’re compensated in some way (i.e. cheaper groceries).

A fews years ago several stores had introduced self checkout lines because of the perceived cost savings it represented.  Many stores have since removed them  because of increased theft and the constant need to assist customers.

If you’re a store manager or owner, I encourage you to work towards an efficient solution before  you’re faced with bagging groceries in any type or size of container…boxes, plastic bags, ‘green’ bags, thermal bags, paper bags, Victoria Secret bags, etc.

Customer satisfaction and Quality Assurance go hand-in-hand when your trying to maintain or grow any business.  If you provide a quality product or service that your customers are satisfied with, then most likely you’ll get repeat business and positive press.  

A few years back we had a customer that would place orders every month….each time we received no complaints.  Actually we never heard anything from the customer and just interpreted it as no news meant good news and went along our merry way.  

Then one day, I was informed that this customer was at a recent trade show soliciting business producing the same product that we did….at some point our customer had become our competitor and we didn’t even notice it.  How could that be?  

I then spoke to the sales department and informed them of the situation.  We looked at the sales history for this customer and realized that the sales orders had been decreasing for some time.  First it was smaller orders each month, then monthly orders became quarterly orders, then eventually they had stopped purchasing from us altogether….our customer had vanished and we didn’t even notice! 

After contacting the former customer, I was told that they had been dissatisfied for quite some time and felt they could purchase the equipment and manufacture a higher quality product and offset their costs by selling their downtime.  When I asked why they had never complained, they responded with ‘you never asked’.  

There’s a lesson here that we can all learn from….never assume that your customers are happy just because they haven’t officially complained!  When was the last time you asked your customer for feedback as to how happy they are with your products or service?  

Although this example deals with an external customer, we should also take the time to find out how satisfied our internal customers are with our performance.  So many times we forget how much more difficult and frustrating we may unknowingly make other people’s jobs that work upstream from us.

Take care,
Sandra