Observation #1: I have shopped at Shaw's twice in the last 10 days. The checkout folks will not touch your reusable bags and for a good reason.
Covidea #1: Continue this practice even after the current pandemic ends. So when the next pandemic rolls around, nothing special needs to be done. Push-back may come from lazy or disabled shoppers. Simply have a separate lane for these folks.. where the checkout person will wear proper gloves, mask, etc. before handling the reusable bags in this lane. Or, to keep it much simpler, continue maintaining special hours during which shopping can be done only by the elderly and disabled folk!
 |
| This is just a random picture.. of a spring snow storm that just started outside. |
Observation #2: One of the supermarket's two entrances were closed. There was a police man stationed at the other entrance. He was ensuring that the store did not get overcrowded by allowing a shopper in
only after an existing shopper from within the store had exited. I remember standing in line like that a few times back in the day when I was trying to get into nightclubs. I hated that experience!
Covidea #2: Make this standard practice if it looks like another pandemic may be on the horizon. How the transition from Police officer "Present" to "Not present" will be made remains to be seen. But I expect it will have to be done when there is a high amount of confidence that a pandemic is over and there will not be a spike seen in the upcoming weeks.
Observation #3: While shoppers kept a reasonable distance from each other while they were shopping, this was not at all possible once they finished their shopping and had to check out. Now everyone was much closer because of a need to congregate by the checkout counters.
Covidea #3a: Just like MassHighway uses a moving machine (zippers?) to adjust lanes on I-93 south of Boston on weekday mornings and evenings, put in place a
dynamic system to accommodate shopping lane reconfiguration on weekday evenings, weekends, before snow storms, etc.
 |
| Copyright ABC10.. I guess. |
Covidea #3b: Look into eliminating checkout lanes altogether by providing the ability to checkout while shopping. Instead, multiple entrances will be established in the perimeter of the store to minimize shopper proximity issues. When a shopper comes to the store, they use a store card or app to first pickup a cart with a checkout device right on it:
- When an item is placed in a cart, it is automatically checked out.
- To cancel an item, the item is simply returned from the cart to where it was picked up.
- Once the shopper has finished shopping, they "commit" their shopping through an app which will allow them to leave the store with the cart and then remove items from the cart.
If a checked-in item leaves the cart for an
extended period or a not yet checked-in item leaves the shelf and does not get into its original spot on the shelf -- example: one shopper steals from another shopper -- alarm and lights will go of in the appropriate locations while a beam will be zapped to the local police station with encrypted details about the offense. But more likely, a kid with freckles wielding a broomstick will show up first to eyeball the state of the union.
During pandemics,
stockpiling of items can be prevented through this type of automation either during a particular shopping session or across multiple sessions for a given shopper.. now that their shopping history is on the cloud. Anyone smell a bit of communism in there? But remember that this is only during pandemics in order to not to deprive those who really need supplies or cannot get to shop as quickly or as often.. such as the elderly, single parents and disabled folk. This covidea should be an "All-in" strategy and should be implemented by all major stores at the same time. Otherwise, enough shoppers, realizing that they won't be able to stockpile if Covidea #3b were to be implemented, will soon put early adopters of this service out of business by shopping only at the "not-yet" adopters.
Covidea #3b is a huge ask, yes, but one that should prepare nations better for emergencies in the future:
better initial preparation leads to less overall enforcement or running around during times of need. If that philosophy can be implemented in other areas such as healthcare and hospitality, pandemics would become non-events and fizzle out before they begin.
Observation #4: A few shoppers had on face masks and gloves. Stores had sanitizers affixed by each checkout lane. Some shoppers missed the sanitizers altogether as they were not very obvious.
Covidea #4: Keep the sanitizers where they are but have them light up with a ding when a shopper has finished paying. Shoppers who have on face masks and gloves will also have their rewards points bumped up. Shoppers will also get rewards points for wiping down carts and/or returning them to the cart cage.
Observation #x: ...
Covidea #x: ...
Observation #19: I found myself constantly surveying the shopper traffic inside the store in order to get the few items I needed without having to bump into other shoppers.
Covidea #19: If shoppers can tap and choose through an app what they need to buy on that particular shopping session before they get to the store and pick up the special cart -- a suggested shopping list could pop up based on their past shopping history, frequency, etc., for instance --, then the app can direct them to the next item they can pick up while having no or the least interaction with other shoppers en route to that item. This is also simply efficient, pandemic or not. This covidea goes.. um.. hand-in-hand with
Covidea #3b.
