Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Shopping at Supermarkets

Pomegranates are not often seen in supermarkets but there were some yesterday. I couldn't get near the shelf that was holding the fruits. A lady and her maid were there ahead of me and they were trying to get some squeezing almost every fruit. I gave up in the end.

When out shopping at supermarkets, I'd make it a point never to go near closing time for obvious reasons. Even though more checkout counters would be open for service, the queues outdo the cashiers as the lines get longer than the cashiers can clear them.

And God-forbid if there is a hiccup such as an item not having a price-tag or an argument on pricing or worse still if there is a power failure. Have you ever encountered this scenario? I do wonder if barcode scanners would still work with the inhouse generator. If they don't, we would all have to abandon our purchases. What a letdown..

8 comments:

  1. I really wonder would they still serve me, when i am still in the long queu and it is closing time already..... i just wonder.

    hey take care now,ya

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  2. I think they will. :D Until all the customers has paid?

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  3. Wal-Mart has replaced barcode with RFID (radio frequency ID). Pushing the cart through the cashier counter, all items would be 'scanned' immediately.

    But of course the technology is not as cheap as bar code.

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  4. Eugene, they do up to the last customer unless there's a power failure and the machines don't work.

    Tekkaus, that's right.

    KS, the beauty of technology. No doubt, the technology costs more being more sophisticated. We are not there yet. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. yup i have encountered such scenario before. one of the worst times to go grocery shopping is during the pay day weekend (the weekend after pay day comes). i didn't realize it was pay day until i got into Tesco. big mistake. i went home empty handed after being in line for close to an hour. i couldn't do it... i just... couldn't. and u've guessed right -- there were some arguments over the price at the counter, slowing the line down and it's close to impossible to switch lanes by then.

    ahh... life in the supermarket eh? =)

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  6. Yeah, not a good idea to shop near closing time. But at Tesco, I don't even want to shop after 5pm. Always long queues! I usually go in the morning - less people then.

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  7. CJ, oh yes, I forgot about the payday queue. I've seen people arguing insisting that their trolleyful of purchases be processed at the Fast Checkout lane. Glad the cashier put her foot down. Trolley of stuff was then abandoned. I've seen that happen a number of times.

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  8. Foong, are prices at Tesco better than elsewhere? Their place seems to be crowded most of the time. I don't shop at Tesco because it's not convenient for me. I don't mind paying a little extra shopping elsewhere for convenience. It works out to be the same in the end. No?

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