24A – Venture Concept No. 1

We all hate waiting in long checkout lanes at the grocery store. We have things to do, places to be, people to see, so the checkout lane is the last place we would want to spend a good chuck of our free time in. We find ourselves constantly skipping from line to line in an attempt to secure the fastest-moving and shortest lane. But often the result of this skipping around just to save ourselves some time results in a facepalm when we notice the other line we were just in is actually moving faster and the person that was behind you has completely checked out. Customers become infuriated with long wait times in checkout lanes, especially when they see that only 2 out of the 12 lanes are actually open. We can no longer be forcing these customers to wait in these long lanes when they have other things stacked up on their busy schedule.

I have a great idea that can completely eliminate long wait times in checkout lanes. This solution would be beneficial for the typical mother of two who is just trying to get their kids out of the store before they ask for about every candy on the shelf. It would also be great for the typical college student who is just trying to get home to finish studying for their three exams. 

This would be a great opportunity as humans are only becoming busier in their lives. Checkout lanes are becoming longer than ever, especially now during this pandemic because everyone is trying to stock up on cleaning supplies and make home-cooked meals rather than eating out. This market might be defined more by parents as they are often the ones in a big rush to get home to their kids. Currently, people are attempting to bypass these long wait times by using self-checkout lanes. However, this is not always the best option for everyone because self-checkout was designed for people who have less than five items, not for the person who has a cart full of groceries and house supplies.

My idea is that instead of all the checkout lanes, we equip our cashiers with smartphones that have scanning and paying ability. This can potentially save about five minutes per customer during their whole checkout process. This process also encourages customers to bag only the few necessary items. So not only would this solution help to cut down the long wait times, but it might also help to eliminate some of our plastic waste while keeping our customers happier and our cashiers employed.