29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity: My business idea 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, or just about anyone who can't stand these long lines.
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. 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. This new situation we are facing in grocery stores will likely become our new normal so that is why the window of opportunity for my idea will probably be open for quite a while.

Innovation: 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 happy and our cashiers employed. I would be selling this app to grocery stores and other stores who wish to get involved. This app can be downloaded on any smartphone or tablet, however a store must be registered to the app and the appropriate sign-in information (as created by the store admin) should be entered to verify everything and prevent fraud. I would probably sell this application for $15 per device as it allows for scanning and paying and requires large storage of data and accounts, however this price has not been declared yet.

Venture Concept: This is a good idea to implement into stores especially right now because people do not want to be standing in long checkout lanes for several minutes as they have other things to do and it might increase their risk of infectious contact. People are always looking for a faster alternative so I don't think it would be that hard to get the customers to switch. As for store owners, making that switch might be a little hard for them because they are the ones required to invest in this idea. The biggest competitor for me would be the self-checkout lanes, however one cannot really use these when they have a cart full of groceries, so it is not always the most convenient option. In creating this business idea, I do not plan to eliminate any employee positions. The utilization of my idea will require just as many cashiers as before as stores would need employees to operate these applications. Of course, a brief training and mastering of the application would be established prior to its use.

Minor Elements: 1) My secret sauce that will set my idea apart from others is my tenacity and perseverance.

2) What's next for my venture is to possibly venture out to clothing and appliance stores, which might be very useful during peak times of the year, such as for holidays and Black Friday.
3) In the next 5 years or so I plan to sell my idea to some company, which will allow me to focus on other possible ventures.

I didn't receive any critical feedback, but I was encouraged about the benefits of implementing my business idea into grocery stores during the situation right now. I was also encouraged about my idea to venture out into other stores, so I incorporated this more into my updated venture concept. I tried to clarify in this post what exactly I am selling to these store owners. This would allow people to see if my idea is actually worth investing in.