Defining the Supermarket “Item”: An Informal Look

Abstract

Most food supermarkets appear to have some sort of an express checkout lane arrangement for customers with a small number of items, generally 10 or less. Variations include having the lane operational throughout the day or only during peak periods, accepting any type of tender or limiting transactions to cash sales, and packing for the customer or requiring them to pack for themselves A review of the literature, and a query of the Food Marketing Institute (Washington, DC), suggesting no standardized definition of an item, the seemingly key operational element, a Lrmrcd informal inquiry was conducted to determine how this term is construed in practice. During the spring and summer of 1990, one checker at each of 63 different supermarkets in a large urban area in the northeast selected on a convenience basis, was questioned as to how she defined an express lane item. The following interrogatory was presented: if a six-pack of soda is considered one item, would six individual cans of the same type of soda be considered one item or six items? None of those providing answers were in managerial positions; all of the stores were outlets of nine regional chains; about two-thirds of the checkers were women and one-third men. No attempt was made to ascertain whether the answers provided were personal preferences, store practice, or company policy. Checkers who declined to answer or provided conditional responses were not counted. All of those responding were employed in stores having a mechanized, rather than a manual, checkout system. Thirty-three checkers (52%) sald that the six cans of soda would be treated as one item; the remalnlng 30 checkers (48%) would consider it as six items. There was no marked difference noted between women and men in the responses, nor was there any consistency observed among checkers of the same chain, but in different stores. While not specifically examined, intuitively it was felt that the definition of an item was a matter of individual store preference and policy, with checkers having discretion as to interpretation and enforcement. Recognizing the inherent subjectivity of the methodology, the presence of local cultural biasing, and the limitations on replication of the inquiry, the results suggest the potential for stress for both shoppers and checkers. While low to moderate amounts of stress can sometimes be beneficial, higher levels tend to have deleterious effects, such as needless negatlve shifts in moods, unnecessary illness, and unwarranted mental exhuastion. As it would sccm reasonable that food shopping should generally not be a contributing factor to the amount of aggravation encountered in life, food marketea might want to give some thought to standardizing the definition of the express lane item. In these hectic days of the overload society, every bit of pressure relief counts.