h a l f b a k e r yLeft for Bread
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This idea is for a supermarket which offers many small but important improvements for a better shopping experience for old people:
-Each shopping cart comes equipped with a magnifying glass, so the ingredient lists are easier to read.
- Extra - sturdy carts, with a small fold - out seat, so the
shoppers could rest a bit.
- Designated rest areas for the aforementioned tired shoppers.
- A product range specifically designed to cater to old people - less youth - oriented advertising, more sensible, dependable stuff.
- Cash counting machines at the checkout, so old people who do not use credit cards can just pour their coins in.
As our western society grows older and older, these special supermarkets become more and more viable.
(?) It was on ABC news
http://abcnews.go.c...y?id=2883983&page=1
(not BBC as first guessed) [Texticle, Feb 20 2007]
(?) Asda, what were you saying about //they are much less ill-lit, dirty and badly-stocked than the small local stores//?
http://www.londonis...mice_go_to_asda.php
[po, Feb 20 2007]
[link]
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if I had the money, I always said that I'd open a shop catering for the elderly. they could buy small amounts of anything e.g. 1 or 2 eggs, rather than the buying in bulk thats encouraged by supermarkets. |
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I never noticed that trend Po but you may be right. At their age they wouldn't want to plan to far ahead. Buying a dozen eggs might be a waste. |
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+ great idea
(Does //dependable stuff// imply *Depends*? |
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sorry, the sarcasm went over my head. |
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in the case of eggs, they just might only want to consume one a week. other consumable stuff might just be too expensive to buy in bulk when you live on a small pension. not to mention having to lug it all home on the bus. |
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Yes, smaller portions for everything would be good. Old people still like fresh food, just not as much of it at once - their households and appetites are smaller!
Also:
- Don't gratuituously move products around.
- Cater to reduced range of motion by shelving things in middle ranges only.
- If something isn't produced anymore, or isn't as cheap anymore, try hard to find it somewhere anyway. Tell people that it's more expensive, and what they could switch to, but stock it. Change can be scary.
- Instead of the cash-counting machines (do people really use these?), just have extra-friendly and laid back cashiers.
- Make products a little more expensive, and in exchange hire more people, so they have time to help and chat. |
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Needs a custard associated produce bargain bin. |
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//- Make products a little more expensive, and in exchange hire more people, so they have time to help and chat.//
If I may generalise, "old folks" tend to live on small pensions and would probably not be interested in spending more just to get a smile and prompt service. I would suggest you minimise your staffing at the expense of productivity (under the assumption that "old folks" do not mind waiting in line a bit longer) so you can price your products as low as possible. Mind you, this minimisation in staffing should not be allowed to affect any other aspects of customer service. |
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//do not mind waiting in line a bit longer// provide comfy seats... |
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The price minimization is already a universal trend. I abhor the ill-lit, dirty, badly stocked, unsustainable food piles it produces. But maybe the talkative, friendly, deli side and the cheap, rational, reliable, appropriate store side can coexist. |
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//provide comfy seats// => //- Extra - sturdy carts, with a small fold - out seat, so the shoppers could rest a bit.//
//I hate the ill-lit, dirty, badly stocked, unsustainable food piles it produces//
There is cheap and then there is cheap *and* nasty. I was aiming for just cheap, which is probably easier done when you have a mix of products and you can increase the margin on some items to subsidise others (and we're back to a normal supermarket setting). |
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//I abhor the ill-lit, dirty, badly stocked,
unsustainable food piles it produces.
But maybe the talkative, friendly, deli
side and the cheap, rational, reliable,
appropriate store side can coexist.// |
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I abhor (but still use, of course)
supermarkets also, but they are much
less ill-lit, dirty and badly-stocked than
the small local stores, at least over
here. Sadly, I don't think talkative can
coexist with cheap (staff time = staff
costs). |
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And why do I keep subliminally
spoonerising this as "Old Farts Super
Mole-kit"? |
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Dunno, maybe you should invent it? |
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It can't be cheap, because economy of scale is lost in small portions (more packaging, handling, etc.). But it could be a cooperative market, run by older folks. In that way it would cater more specifically to their needs (they would do the ordering) and provide a more socially interactive environment from which extra income could be produced. |
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I wonder if such things exist. There are areas which a developed with the intention that they be populated by high-end oldsters. How do people living in these areas buy groceries? If the development is big enough, it could probably sustain a ma-and-pa type neighboorhood grocery. |
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The idea as described, including all the bulleted points, appeared almost verbatim on Prime News (New Zealand) last night. Fascinating. |
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The 'news' item in question was about a supermarket in Germany somewhere. The item itself appeared to be of British origin - maybe the BBC? |
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Incensed, I'm off to find a link. |
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[Saruman], perhaps you should include 'service assistants (checkout chicks) who are willing to have a good chat - an extra-slow lane' |
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I'd like to work at one of these places. I now know that there's a reason why my mum tells me to 'be nice to the elderly' when she drops me off at work - because some of these people don't really have anyone else around to be nice to them. |
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And if there's an idea that will make life better for those in their retiring years, I'm all for it. [+] |
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<whistful look> They don't make supermarkets like they used to. |
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Why not ditch the entire concept of 'supermarket'? |
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Just a shop with a counter and friendly employees, preferably also old folks, with all the time in the world. Could be a cooperative something. |
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When waiting in line you can chat with the other customers instead of trying to find your goods. There are benches to take a rest or continue your conversation. |
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Less waste of space for the goods. You go home with exactly what you need. Or even less, if the shop assistant suggests a way to economise or remembers you probably still have eggs in the fridge after you told him or her you visited your children yesterday. |
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The place will quickly be discovered by 'tourists' because it has all the qualities people miss in their daily life. |
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I would certainly shop there as much as possible, alternating with my supermarket shopping. |
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The shop could be sponsored by a health insurance company. I am sure everyone involved will stay more healthy. |
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Handsome, hunky, well-endowed young
men to lean on, while they push the
trolley for me, would be a nice touch. |
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