I like shopping on-line – it’s quick, easy and cost effective. And I’ve tried the self-service checkout, when the teller queue is long or slow. But the push by big grocers to move exclusively to self-service is another nail in the coffin of communities.
Most of us prefer to buy food from a person, we go to the shop to get our milk and bread and even if we benefit frmo home delivery, its because we know the shop which is delivering and we know there’s a person dropping off the box. Certainly, as we get older we value the social dynamic of a community more and more as we realise that chasing after the money train doesn’t bring happiness.
Ironically there is even evidence to support the notion that interacting with a human being is part of the selling process and an effective way to increase sales. Psychologist Emma Kenny shows that getting customers to buy more is all about the love. That’s even supported by the efforts on-line retailers go to socialise the buying experience, e.g. we are given confidence in our choices on Amazon because the ratings from other purchases tell us what we are buying will suit us.
Can you imagine a shopping experience where there is no person to help you in the shop? You know how frustrating those telephone “service” systems are. It is inevitable that we are moving quickly to shops with few if any people in the checkouts and clerks in the aisles. It’s just a question of automation. The question is whether we have the systems and sense to recreate expectations of employment, leisure, work, play and wealth equity. Today we do not, although there are small pockets of people who are demonstrating the possibilities. If we don’t stop chasing the money train and nurture community, if we don’t learn to achieve success without growth, we will face a social crisis far greater than the economic crisis of today – anarchy will rise as people demand the return of society and comunity from big business.
Natural Products: Getting customers to buy more (it’s all about the love)
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