モノを売る側と買う側の両方から見ると
図書館で日経新聞を読んでいたら、セイコーマートというコンビニエンスストアの代表取締役会長を務める人の書いた、「宅配便は小売業？」という記事が載っていた。
ウィキペディアによると、セイコーマートは、北海道内に約1100店舗、茨城県と埼玉県にも96店舗を展開している。
小売業のノウハウは商品を自ら選定し、固定客を少しずつ増やし、その商品を育てる。商品とは「売れる」ものではなく「売る」ものだ。小売業が意志を持って「育てる」ことで息の長い特徴商品となる。このような商品をいくつ持っているか、いかに固定客を摑むかが小売業の真骨頂。毎日そこへ行きたくなる雰囲気や接客の良さも重要だろう。いかに魅力的な商品と店舗作りが出来るか、ウェブ通販隆盛の今日であっても、そんな取り組みに日々チャレンジしている。
モノを売る側の立場としては、正論なのでしょう。しかし、消費者からのこのような意見に対して、売る側はどう答えるのでしょうか？
セルフレジとはいったい何だろう。好意的に推察し、買った商品の代金支払いを自分で行うだけなら異を唱えるつもりはない。だがしかし、かごから商品を取り出し、バーコード読み取り作業までさせるのは行き過ぎではないか。そうであるなら労務提供分としてわずかなりとも商品価格を下げなければなるまい。
もともと購入総額の確定は店側の仕事のはず。「商品の合計額がいくらですから、所定の金額を支払ってください」。そう請求するのが取引の常道だ。にもかかわらず店側の仕事の一部を客が負担し、その上で表記通りの値段で買わせるのなら、店は客を店の労働力の一部に利用しているとしか思えない。
セルフレジは急激に増えている。もちろん、店員が対応するレジもある。しかし、私自身、スーパーのイオンでこのような経験をした。
以前は、店員が商品をスキャンして、買い物客が代金を支払うまで、客は、商品の入ったかごを持ち運ぶことは無かった。
しかし今は、支払機の前まで、客がかごを持っていき、支払い後、かごを別の台に持っていって袋に入れさせる店が増えた。
つまり、客が、時に重たいかごを持ち上げる手間が一回分増えたわけである。
今日、私が買い物をしてかごを運ぼうとしたら、そのレジの横の支払機が２台とも使用中だった。横のレジの支払機が空いていたのでそちらに行くように店員が言うので行こうとしたら、横のレジの客が先にその支払機の横にかごを置いた。
仕方なく店員に言って、その客に別の支払機に移動してもらったのだが、私は重たいかごをしばらく持ちっぱなしだった。いったん置いたかごを動かした、その客にとっても迷惑なことだったろう。
近くの大型スーパーが改装され、新たにセルフレジが３２台設置された。店員がいるレジは、前は７、８カ所あったが、今は通常１カ所だけになった。若い人は、スマホなどでてきぱきと決済をして出ていくが、自分でできそうもない高齢者は、従来型のレジに並ぶしかない。
民生児童委員として多くの研修会や講演会に参加してきた。認知症に関するテーマも多かった。この症状の一つに「失計算」がある。簡単な計算ができなくなり、たとえば硬貨の支払い方が分からなくなる。それでついお札を出す結果、財布に小銭がたまってしまう。現金が使えるセルフレジもあるとはいえ、こういう人が利用するとは思えない。
厚生労働省の推計によると、２年後には６５歳以上の高齢者のうち５人に１人が認知症になるという。セルフレジのために自由に買い物ができにくくなったら、高齢者はどうなるのだろう。
指が思うように動かず、支払いに苦労する客を時々見かける。コロコロ仕様が変わる支払機に対応するのも楽ではない。
支払機の横にかごを置く台があるが、幅が狭くて、垂直に差し込むように置かざるを得ない。隣の客の体格がいいと、一言断ってから置かないといけない。また、台の高さももう少し下げないと、背の低い人には余分な力が必要だ（台の高さが小売業全体で統一されているかどうかは不明だ）。
買い物客も、今回、本来の支払機が混んでいたので、横の支払機に移動するように言った店員の両方とも、変なことをしたわけではない。
責任を負うべきなのは、このシステムを設計した人と、それを承認した人達である。彼らは、自分でモノを買わないのだろう。
店が客にシステムを押し付けるようでは、「毎日そこへ行きたくなる雰囲気や接客の良さ」など実現できるわけがない。
客に店の作業を肩代わりさせることでスーパーの売り上げが回復したのなら、消費者が買い物しやすいように改善してほしい。「注文の多いスーパー」は嫌だ。
日経新聞の記事の著者は、コンビニエンスストアの代表取締役会長だが、彼の主張は、小売業全般についてのものなので、反証した。彼の経営するコンビニエンスストアで、買い物がしやすいかどうかはわからない。
先の日経新聞の記事には、こうも書かれている。
小売店舗は視点を変えると違う業種になる。消費者が自分の車で来店し、カートを押して棚から商品をピッキングする。庫内作業と似ている。最後は自分の車で自宅へ「配送」する。こう見ると倉庫業かもしれない。
ここで言われている消費者は、自分の車で店に来られる人だけである。彼の言う消費者は、すべての消費者ではない。彼の分析は何の役に立つのだろうか？
From the perspective of both the seller and the buyer
I read an article in the Nikkei Shimbun called "Is home delivery a retail business?" written by the chairman and representative director of a convenience store called Seicomart. According to Wikipedia, Seicomart has approximately 1,100 stores in Hokkaido and 96 stores in Ibaraki and Saitama prefectures.
Retail know-how involves selecting products yourself, gradually increasing the number of regular customers, and nurturing the products. A product is not something to be bought, but something to be sold.
By "cultivating purchasing desire" in the retail industry, long-lasting products are created.
The true value of retail business is how many of these products you have and how you can attract regular customers. The atmosphere and customer service that makes you want to go there every day are also important. Even today, when online shopping is booming, we are constantly trying to find ways to create attractive products and stores.
From the standpoint of those who sell things, this is probably a fair argument. However, how do sellers respond to such opinions from consumers?
What exactly is a self-checkout? I have no intention of objecting as long as I make a positive assumption and pay for the purchased items myself. However, wouldn't it be a step too far to have them take the items out of the cart and read the barcodes? If that is the case, then the price of the product will have to be lowered even slightly to compensate for the labor provided.
Originally, determining the total purchase price was supposed to be the store's job.
"I have totaled the price of the products, so please pay that amount."
It is common practice in business transactions to demand payment accordingly. However, if customers are responsible for part of the store's work and then forced to buy at the listed price, I can only think that the store is using customers as part of its workforce.
Self-checkout is rapidly increasing. Of course, there is also a cash register manned by store staff. However, I myself had the following experience at an Aeon supermarket.
Previously, shoppers didn't take away their carts of merchandise until a store clerk had scanned them and the shoppers had paid for them. However, more and more stores now have customers carry their baskets up to the payment machine, and after paying, take the baskets to another table and put them in a bag.
In other words, customers have to have to lift the sometimes heavy baskets one more time.
Today, when I went to carry out my shopping cart, both of the payment machines next to the cash register were in use. The cash machine next to the cash register was empty, so the clerk told me to go there, so when I tried to go there, the customer at the cash register next to me placed his basket next to the machine first.
I had no choice but to tell the staff and had the customer move to another payment machine, but I was left holding the heavy basket for a while. It must have been a nuisance for the customer who moved the basket once it was placed.
A nearby large supermarket has been renovated and 32 new self-checkout stations have been installed. There used to be seven or eight cashiers with staff, but now there is usually only one. Young people quickly pay their bills on their smartphones and head out the door, but older people who are unable to do it themselves have no choice but to line up at traditional cash registers.
I have participated in many training sessions and lectures as a civil welfare children's committee member. I also heard many topics related to dementia.
One of these symptoms is "acalculation."
They will no longer be able to do simple calculations, such as knowing how to pay with coins. As a result, they end up taking out bills and end up with coins in the wallet.
Although there are self-checkout registers that accept cash, I don't think people like this would use them. According to estimates by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, one in five people over the age of 65 will develop dementia in two years. What will happen to the elderly if self-checkout systems make it difficult for them to shop freely?
I sometimes see customers who have trouble paying because their fingers don't move as they should. It is not easy to adapt to payment machines whose specifications change over time.
There is a stand next to the payment machine where you can place your basket, but it is narrow and you have to place it vertically. If the customer next to you is tall, you may have to ask them to shift their positions before placing the table. Also, the height of the stand needs to be lowered a bit, which would require extra strength for short people (it's unclear whether the height of the stand is standardized across retail businesses).
Neither the shopper nor the clerk, who asked me to move to the next machine because the original machine was busy this time, didn't do anything strange.
The responsibility lies with those who designed this system and those who approved it. They probably don't buy things themselves.
If a store imposes a system on its customers, there is no way it will be able to create an atmosphere and good customer service that will make you want to go there every day.
If supermarket sales have recovered by having customers take over store tasks, I would like to see improvements made to make it easier for consumers to shop. I don't like "supermarkets with a lot of orders."
The author of the Nikkei Shimbun article is the representative director and chairman of a convenience store, but his claims are about the retail industry in general, so I disproved his claims. I don't know if it's easy to shop at the convenience store he runs.
The previous Nikkei Shimbun article also states:
Retail stores become a different industry if you change your perspective. Consumers drive their cars to stores, push carts and pick items from shelves. It is similar to working inside the warehouse. Finally, the item is delivered to your home using your own car. Looking at it this way, it might be a warehouse business.
The consumers mentioned here are only those who can come to the store by their own car. The consumers he is talking about are not all consumers. What good is his analysis?