Training Customers in Self-Service

Airlines have saved a lot of money by eliminating nearly all of the check-in counter personnel by getting customers to service themselves. Perhaps the grocery stores will follow suit and make every line a self-serve line.

Expect fewer bags at Jewel-Osco | Chicago Breaking Business: "We’re in a very competitive industry. Anything we can do to lower our expenses will help us keep our prices as fair as possible,” says Supervalu spokesman Mike Siemienas.

Plastic bags cost about two cents apiece and paper bags cost five. The Eden Prairie, Minn., operator of Albertsons, Acme Markets and Jewel-Osco stores uses more than 1.5 billion plastic and paper bags a year at about 1,100 stores, not counting its Save-A-Lot discount stores, where customers bring or pay for their own bags.

Other grocers have long taught bagging techniques and sought to cut bag use, but Supervalu’s program is unusually rigorous, says Burt Flickinger III, a retailing consultant with Strategic Resource Group Inc.

Some of the Supervalu guidelines reinforce familiar bagging rules, such as starting the packing at the corners and moving from the outside in. But others break with common practices: No double-bagging. No bags for large items or items with handles, like one-gallon orange-juice containers. Never ask, “Paper or plastic?” — just use plastic bags. The rules can be broken, but only on request."