Getting In and Out of Checkout Lines

Standing in line, waiting to check out and the line suddenly stops. Of course, you’ve already invested 10 minutes of your life, so there’s no turning back. Then suddenly, a new line opens and those behind you swarm to it.

We’ve all been there. What do you do?

Do you stay in your current line hoping the complication up front is resolved quickly, or do you jump ship in a moment of optimism, hoping the new line will move swiftly?

A new article by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) addresses the science of the checkout line and how retail and grocery stores are hoping to remedy the woes of waiting. As more and more people shop online, companies like Home Depot, Old Navy and Disney are looking to shrewdly shift to new formats for customers this holiday season.

Traditionally, stores have several lines that allow multiple patrons to file singularly into each lane. However, the article states that the most efficient way to check out is to have a single lane leading to multiple registers. The format, currently used at Best Buy at Arundel Mills, ensures that if one customer or register has complications, it only affects one person at a time.

“A single-file line leading to three cashiers is about three times faster than having one line for each cashier,” according to the article.

Companies know waiting in long lines can hurt business.

According to the WSJ article, once a shopper spends three minutes in a checkout line, the perceived wait time triples with every passing minute.

Chelsea Hurd, 23, of Hanover said she did all of her Christmas shopping online this year, partially due to the massive crowds that flood local stores. But when it comes to waiting in line, Hurd said she has a system of her own.

“I look to see how many items are in a person’s cart and whoever has a fuller cart, I try to avoid,” Hurd said. “Even if there are more people in line, I’ll choose that line as long as the carts are relatively low.”

Hurd said the Safeway off Arundel Mills Boulevard has a particularly bad line system, and that she drives up to 10 minutes out of the way to go somewhere else if she knows she can deal with quicker lines.

If you’ve got all your holiday gifts purchased, rest easy. But if you’re like me and haven’t done a lick of shopping, the tips in the WSJ article could save you some precious time.