News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by blakehill on Thursday December 08, 2011 @11:22AM (#3329680)
So at least there's one thing that most big banks get right.
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by robflynn on Thursday December 08, 2011 @12:01PM (#3329882)
I first encountered this in non-banks at Fry's Electronics over a decade ago. It struck me as odd initially, but I quickly realized how much more efficient it was and began to prefer it -- especially when I ended up stuck behind a 10 minute checkout in which the person insisted on paying with a cheque.
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by jff on Thursday December 08, 2011 @12:20PM (#3329988)
It's really important at Fry's, when often as not you just get an empty box or a piece of paper saying "Give this man a monitor" and they have to send somebody out across the store to actually pick up your item. Or when you bring out your government purchasing card and they don't believe it's real, so you have to stand there for an hour while they try and figure it out (true story).
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by orky56 on Thursday December 08, 2011 @12:15PM (#3329959)
Immigration lines at various international airports do a remarkably good job at this.
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by jonnii on Thursday December 08, 2011 @12:58PM (#3330186)
With the exception of JFK.
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by DTanner on Thursday December 08, 2011 @11:44AM (#3329808)
Chapters also does this (here in Canada anyway).
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by gdilla on Thursday December 08, 2011 @11:48AM (#3329823)
The Wholefoods in NYC at TimeWarner does this. While Wholefoods in California doesn't.
Re:A single line to 3 cashiers is ~3x faster than a separate... by aplusbi on Thursday December 08, 2011 @11:59AM (#3329873)
All the wholefoods in NYC (that I've been to anyway) have done this. You know the voice that tells you which register to go to? That guy used to work (maybe still does?) at the one on 7th and 24th, and his job was to direct people to check outs.

He was replaced with an LCD screen and a speaker.