My Mother likes to watch game shows: The Price is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, and the odd other. Wheel of Fortune is the only game show I haven't seen anyone jump on the host. But they do scream, sometimes. I don't think it is especially encouraged there. But, all the others seem to work people up into a frenzy.

I'm sure its a marketing thing. Getting people to show all that excitement helps promote the products, whatever they are. A game show can have people jumping all over the place and screeching over winning a pen and paper. Then they drop a car into the mix to keep everyone on their toes and crazy excited.

I can see how it works for the shows and the marketing which is what the shows are really about. Selling stuff to the public.

But, all this rabid excitement, the screaming and jumping, isn't good for people. That level of excitement, in our past, would have been over seeing a large predator about to kill and eat us.

Have you noticed TV shows and movies and even commercials are all about excitement. They are louder, more colourful, bigger reactions (over reactions), far more emotions and being very emotional and sensitive. Its all gone over the top.

What kind of people are they turning us into?

Of course, its great for marketing. The goal of marketing is to make people feel they need more stuff. Marketing preys on people, as I have written before. Not just to sell us stuff but to make us feel we really need all that stuff. What would we be without blinding white teeth?

But, the funny thing, watching these game shows, we look more and more like prey. But, there are no big predators, no monsters, right?

Fast food restaurants should begin serving happy meals for pets.

People seem to be having less human children and more pets. Some call themselves their pet's parent. (I have never called myself the parent of an animal). People seem to need to keep their pets with them and bring them in the car. So, why don't fast food restaurants have a happy meal for cats, another for dogs, one for assorted other pets like snakes, gerbils, rats, etc.

Likely the pet people would love this. Pets get thirsty and hungry too. Shopping trips, road trips, or just feeling like some hot French fries... why not also treat your pet?

On the plus side for restaurants (and people like myself who don't want pets in stores), the pet stays in the vehicle. No one gets bitten, has asthma or allergies and there is no poo to scoop - but pet mommies and daddies can give their animal a pet fast food treat while they have their own people fast food.

Start planning the packaging.

Why don't stores, with online shopping, use more gamification?

Games online use it, but they don't have the merchandise to take it farther. I think an online shopping retail outlet, like Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, Etsy, etc. should combine with an existing game site. Or go on their own with a game developer of their choosing. But, it would be simpler, cost effective, to work with an existing game and merge together.

Set up an account and create a character (your personal avatar won't start with much, features can be earned) - you get a permanent 5% discount on anything you buy, as long as you keep that account. This could be limited to early adopters, which of course, could last an entire year. After that they would have to spend X amount of money to get the permanent 5% discount.

Use your character to battle the mighty monster and get 10% off your purchase. This carries on with different discounts as they level up. If they want to buy books have them fight a library related monster - get a discount and a badge (level one). If they buy electronics they battle something related, with levelling up, discounts for successfully defeating the monster. When they get to level ten in defeating that particular monster they get another reward, a feature.

Features can be unlocked. People can spend X amount, level up, post to social media, to earn a garden, a farm, a house, different outfits for their character, more and better weapons, seasonal and holiday stuff to decorate their house and character. It can go on forever. Once someone has everything there are better everything, deluxe this and premium that, for them to work towards.

People won't want to shop somewhere else and miss out on points and rewards for their character.

Of course, characters can be posted to social media, with branding for the store. A mobile application which they can take with them anywhere and show off to friends. Bragging rights for who has the most, gets the best, etc.

Rewards can include branded merchandise too. Send them a 'store name' Christmas t-shirt as a reward they can wear outside of the game. Also merchandise which proclaims their status as a big winner, a home owner, etc. at the 'store name' online shop.

Bring in guilds so people can meet at the online shop and get together to buy more. Let them pool their resources to make big purchases together. Sell them credit cards to build up more online shopping points with the store.

People who level up and have lots of rewards can be featured on the site. A reward for being such a loyal shopper and an example/ showcase of what others can achieve with store loyalty and frequent shopping.

Most businesses need to reconsider keeping a blog for something which would work better for consumers and take less time and energy for the business to maintain.

Why Develop a Blog When a Static Page Will Do?

I was reading a post which encourages businesses to have a blog, as if that is all they need to do. The answer to life, the universe and everything for a business is to have a weblog. It's not. It's actually very wrong.

First, let's sort out what a weblog actually is.

A blog (AKA web log) is an online record of your thoughts, activities and information you choose to share online. A blog is actively updated, which means the posts are dated so they can be read in sequence. A blog is a form of communication which requires frequent maintenance to keep it active. This is not the kind of online communication a business needs.

Secondly, people are not taking time to read everything you blog.

Any business starting online, whether they sell entirely online or just want to set up an online presence, needs basic information available for the consumer. Basic information is not likely to change. Your contact information, what you sell and how you sell it are not going to change daily or weekly or even monthly. Yes, you may have new objects to add to your catalogue but that is a catalogue, not a blog.

A blog is more likely to be information overkill and just make things confused and cluttered looking. What use is a blog if the consumer has to hunt down the address (or some other key information) for your business? A simple site presents the information upfront and keeps it easily visible.

Lastly, running a blog is going to take up too much of your time and energy.

A business online should focus on giving that basic information on a static website. Starting a blog is just putting in more time and energy than you need - especially in the beginning when you really just want people to find you online so you can tell the consumer who you are and what you have to offer. This is not the time to start a blog with articles about what you sell. Just give them the basic information they need. Not all the fancy stuff, the extras and the media hype. Keep it simple.

Don't put your time and resources into developing a blog just because everyone seems to be doing it these days. Focus on your real goal, not impressing other people with how big your site is or how much traffic your blog gets. Your real goal for a business is sales, not marketing.

Consumers are not asking for more marketing. Less is more, in the eye of the consumer. Consumers want information so they can decide to buy your product or service. The more marketing clutter to add to your message, the less likely a consumer is to find it. So keep it simple. Create a simple site with simple navigation - keep the most important information to the consumer right out front and centre. If you have extras, like a catalogue, give them a link to take them directly there.

A Business Site Should be for the Consumer, not the Business

If you want to add extras to your site think about it in a practical way. What would your consumer really find useful?

• A catalogue of your goods or services.
• A contact form with the physical address, email address and phone numbers for your business.
• A list of prices for your services and packages available.
• Any events you may be taking part in locally.
• Specials or promotions or contests currently running.
• A coupon they can print out. (Or refer to if they don't have a printer).
• Your mission statement.
• Your guarantee or warranty.
• Your returns policy.
• A how to guide for using your product.
• A list of relevant groups or associations locally.
• Any health warnings or risks.

This is just a generic sort of list. Each business will have their own needs and limits in the information available or necessary for the public and consumers.

Most of the necessary information can be located on one main (index) page of your site. Extras like a catalogue of goods or services can be on another section of the site with a link easily found on the index page.

Make the contact information a priority. Think about your own experience using a site for a business you wanted to know more about. What was the most frustrating thing? For me it is almost always trying to find a way to contact the business. How stupid is that? What was the point of them putting up a site if I can't ask a question or get some feedback?

If you Still Must have a Blog Make Sure it Adds Value to your Business

If you still must have a blog, spend time planning your goals and strategy for using it.

Make sure the time, energy and resources you will put into the blog will pay off.

Make sure you have the stamina, writing skill and the content to keep a blog active.

In short, make sure the blog is worth the expense of maintaining it. Chances are there are other things you could be doing which would bring you a better return on your resources.

People expect a cashier to be friendly, quick and accurate. Cashiers try to be all of those but it's not so simple. The job of cashier is not as simplistic as it seems on the surface, from the other side of the retail counter.

Cashiers will gripe about customers. You can read about that online if you want to. I actually liked being a cashier (most of the time) and I found nearly all my customers were easy to work with. The focus of the cashier is the transaction. Make sure the customer has what they need and be friendly but we always have the store management looking over our shoulder too. The store will tell cashiers the customer is their first priority but, that isn't what they really mean. For me this was the part of working in customer service which I did not like.

Overall, I did like helping people, making sure they left with what they needed and (if I was having a good day) I could even see them leave the store feeling better than when they came in.

The following are points which can help both the cashier and the customer. If you want a speedier check out, friendlier service or more service read all of this and keep it in mind next time you are shopping. You can help yourself to get more from the cashier, if you plan ahead and use some common courtesy for the cashier and your fellow shoppers too.

Conversation

Conversation is nice. It breaks up my day and cashiers are encouraged to interact with customers. But, we also get pressure to keep the line moving, to not say the wrong thing and promote more purchases. As a cashier conversation is tricky.

I had to learn to ignore the line up. There was no other way to be friendly and not feel over pressured, impatient or rushed. I did have customers who came in and ended up staying too long. I was good at starting a conversation and... I really did get personal satisfaction in turning someone's mood around.

Still, the management would put pressure on me to use this time to get people to buy more, apply for credit cards, gift cards and so on.

Also, cashiers are given a formula and the management does not like it when cashiers stray from that formula. Skipping steps, taking extra time with customers are not appreciated by management. Yet, they also tell us to make the customer feel welcome, appreciated and not rushed.

Bags and Packing

Packing up items was something I grew to like. It became a challenge to fit everything in just right, in good order, safely without making the bag too heavy - or using too many bags.

I've since seen some creative bag packing when I am a shopper. One cashier put the heavy bags of milk (that's how it comes in Ontario) on the bottom and the eggs on top. Creative... but not so practical. Milk tends to flop around in a bag. Eggs, being lighter, tend to sink lower in the bag. This is not such a great combination in one bag. Maybe the cashier was bored and wanted to pay a game. I caught it and was careful how I got that bag out to the car, up the stairs and into the house. Someone else probably had broken eggs.

Packing up bags isn't just important for groceries. Clothing needs to be folded and not put in the same bag with anything possibly leaking or heavy. No one wants to get home and discover their laundry soap was not capped as well as they thought in the bag.

Bagging is an art. A creative art but a science too.

You can help the cashier and make it go faster by putting things out in order. Keep frozen stuff together. Keep light and heavy things sorted out. You don't have to think too much, just be aware in case your cashier isn't.

If you change your mind about something while at the check out just give it to the cashier. We have a place under the counter for anything like that. Please don't leave items around the counter, on candy shelves and such - especially groceries which can spoil or small items which roll under something or be stepped on/ tripped over by someone else.

Give the Cashier Some Space (Especially When you're Sick)

Please, if you are shopping because you took the day off work due to illness - please don't lean in to talk to me. Please wash your hands and don't touch me. I only get paid if I show up for work. This means any sick days I take off due to illnesses I catch from customers cost me money. This means I'm making even less per week at what is already not a well paid job.

If you must go shopping when you are sick - keep your germs to yourself.

I don't really understand why people want to come out to stores when they could be home watching televisions, goofing around online or just enjoying a day to themselves while everyone else is at school or work. But, many, many, many people do wind up visiting cashiers and sharing their colds, viruses, bacteria, infections.

At the very least - don't lean in close or take hold of my sleeve to draw me near to you when you know you're sick with something contagious.

On a side note, don't lean on the counter from behind me either. Sick or not. When the store is busy and line ups are packed the last thing an over-worked cashier needs is to feel she has no space, is crowded and become claustrophobic This happened to me during one Christmas holiday. People kept pressing in closer and closer and then some guy, leaning on the half wall next to me, actually jabbed his elbow into my head (accidentally but he did not even bother to see if I was ok). It was all I could do to last to the end of my shift that day, actually my shift plus an extra four hours for another cashier who didn't show up.

Overall, please respect the cashier and give her (or him) some space.

Don't Ask or Expect the Cashier to Leave the Register/ Counter

Understand that I am not supposed to (or allowed) to leave my register unless I have signed off. I can not leave to help you carry things out to your car, or pick up something broken or any other of a thousand things. This is especially true if I am the only cashier at the time. Try the customer service desk, if there is one.

I would like to help you. I would really like to get away from standing hours in the same place too. But, I'm just a cog in the wheel and I can't abandon my counter or cash register until I sign out and leave it locked with another cashier available to keep working.

Of course, there are exceptions for emergencies. But, even then I have to lock up because I will be held responsible if I don't.

Please don't abandon your shopping cart in the way of other shoppers after you have gone through the line. I will have to sign out of the register and walk around (usually the long way) and then return the cart to where ever it needs to go. This holds up the line but I can't have people tripping over the cart or letting it be cluttering up the front of the store.

Sale Prices and Damaged Goods

A cashier should study the store flyer, the sales for the week before she starts for the day. However, this does not always happen during holiday rushes. I was often asked to start an hour early and stay an hour or four late. My breaks were cut to five minutes instead of 15 due to things beyond my control. There was no time to study the sale prices until I was actually behind the counter with customers who expected me to already know the sales.

If you have a flyer with the sale price bring it up. That did help. The store I worked at would allow the cashiers some discrepancy about sale prices, damaged goods and just promoting good feelings with customers.

Do not throw a fit and become loud and demanding. Trust me, this does not actually work with every cashier. It never worked with me. I would just become angry myself and politely deny all their requests and demands. I did not owe them a sale price just because they insisted they were right (when they had only their own say-so).

Have your coupons ready. If you want to do price matching tell me at the start of the transaction. This makes it easier for me to sort things out for the computer. Some stores may still want coupons processed differently, in a manual way. So this will take extra time but it is not a bother - if you give us notice. Lately I have seen stores which are able to jut scan the coupons and the computer catches the items and adds the sale price. The department store I worked at was a bit hit or miss this way. I would make sure the sale price went through if I knew about it ahead.

Don't Interrupt Another Customer Unless someone has passed out in line, or a child is lost or a fire has broken out... it is really very disrespectful and impolite to interrupt another customer when they are being served. I never liked this, it was boorish and rude and though I could not ignore the person, I would not drop everything to help them either

If you need directions or some other assistance find a store employee who is available. In my case, the customer service desk was just steps away but people would sometimes just push their way past the customer I was helping and expect I would help them instead. For me, the customer I was actually dealing with was my focus and I would get rid of the interloper as quickly as I could. I did not always take the time to help them as well as I could have if they had just waited their turn - or at least waited until I was finished with the customer and had not yet started the next.

Cell Phones and Other Distractions

Don't expect great customer service if you come to my counter talking to someone else. Cell phones especially, I'm not sure if you are talking to me or your phone.

It can be tricky dealing with a group of people at the counter. Parents with small children may be distracted watching them, this is understandable, to a point. Children who are out of control are not something I can deal with for you. I can't give them free gifts, make them promises or give them stern warnings. I will keep them from sitting on my counter, taking bags or abusing me. No cashier has to put up with physical abuse from any customer, or their children.

A group of people at the cash is always a bit of confusion. I try to keep track of the person who is actually the customer, the one I am checking out at the moment. If the person is talking and goofing around with friends and not paying attention, I just do the best I can.

10 Items or Less and Express Lines

The idea of express lines is to help speed things up for people who want to get in and out and not wait behind someone who has bought more or wants to take time to chat with the cashier, debate about sales and so on. Please respect your fellow shoppers and stick to the right line.

As a cashier, I'm there for my shift whether everyone in the express line has 10 items or 100. I may not be impressed but I will go ahead and keep working. I leave it up to the other customers to give you the evil eye.

On a slightly related note - if you are my first customer of the day I will not be able to break a $100 bill or a $50. Just take it to customer service and they can get whoever is managing the cash to bring you smaller bills. I won't have them until at least an hour after my shift has started. Cashiers start with a float of cash. That amount has actually become smaller as debit and credit cards are used far more often than cash.

While I'm typing about cash... I can't give you rolls of quarters. Check with customer service though but best of all - ask at the bank where they have the money stashed.

If you are shopping on Seniors Day and want the discount, tell the cashier. It is really awful to ask someone is they are a senior and find out they are not.

Animals in the Store

Some cashiers like pets. Some are allergic to pets. I'm allergic to pets. Don't bring them into the store if they are not welcome and please do not expect every cashier to serve you when you bring livestock. Your pets are your little friends, not mine. They are not customers and never will be.

You may have though it was cute or clever to carry your pet around in the merchandise but now you need to pay for it. Don't take something clean and leave the chewed, dirty or hair covered item for someone else to buy. No one will ever buy something your pet has mangled in the store, or as a return.

I'm not going to mark down an item your animal has wrecked either. So don't ask.

Interact with the Cashier (We Like to be Friendly)

You may be having a really bad day, feeling deeply depressed or just want to be alone in the world. I don't know your personal situation but, please just once during the transaction look up at me. I don't need you to be entertaining but I do like to at least have a moment of eye contact.

Having typed this, I do understand not interacting with people you come across. Being too worn out to make the effort. Being too upset or sad to want to put yourself out there. Still, people who could not at least look at me were worse than people who tried to scam, yell or anything else.

Make a second of eye contact. You don't even have to smile.

Where Is... Getting Directions in the Store

A good cashier, or one who has been working in the store awhile, often does know where a lot of things are and what the store does (or does not) carry. So, I never minded people asking for help to find something. (If they waited for me to be between customers). I liked how well I could answer these questions. Not every cashier does. Some may be new or just never look around before or after their shift.

Many stores, like department stores, will have customer service people on the floor who can also help with directions and finding items. This was actually a job I did for awhile in a department store. (There was a lot of walking and running involved). See if you can find someone like this to help you if the cashiers are busy. Customer service is also there for the same reason. They even get a map of the store so they aren't just relying on their own personal knowledge of the store and the items sold in the store.

Also, try not to ask store staff for help if they are wearing a jacket over their uniform, or carrying their purse, etc. These are likely staff who are off the clock and may be cranky, tired or any of a lot of emotions which will not lead to friendly customer service. Of course, if you really need help anyone should be human enough to help you and there is no reason (even a double shift) for someone to at least find someone who is on the clock to take the time to help you.