To think this is why the high street is failing?

[MiamiWindMachine]

I’m off on holiday in a couple of days, so thought I’d go up to the big shopping centre for a couple of last minute things.

In the massive H&M, all the tills bar one had been converted to self-service. The ones on the floor I was on were ALL closed. I went down to the lower floor and there was a huge queue, because no one could work out the machines. There was a step to remove security tags, and people couldn’t work out whether this was only for those plastic tags or if there was some flag on the barcodes for lower value items. Someone else was trying to process a return via these tills. When a member of staff eventually appeared, she confirmed returns could only be processed at a manned till. The customer pointed out that there were no manned tills. The staff member had no idea who to ask about it, then disappeared to find someone, so the queue was getting even longer.

I was on the way out about 15 minutes before closing time and went past M&S. I thought “I wonder if the Bureau de Change is still open” and went to check. The woman saw me approach and had a pained look on her face, saying “Arrgghh, I’ve just cashed uuuppp!” I was a bit taken aback, but said “Oh well, never mind. What time do you close, for future reference?” She then reluctantly admitted that she was supposed to be open until 8, but said “But I do start cashing up at around 7.30”. I was about to ask why when she started saying, “It’s fine; I’ll do it, I’ll do it”, like she was doing me a massive favour. I tried to pay on Revolut and she said “We can’t take those cards!”, as if it was somehow obvious. I asked about Apple Pay and she said, “No, it has to be a proper bank card or credit card”. I therefore went to pay with my credit card and she said, “You do know we have to charge a fee for these, don’t you?” I said I didn’t have a choice given she’d rejected two other payment methods.

I then went down to foods to grab a ready meal and some wine. I went to a manned till as I had alcohol and the girl said, “Oh, could you go to the self-service? It’s just that I’m closing this one”. I asked about the alcohol and she said, “I can approve that from here; it’s just that it’s easier for me”.

I feel like we’re constantly told in the media “Use it or lose it” re: the high street; how sad it would be if we lost the personal touch. From what I could see yesterday, one store has done everything possible to eliminate personal interaction, while in the other, the staff are more bothered about their convenience than the customers’. Is it any wonder that people would rather click a couple of buttons to get something delivered?

I think it must be London, it's certainly not where I live apart from Ocado and Morrisons through Amazon probably is

It's good to have choice, and most shops offer that choice.

Places that have stopped self service tills, like Booths supermarkets, will undoubtedly choose to open them again as the demographics change over time. At the moment, the typical Booths customer will be more elderly so less keen of self service. That will be alienating younger customers who prefer self service and don't want to be stuck in long queues. Over time, the average shopper will be accustomed to self service and there'll be pressure on Booths to reintroduce them, otherwise they'll suffer a drop in customer numbers as elderly customers stop shopping there due to being housebound, in homes, or dying. Booths probably made a mistake in moving to self service too soon given their elderly customer demographic.

Good old Stephensons buses where i live have no air comditioning and the heating on in AUGUST Not for the first year either,

Shops want to save money in any way possible. They don't seem to care if service has dropped, they don't want more staff. Minimum wage has risen by about a quarter in the last few years and they want as many people as possible to use the self scanners. I will not put a whole trolley load of shopping through a self scanner though, it's too much effort. My mum won't use them ever.

If I have the choice of fighting with the town centre traffic,paying through the nose for parking or alternatively waiting for unreliable public transport, then hoofing around a town centre looking for something I like in my size, over sitting at home in front of my PC with a coffee and finding multiple options at reasonable prices. It's not hard to guess which one I choose.

Asda is reacting to customer preference too. That is hardly a shop with an elderly demographic.

Yes, bit they can move to warehouses and in some places do. Can also handle logistics etc. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that they want to abandon bricks and mortar stores, I am just making the point that they don't need to attract more people to the actual stores... that isn't their business model anymore.

Why would Marks and Spencer offer a service until 8 that requires the staff member to cash up after all transactions are complete, then not pay their member of staff to do the cashing up? What basis do you have for saying that retail staff’s paid hours end when the store closes?

Self service might save some money on wages but it's losing loads due to theft. There are some stores in some neighbourhoods where shoplifting is just what everyone does.

I find shopping quite alienating these days. Tbh I've never really seen it as a leisure pursuit so I'm not a key demographic for retailers but now it is actively unpleasant. Self service tills are grubby , quite often actually dirty. They fuck up a lot. Prices ping around so much that often the shelf ticket price is completely wrong. Paying for bags grinds my gears too especially now they're charging 50p + for them when shopping is expensive anyway. Opening hours are unreliable, staff are few and far between. Half the stock is online only. You need a loyalty card to get decent prices, which is yet another layer of faff on top of bring your bags, scan your stuff, pack your stuff etc. It all just seems a bit jaded.

I've given in after too many abortive visits to the city centre and coming home empty handed because the shops didn't have anything I wanted in my size. Having to pay extra for car parking because my car happens to be 12 years old is just the final kick in the teeth. Online it is from now on.

Spend half a day searching for a small basket in a specific size in town (probably unsuccessfully) or just one click on Amazon? No contest.

Do you live in London that they use warehouses for Sainsbury's, mine just comes from local store, I used them quite recently as I had a free delivery offer.

Haven’t read the whole thread but just to counteract all the doom and gloom:

I had a lovely experience in my local Oliver Bonas the other day, all sizes in all their clothes, a lovely lady serving who let me stash a heavy bag of books behind the counter while I was browsing and advised me to pick smaller sizes as they came up large- she was spot on. Came to check I had all I needed in the fitting room and generally could not have been more helpful. (Zone 3 suburban London)

I also had a good experience in a branch of Jones the Bootmaker recently. (City of London, office worker clientele)

I agree that shopping is alive and well in the big shiny new malls, also places like Clark’s Village in Street (Somerset) are pleasant to go to.

On the other hand I am sure I am now known by the staff of our local Sainsbury’s as “that woman who lost her shit over the self service checkout”. A long story involving yellow-stickered hot cross buns. Not my finest hour.

"Or order in a number of sizes and have to send the others back. Which involves walking into town to the post office."

They collect from your door now. For free, no printer required

"I like to have some cash at least. You never know if everywhere will take cards."

🤣 you withdraw it from the machine in the foreign country not buy it here using a Revolut which she can't accept anyway.

Why would you go to the effort of getting a Revolut card for travel and then literally do yourself out of a decent exchange rate? Fucking bonkers

I find food shopping such a hassle. Admittedly, I've never really liked it much, but it has got worse over the last couple of years. The ONLY redeeming factor is that I always go to the checkout with the staff member I like. We don't always chat, but she's efficient and is a friendly face that I have seen week in, week out for years. She has moan, I have a moan and I leave bloody Morrisons a little less frazzled. I refuse to use self service checkout unless it's for small basket because those machines hate me and I always need assistance and then have to wait for ages because all the machines are crap.

Didn't a Dutch supermarket introduce a slow aisle for people who wanted to chat and wanted to feel less isolated? For some elderly, it is the only chance to have social interaction. Others too, I should think.

Clothes shopping is a nightmare. I've not been for me but went with my son recently. "We don't have the size/colour, but we can order in for you to collect." So that we can drive 30 mins into town again, pay extortionate parking fees etc, etc etc?" Might as well get it online.

I get a lot from Next as they sell all the brands and I have paid for a year's delivery but I take the returns back to the shop on my usual walk as they charge for pickup, I wouldn't buy from there though if I didn't have a local store.

I don't think the lack of service that the OP experienced is the main reason for the decline of the high street, though every contribution makes a difference.

Concentration of ownership of parts of the retail sector, business rates, out of town stores, all are factors that I think have had a greater impact. Other things that I think contribute are abusive customers making it more difficult to retain staff, oversupply of retail and commercial space (instead of housing), and lack of action by police against shop theft (because of lack of resources).

If parcel carriers had to provide an adequate service instead of the race to the bottom, and therefore the real cost had to be paid, some in person shopping would be more competitive.

There are probably many other reasons.

Going to my local Asda is an almost dystopian experience I can choose two routes into the store. One is through a park that has been taken over by drinkers who shout and fight and the other is through a side alley that stinks of piss and has drug use and drug deals going on as it is not visible from the main road. Upon reaching the entrance there is a two-to-one chance that at least one beggar will accost me. The store itself now resembles a low level jail, with alarmed barriers everywhere. You have to go through a barrier if you want to access the optician, the pharmacy or the cafe. The shop itself is grubby and the last time I shopped there I bought some ready-cooked chicken that was two days past its use by date Every single bottle of wine has a security tag on it. The spirits are encased in individual security nets and have a tag too. Just typing this has made me feel really depressed, it wasn't always like this, it seems to have become so much worse of late. ( took it back and complained that this was a real health risk)

Some people may only have a Revolut account.

@Lifeomars yes dystopian is exactly it. It's like blade runner - hostile technology, piles of crap everywhere and no human contact.

I do feel that ASDA have given up cleaning their stores and the radio they play in my local one is annoying. The staff always look miserable too and I don't blame them.

The death of the highstreet os due to 3 main factors:

1. Online shopping
2. People relying more on tech in general rather than congregating socially in real life

And 3. The fact many people have much less disposable income than they had before the past couple of recessions. It's well known that the people with the least money are the biggest spenders and smallest investors, so these people having little money has made a huge difference.

Have you any idea how many people leave school illiterate, both writing and numerically? Of course they know they'll be and have been left behind - that though doesn't make them ignorant.

Yes with banana and a few blueberries! It was an unassuming simple little caff with big portions of healthy cheap homemade food. A gem you don't see the like of much now.

Was thinking of the Sanctuary. What an oasis. Hope you also had a turn on the swing! Such a shame these nice places closed.

Shame. Mine's in a very depressing town. They removed outside seating as it was being used by drunk people. Teenagers with nothing to do harassing the security guard.

Tesco in the out of town retail park's pleasant though :)