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?

The trolley self checkout area is too small and not everyone can place the trollies near their till. The bagging area is too small for a full trolley so things keep falling off. The bagging area is also at a ridiculously low level and I have a bad back which makes it impossible for me to use. Then you have all the issues of the standard self checkout.

Waitrose is not like this at all!

Email the businesses to complain.
I couldn't care less about my local city's high street. I haven't been there for 15 years and can't think of anything that would make me want to do the drive, find and pay for extortionate parking, to traipse round some shitty shops when I can just get any item delivered to my door.

That's not why the high street is failing.

The high street is failing because so much has moved online that physical shops have cut staffing to the bone to save costs. Because businesses don't get price capped energy bills and running the shop with heat and light is punatively expensive. Because 14 years of Tory policies cut local government funding to the bone and so councils are charging higher rates. Because it's easier to have 80 people in a warehouse serving a national online shop than those same 80 staff across physicaol shops serving a smaller demographic.

You're seeing the end result of those pressures, not the cause of the high street dying.

I agree. I also find things like shoe shops a right pain because 9 times out of 10 the beautiful shoes they have out on display (that your child then falls in love with) aren't available in their size or they have seemingly very limited stock and they bring out designs for you to try that are nothing like those on display, and they say "we can order it online for you to collect in 3 days if you want" etc. etc.... I feel like shopping is just harder than it needs to be on the high street.

@MiamiWindMachine what are you arguing about, she offered to do it so what is the problem? I bet you find life really hard work 😆😆

The point of Revolut is to have a perfect exchange rate and no fee on your card. By paying in sterling with your card at a high street exchange rate you’re adding several steps to the process and losing out on the exchange rate.

Same with banks. I have banked digitally for years and years. I don't need telling that online is convenient--I know.

In the weeks following a recent bereavement, I needed to go to an actual branch to sort things out, things that can't be done on the app and which they tell you you have to go to a branch to do. Ours is 18 miles away. They meet you aggressively at the door with an IPad and demand why you're there, why you haven't used the app (because I'm having problems with the app), what your problem is (the day after a bereavement I opened an account and accidentally used my maiden, not married, name. 'Why would you do that?' Because I hadn't slept for days and my mother had died the previous night).

An elderly couple, hunched over, moving with obvious discomfort, were asked why they weren't using the app. 'Because our eyesight is bad and we have bad arthritis in our fingers.'

Same with the post office. 'Why are you here?' Because I have a complicated postal query. 'Why aren't you using the machine?' Because I have a complicated postal query. It's like being in a Soviet-Era store.

I've been gone for 14 years. Wow how times have changed. This sounds absolutely dreadful. I worked lots of retail before I left (16-21 years old, 2005-2010) and we would've been crucified had we cashed up half an hour before closing... Or refused to serve customers at tills...

Is she going to call my boss to complain about the overpaid overtime I do? I doubt it. I suspect you mean "unpaid overtime". I'm willing to bet that your hourly rate still exceeds hers, even with the overtime, that you have more autonomy over your work, that you won't see a deduction from your salary if you're five or 10 minutes late for work. Just don't complain to/about the front-line worker.

Is it a case of whether people want to pay, rather than if they can pay?

Wage stagnation over the last couple of decades, while the price of eg parking has increased with inflation, means that a lot of costs are now relatively more expensive compared to income. Disposable incomes are lower.. Quite a lot of people now need things to be cheap because they simply won’t be able to afford them otherwise.

In our local small Tesco branch if you use self checkout and want a receipt you have go to the manned till !!!! whilst there are people being served.
I have stopped using the self checkout now at all shops as it means someone is now out of work

A nearby former Tesco Metro, now Tesco Express AKA Bloody Expensive, has had to reopen a manned till and label the self-checkout area "Baskets only" because there isn't enough room for trolleys, even the smaller ones. It also gets cluttered with customers' own two- and four-wheeled shopping trolleys.

The local demographic includes a large proportion of older and less mobile people. Who use supermarket trollies and wheeled shoppers.

Tesco evidently looked at the amounts being spent and the number of items going through the tills and decided that the store's customers were young and able-bodied people dashing in and out for a few top-up items.

Turns out they were, to a significant extent, wrong

Every shop that closes where I live seems to be replaced by a coffee shop. We used to have 5 greengrocers and 4 butchers, now we have no greengrocers and one butcher. We used to have 4 shoe shops, now we have one very expensive independent one. There used to be 4 shops selling children's clothes, now there are none. If you want to buy kids' clothes, you have to do a round trip of 12 miles, minimum.

But you could drink a gallon of coffee without visiting the same coffee shop twice.

Agree the rates and rents are extortionate as councils are cash strapped but with the cost of living many businesses can't afford that or pass costs on to customers who can't or won't pay when online's cheaper.

Covent Garden has lost a few. There used to be a lovely cheap vegetarian cafe called Food for Thought that closed after decades because of this. I also miss the Banana bookshop and Crocs shop amongst others.

This

Wage stagnation over the last couple of decades, while the price of eg parking has increased with inflation, means that a lot of costs are now relatively more expensive compared to income. Disposable incomes are lower.. Quite a lot of people now need things to be cheap because they simply won’t be able to afford them otherwise.

its not unrelated though is it the people wanting cheap & their own wage stagnation.

I think you would be quite shocked how much worse T&C have become in retail in that time.

Is your council buying up shopping centres?

That is very telling of the state of the high street.

Completely agree.

Ignorant!! I don’t expect to cook my food when I go to a restaurant or make my own coffee in a cafe - it’s not ignorance. We’re paying for a service. Yes, I can ring up my own shopping but I don’t want to and will refuse to unless my shopping is discounted. We’re effectively paying to do someone else’s job. Not on.

It's a shame. I buy quite a lot online (in a small village, don't have a car), and the customer service from those companies has been excellent. When I go to one of the bigger towns to shop I have to keep an eye on the time because of the buses/trains, so it's a real nuisance when shops are understaffed. I bought an item in a big branch of Boots recently, huge queue at the checkout and there was just one assistant! She was doing very well and was polite and efficient, but there was only one of her! I'm afraid many of the shops are killing themselves off. (And by the by, I REALLY miss Wilko).

“Offered” - as it it’s a treat 😆

I like the self scanner system in Sainsbury’s, easy to use, all packed ready to pay, only need authorisation for alcohol etc. Morrison’s self service always throws up issues, and I go to staffed tills in the bigger Tesco. Nipping to the Local for one or two items, I like the speed of self service rather than queuing. Yesterday in Asda the queues were huge, and as I only had a few items I self served. It didn’t like my bag, but was still quicker than queuing. Lidl has no self service here.

Lots of supermarkets near me, I pick the most convenient tills depending on if its busy, how much shopping I’ve got, and my mood at the time!

This is why I love market towns and charity shops!

Admittedly you can't get everything you need from charity shops however.

H&M are bad for it. I remember being in one and wanting to try some clothes on and they put a sign up closing the changing rooms as they obviously didn't have any staff to man it. I just ignored the sign and tried on my clothes anyway. I'm sorry but I'm not parting with my cash if I can't even try it on. I get they probably want to reduce the chances of shoplifting but that was just ridiculous.

I've worked for 2 different large retailers in my past (many years ago) where we were only paid until the shop closed, say 5:30pm but had to wait until the last customer had left, which was often around 5:40pm, then we had to cash up a till before it was signed off and we could leave. This was often 6pm. So we would be working an extra 30mins unpaid. The paid hours were minimum wage and as I was under 21 this was a lot let than adult minimum wage. This is common practice. These shop workers are trying to leave on time. Retailers should pay their workers appropriately.