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We’ve all been there – a long line and only one cashier who does not seem to care whether you get helped before the store closes or not. That’s certainly not the experience you want your shoppers to have when starting a dollar store. In fact, your plan is to create a checkout experience that caps off a wonderful shopping experience for every single buying customer. But as you begin to look at the options and variations, the questions start to come. Where should the registers be located? Should you add extra displays at the checkout area? In this article we will examine many of the options when it comes to laying out the checkout area in your store. Option #1) Create a single line for all who are ready to checkout. When starting a dollar store this strategy has many advantages for both your shoppers and you. For the shoppers there is no question that they will be checking out in the order they arrived. For you there’s the opportunity to place lots of impulse dollar store merchandise right beside shoppers who are ready to spend money. Option #2) Create multiple lines; each waiting at an open cash register. This more traditional approach still provides advantages for both you and the shopper. Slower cashiers or larger orders may mean shoppers aren’t helped in exactly the same order they arrived. However shoppers do make their own decision about which register to select for checkout. You do have the opportunity to display impulse items and other dollar store merchandise at all cash registers. There is the potential for added costs to buy all the dollar store merchandise and displays however. Option #3) Create ‘Islands’ of cash registers. A variation is to create 4-sided checkout stands. This does allow you to place 2 or even 3 cashiers in one island to handle checkout duties. For a smaller store a single island with one or two cash registers should be adequate, and takes up minimal space. Option #4) Create Individual check stands for each cash register. When starting a dollar store this strategy matches up with option #2 very well. Generally this arrangement takes more room, but there is more control over who is handling the money at each check stand. You also can install displays and add dollar store merchandise for added last minute sales. Option #5) Create a single long checkout counter. A seldom used option is to place a single, long counter along one wall. This can support 1 or 2 cash registers. In other cases it can support many more. A positive for this approach is you minimize the area required for checking out, and it fits well in a store with an empty wall close to the front door. A negative is all of your cashiers are working side-by-side which opens up the potential for discussion among the employees rather than helping customers and speaking to shoppers as their merchandise is rung up. There’s also less space on the counter to display dollar store merchandise. To your success when starting a dollar store! Find out how you can open your own dollar store business.
Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, author, writer, business consultant and trainer.
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