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Elderly To Get Satellite Navigation To Find Their Way Around Supermarkets
Three government centers in the UK have been working on a way to use digital technology to help the elderly and the disabled. One of their ideas is a supermarket satellite navigation system to help elderly people who get confused by changing layouts in the aisles. Professor Paul Watson, of Newcastle University, said: "Many older people lack the confidence to maintain 'normal' walking habits. This is often due to worries about getting lost in unfamiliar, new or changing environments." A kitchen for Alzheimer's patients packed with hidden sensors and projectors is also in the works.
no, now they can have one more thing they dont understand how to make work. and they'll still ask the punk highschool kid where the alpo is.
i wage a holy war against the apostrophe.
Having worked in a large grocery store previously, I can tell you that a key reason for periodic rearrangement of items is specifically for the purpose of getting people to wander in the store longer, because the longer they are spending looking for something they want, the greater the chance that they will see something else they might like and pick that up too. Sure, there are also people who will get frustrated and leave without buying anything, but statistically speaking, the increased sales as a result of more impulse buying more than makes up for those lost sales. I once asked about this while I was there, and this is how it was explained to me. I was quick to point out the fact that customers don't leave as quickly would certainly carry an expense in the form of increased security requirements to keep shoplifting down, but apparently the increase in sales outweigh even that additional cost too.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
As someone that works at a grocery store, you are entirely correct. The employees should be helping the customers find the items they need, and at least be polite, if not cheerful about it. If there aren't enough employees to do that, or they don't know the layout of the store well enough...there's your problem right there.
Yes, the annoying customer is asking me where the damned bread is for the fifth time this month and interrupting the job I was assigned to do. That's ok, 'cuz his dollars are helping pay my paycheck.
The employees that don't understand that need a good smack upside the noggin.