Kmart says there is no scientific reason why all of its checkouts are now 50 metres from the store entrance, confirming it is simply just a fun little thing they did because they were bored.
“We analysed a lot of shopper data and matched it with footfall information, and what we realised was that by far the most logical place for a check-out is at the front of the store. And so we moved them to the centre in all 324 Australian stores just for a laugh,” a spokesperson for the company said.
She said making customers walk through a kilometre of point-of-purchase displays, laid out in a maze-like configuration, was something they only thought of later. “That was after a few wines on a Friday night after work. Hillarious!”
Kmart says the idea to shift the checkouts had first been floated by the company’s floor staff. “What you have to understand is how boring it is to work at a Kmart store. Seeing customers aimlessly walk around near the exit trying to work out how to give us money for the items they want to purchase is often the only enjoyable part of a Kmart-worker’s day.
“The funniest bit is when they tell the customer to walk to the centre of the store to pay, only for them to discover that they’ll be asked to show a proof-of-purchase receipt at the front of the store before they leave anyway”.
