“Your experience is our priority” with a single register open

Six registers. One open. Five with the little sign: “Please use another register.”

And up above, on a giant screen: “Your experience is our priority.”

Chances are that screen isn't even meant for you. A lot of the screens popping up inside stores these days are retail media: space the retailer sells to brands so they can run ads. In other words, the screen brings in revenue and the closed register cuts costs. On the spreadsheet, both look great.

What doesn't show up on the spreadsheet is the line.

Meanwhile, the hot topic right now is agentic commerce. In the US, ChatGPT, Gemini, and friends can already search, compare, and pay for you without you ever leaving the conversation. Your next customer could be an agent that doesn't wait in line, doesn't get tired, and isn't loyal to any brand.

So here's what I keep chewing on: if buying online gets as easy as asking an assistant, what reason does anyone have left to go to the store?

I think plenty (I genuinely love retail). People go to a store to get their bearings, browse, touch, compare, have someone help them. Buuut every minute in line chips away at that reason. And today, what your line is competing against is an agent that gets it done in 30 seconds.

The good news is the line can already be measured: how many people come in, how long they wait, how many drop their basket and walk out. With that, you know how many registers to open before the line reaches the dairy aisle. It can be done.

If an agent can shop for you in 30 seconds, the physical store can't make you wait 20 minutes.

What's the most ironic sign you've ever seen in a store?