Kmart shoppers unleash on the retailer over 'time-wasting' feature: 'Stupid idea'

Kmart fans usually have very few negative things to say about the retailer, but there's one thing they can all agree on – the position of the checkouts is atrocious. And customers aren't the only people baffled by it, with a consumer behaviour expert telling Yahoo Lifestyle they were also "flummoxed" by the change.

After creating their own Facebook group, Kmart fans have taken the opportunity to be heard by the brand and possibly enact change. One user asked other shoppers, "Do you like the checkouts in the middle of the store, or would you like them back near the door?"

Hundreds of shoppers responded to the question, with one user sharing a lengthy response that read: "Near the door. What a stupid idea to have you walk back through the store with purchased items instead of the door people seeing who has come straight from checkout and who has not. And no, I'm not stopping in a line of people for them to scan my receipt, I'm walking out the door."

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"Back near the door, it's crazy having to have big lines to get receipts scanned," another agreed. "If it was at the door this wouldn't be as big of deal. Also have more than one staff member at checkouts to help with machine errors."

"I'd prefer full service registers with staff members as opposed to self serve at the front," a third suggested.

Many others said they "hate them where they are" and don't like using "self-checkouts" at all.

Customer behaviour and marketing expert 'flummoxed' by Kmart's decision

Paul Harrison, Professor of Consumer Behaviour and Marketing at Deakin University, tells Yahoo Lifestyle he was 'flummoxed' by Kmart's decision to move the checkouts to the centre of the store.

"It's interesting because I don't think that there's any scientific evidence would say that it was a good decision," Paul tells us. "It may well have been a gut feeling. I think part of it might have been that they thought, if we keep people in the centre of the store, they'll buy more. But yeah, when it first happened, I kind of just went looking at all the research, the actual research, not marketing consultants, and yeah, I couldn't see the reason why they would do that."

He continued, "If anything, I guess one of the critical things in marketing often is about kind of removing friction. So what that means is make it as easy as possible for people to do the thing you want them to do. And I think, if anything, it adds friction. And yeah it's a mystery to me as a person who researches how consumers actually behave. It is one of those moments where I just went, I don't know where that came from, so yes, I'm flummoxed."

Paul added he is "looking for reasons" as to why they'd make the decision but hasn't landed on any just yet. He said, "Because that's my field, it's not just me as a customer, it's me as a person who researches the theory. And I just can't think of a reason. I'd love to know what their reasoning was and what the evidence was that led to that [choice].

Kmart 'welcomes customer feedback'

While some Kmart locations have staffed and self-serve checkouts at the front of the store, most outlets now have them located in the centre, a move that has been rolled out since 2015 to streamline queues and remove congestion from exits, according to the retailer.

Last year, Kmart started a trial at Eastlands Shopping Centre in Melbourne, which was undergoing renovations at the time and moved the checkout to near the exit.

A Kmart spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia at the time, "We have lots of things we do to try to improve customer experience, such as new technology. We test and learn from things."

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The spokesperson stressed the layout change was only a trial being held at the Eastlands Kmart store and at this stage there are no plans to roll out the change across the country.

In a statement, Kmart told Yahoo News Australia, "At Kmart Eastland, we are looking to try out a range of new store elements and ideas over the next year or so.

"As a business, we are always looking for ways to make our customer experience better, so trying out new things is just part of what we do.

"As always, we have a number of trials taking place involving lots of new ideas so we can see what our customers think. As these are rolled out, we look forward to hearing our customer feedback so we can continue to adapt and improve."

Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to Kmart for comment.

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