Woolworths has begun steadily reducing the number of cash registers accepting cash at its supermarkets, following its decision a month ago to stop accepting cash at its WCafe stores. The majority of cash registers are now designated as “cashless”, with only certain cash registers accepting both cash and cards.
Signage has been installed at Woolworths food stores promoting 'fast checkout' with 'cashless' tills.
advertisement
Continue reading below
Read: No, Woolies won't stop accepting cash
Typically, only one-quarter to one-third of store cashiers accept cash (and cards). The rest have “cards only” signs. This means that in a small neighborhood store, one of every three to four open registers will accept cash. In larger stores, about 2 to 3 out of 10 cash registers accept cash.
The company operates a single line system in its stores, so customers who wish to pay with cash tend to have to wait at the front of the line until a cashier is available. This becomes a problem when non-card shoppers are in line at about the same time.
This attracted quite a bit of negative comment on social media, especially as the change was seemingly unclear to some customers who thought they would no longer accept cash at supermarkets altogether.
(Paradoxically, this implementation started in reverse, with Woolley opening ad-hoc “card-only” cash registers during peak hours to reduce queue lengths.)
Based on the number of cashiers in a store that accept cash, cash transactions appear to average less than 20% of volume and well under 10% of value.
Retailers clearly have this detailed information available, ensuring that a higher percentage of cash registers are open to accept cash in stores where cash remains a slightly higher bidding form than in stores where cash is used less frequently. It will be expensive.
True, the cost of handling cash will be higher, but this change has less to do with this (stores will accept the same amount of cash even with a reduced number of tellers) and more to manage security within the store. There is a connection. There is less cash float to maintain (1, 2, or 3 cash registers) and cash ups should only be made on these cash registers.
Read: Cash is no longer king: Trends are making your pockets lighter
Woolies touts convenience and speed for customers paying by card, and while this has probably had some positive impact, it's not as if the changes have halved wait times.
criticism
advertisement
Continue reading below
The retailer came under heavy criticism from some customers after it completely stopped accepting cash at WCafe stores. The company justified the changes to its promotional materials by saying it had “participated in a global responsible business initiative that puts the safety of our customers and employees first.”
Given that Checkers is attacking the affluent (and therefore woolly) segment of the market, customers are not afraid to tag rival retailers in their complaints on social media.
Woolworths reported food division sales rose 8.4% in the six months to Christmas Eve (7.2% excluding new stores and space), but said underlying product inflation averaged 9.1%. It pointed out.
Read: The “wealthy” are also feeling the pinch
By comparison, Shoprite said Checkers (and Checkers Hyper) sales rose 13.1% in the six months to December 31. Internal selling price inflation across the group's SA business was 7.7%, it said.
This means that Checkers continues to increase its market share.
Ironically, the company's Sixty60 on-demand delivery service, which was the first to market and has been the driving force behind this growth, does not accept cash.