#retail
How the Barcode Changed Retail as We Know It
On this date in 1973, IBM introduced the universal product code, or UPC. Along with the introduction of laser scanning technology, the UPC barcode quickly revolutionized the grocery and retail industries, making checkout faster and inventory tracking a lot easier. The barcode changed the information processing system for almost every industry around the world and remains one of the most pervasive inventory tracking tools in the world today. Though just a small group of black bars, the UPC changed the world in a very big way.
Learn more about the invention of the barcode scanner ->
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This shit used to hurt me so much. Now when I go shopping I don’t even touch shit unless I know I want it lol cus I know that pain
i’m that person you see folding something and putting it back after i’ve looked at it lol
^^^ And if I can’t fold it back perfectly they’re gonna at least see that I tried.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All.of.this
Worked in retail almost half a decade, and let me tell y'all this is daily, not just Black Friday or summer sales.
I’ve had people look me straight in the eyes while they knock over a perfectly folded stack of shirts off a table so they could put down their Starbucks cup. People leave food, drinks, diapers, used pads and bandages, even one time an actual syringe on tables.
I’ve had people destroy entire displays and complain about how dirty and “why don’t employees respect their own store” while I was directly next to them frantically trying to fix what they, themselves, just messed up.
This shit is so ingrained in me now that I fixed displays while on vacation in Disney World for a full half hour.
And before anyone says anything, no, actually picking up after grown adults that should know better, it actually isn’t my job to clean up after you all day. We have customer service, check for product, work the registers, keep the bathrooms clean, deal with angry customers, try to prevent shop lifting, and keep the store running. Recovery (fixing displays) is supposed to be low on our list because people aren’t supposed to be selfish shitheads. If you wouldn’t destroy your friend’s house, don’t destroy retail shops.
I’ve literally had people ask me if I work at several stores before because I’m cleaning up after myself??? like they are asking me for help and I’m like “idk I don’t work here” then they are like “then why are you cleaning?”
It’s,,, basic manners,,, to clean after yourself,,, what is wrong with people,,,
I front-stock items when I buy one. It’s just habit at this point.
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Mr. Porter asked me to illustrate outfits for different careers or professions as toy box outfits, referencing the old Action Man outfit sets from the 60′s and 70′s. Basically a dream job for me. Action figures, fashion, retro imagery, andall of that in monochromatic colour schemes? Yes. Count me in.
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Héctor and Ernesto working retail:
Ernesto: *opens box and sees its full of tampons* Ewww… do I really have to put these up?
Héctor: Well, people need them, and we have to be there for the customer’s needs. So yes.
Ernesto: This is embarrassing.
Héctor: And this is why I’m a manager and you’re not.
Working in any kind of customer service is such a trip because as much as they won’t admit it, customers tend to view us as inanimate objects. It’s not their fault, we provide a service and our interactions are usually quite short and to the point, then they go about their day. It’s impersonal, and it’s easy to disregard the person scanning your groceries. But when you break the NPC energy they don’t know how to act.
Yesterday a girl set down her food and said to her friend ‘god I’m so basic’. I don’t even remember what she was buying, but I went 'basic isn’t a bad thing if it’s delicious.’ and they both looked at me and one went 'oh God he heard me’ and like?? Yeah?? You’re literally standing right in front of me??? Hello??
op - fargo monkey face by Johnny Wilson
Via Flickr:
olympus pen ee-3 with expired kodak gold 200
Got some new pants.
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We all saw it coming sooner or later amidst a changing panorama of retail market conditions. Sears will close 59 stores across Canada after seeking court protection from its creditors in a move to restructure itself, but will this be enough?
For over a decade Sears has been suffering the test of time in the retail sector, having entered the 21st century without a solid plan to fight the competition, and the new online platform for retail distribution.
I remember the shopping experience even before Sears acquired Eaton in Canada in 1999, back when the Toronto flagship store downtown at Yonge and Dundas represented an important landmark for the pre-eCommerce era.
Today Sears is folding after a series of bad decisions made in their American HQ by the top management team, which failed to understand the modern market model of the new century. They blame it on Amazon but the mistakes started to happen twenty years ago, before the online shopping giant became a sensation.
How does such big brand name miss the target?- some may ask in a bit of confusion. One part of the answer can be found in the lack of vision of the company in understanding the market, the absence of storytelling, but most importantly the customer and its needs.
Here’s a list of mistakes Sears collected through the years:
- lack of multimedia strategy and innovation
- no significant digital platform to sell their products online
- old design store which provided a look and feel of early 90s
- same old brands and lack of new ones (aka stale style)
- weak new logo and branding strategy
- worn out management
All in all we cannot only blame business disruptors like Amazon for Sears’ failure to understand the market, but surely the archaic methodology of interfacing towards customers has contributed to its demise. Blame the old school marketing department that prefers relying on numbers rather than listening the true needs of the shoppers out there.
That’s the very same marketing department that constantly believed paper and flier ads were still a thing. Boy, they were wrong. Mailboxes constantly stuffed with pamphlets and seasonal catalogs failed to engage the Millennial generation (and became a nuisance for homeowners), but rather appealed to the same old crowd of customers for the past decades.
However shopping habits evolved with the competition selling different products to different crowds. Sears failed to understand their marketing strategy had a foot stuck in the 20th century. They dismissed storytelling to engage buyers and kept selling the very same products the competition had at cheaper prices.
It’s sad to see such iconic brand slowly fading to black, but new commerce platforms are emerging willing to listen customer first and most importantly willing to adapt to changing times.
okay i’m australian so i don’t celebrate halloween, but i’ll be damned if i don’t appreciate that bizarre holiday for the sole purpose of keeping christmas at bay.
because i just know that if halloween weren’t there to hold the line, i’d be out shopping in september or something and hear ‘all i want for christmas is you’ blasting across the mall, and just like that, a pack of wild karens would stampede to partake in the annual bloodbath that is christmas decoration shopping and many a retail worker would be lost to the rabid beasts prematurely.
so yeah. thanks halloween.
Giorio Casa, Xuzhou, China,
Catanian Design,
Furnishing: Guangzhou A3Home Co., Ltd.
Furniture: Beijing Giorio Casa Home Design Co., ltd.
Photography: Jin Weiqi
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