I just started as cashier today and I want some tips on how to be better. I've worked in stock for two months so up front is much different. Any tips on important keys or button combinations on the keyboard? how to scan faster? (practice makes perfect but are there tricks to scanning?)
So there's nothing too difficult about it. You just have to want to improve. Here are my go-to tips that I teach any new Cashier that I help as a Peer Coach:
* Learn how to Void and Price Adjust items quickly, and understand what the Reason Codes are and when to use each one (Rain Check/Mark-Down/Cust Service/Make-it-Right). Voiding items off that get double-scanned or ring up incorrectly will be the most common thing you encounter, followed by Price Adjustments for Rain Checks and the "Make it Right" thing.
* Become familiar with the 10-key layout so you can quickly key in product PLUs and UPCs and people's Phone Number for their rewards number (among other things like Bdays for Age Restricted Items, Account Numbers if you need to manually key in a card or check).
* When it comes to actually scanning, it depends on your store. Fill your bags to capacity though before moving them to the cart (or as comfortable as you are filling it without it ripping). When you move them to the cart, Total your order until you're done putting bags in the cart and have the next set of bags ready for scanning again. Learn the "Grab/Grab/Scan/Scan/Bag/Bag" technique, it really helps. If you can utilize both hands while scanning, that will drastically improve your speed.
Beyond that, it's not just about how fast you can move items over the scanner. Speed helps, but more importantly than that is finding a good rhythm. Don't focus so much on getting items scanned as quickly as possible, but rather, focus on finding the best way to grab items and scan them directly into the bag. Look ahead to see whats coming up on the belt and prepare your bag accordingly. Use your hand-scanner with things like Cat Food or Tuna Fish where they're all the identical. You can scan much quicker with that than you can the normal scanner. If there are 12+ items that are identical, you can use the Quantity Key to do them all at once (# of Product -> Quantity Key -> Scan Product).
The last thing is just practice. You won't reach the same level as seasoned cashiers during your first week. Even following these tips, it's going to take you time to improve your speeds and quality of your checking. Additionally, ask your PIC about Peer Coaching and if your store does that. If so, ask if someone will can be available to coach you sometime. It definitely helps hearing it from someone who is experienced, and who can show you these things first-hand.
You can either hit void and then rescan the item, or if you literally just scanned the item with nothing after that, just hit void and then enter. This helps for produce because you don't need to weigh it again.
Another tip, if you void produce that is sold by weight, sometimes it won't come off. However you entered it (code or scanned), you need to void it off the same way. For example, if you scan a thing of grapes, you need to scan it again to void it off, not type in 4022. They are the same, but it won't work. If that still doesn't work, instead of weighing it, try typing in the weight, but add .01 pounds from what the screen says. If it says you sold 1.20 pounds of grapes, void off 1.21 pounds of grapes.
Unless you are specifically told otherwise, don't bag until the order is complete (paid for) or until you have absolutely no room left.
If someone already has their cart unloaded, ask them if they have a plus card and coupons right then. If you wait until the end, you need to wait for them to fish their 20 cent off coupon out of the bottom of their purse. If you know that someone is going to have a lot of coupons (a regular or someone with one of those coupon sorters trying to pull them out as they unload their cart), offer to have your bagger unload their cart so they can get their coupons. It will make it go faster and make them happier.
If you have an extreme couponer and not all of them are going through, don't put them through on your own. If it says "qty not satisfied", ask them how many they had and/or look through the bags to find them. If it says they don't have enough for those $3 off $15 produce coupons, tell them they don't have enough, even if they are just a little bit short. These people are stealing from kroger (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not) and if you put them through, you are helping them. If they don't agree, call over one of your supervisors. They will either back you up or put them through, and if they put them through, it is on them. You can be fired for violating the coupon policies.
Have someone show you how to do WIC. This seems to be one of the biggest hiccups new cashiers run into at my store. And make sure they show you what to do with the produce WIC tickets as they seem to take the longest.
I sort of wish they'd train CC's on how to handle the common issues if the CC is fine with not being a cashier. I wouldn't mind too much, and then I could hop on a register when the crazy days happened. It just takes so long sometimes to go fetch a manager when something comes up. But I'm weird and don't want to be a cashier, I like being able to move around the store.
I sort of wish they'd train CC's on how to handle the common issues if the CC is fine with not being a cashier. I wouldn't mind too much, and then I could hop on a register when the crazy days happened. It just takes so long sometimes to go fetch a manager when something comes up. But I'm weird and don't want to be a cashier, I like being able to move around the store.
You have to be a cashier to run the register at our store. Courtesy clerks are forbidden by union contract. Have you thought about paging a manager instead of actually walking around the store until you find him? LOL! Of course, at our store, our cashiers page management. Courtesy clerks are not allowed to page LOL!
