Do you use the self-checkout? Here’s why it doesn’t add up
Standing at a supermarket self checkout the other day I was struck by one of the paradoxes facing the modern consumer.
On the one hand we’re encouraged to buy products that save time like dishwashers and home-delivered meals.
But at the same time shops are inviting us to spend time on things that were once done for us – like the self checkout.
It is just one example where consumers have been convinced to supply their own labour to facilitate new business models and help boost company profits.
The most shrewd innovator of all may be Ikea. The Swedish furniture icon has persuaded generations of consumers to buy products in flatpacks and then devote hours of their own labour putting them together at home.
An Ikea guest bed I recently assembled with a family member had an instruction booklet that ran to 28 pages. I calculated the hours of labour we spent in assembly would have added at least $120 to the cost if we had been paid the minimum wage. Sydney Morning Herald – Read more…
On the one hand we’re encouraged to buy products that save time like dishwashers and home-delivered meals.
But at the same time shops are inviting us to spend time on things that were once done for us – like the self checkout.
It is just one example where consumers have been convinced to supply their own labour to facilitate new business models and help boost company profits.
The most shrewd innovator of all may be Ikea. The Swedish furniture icon has persuaded generations of consumers to buy products in flatpacks and then devote hours of their own labour putting them together at home.
An Ikea guest bed I recently assembled with a family member had an instruction booklet that ran to 28 pages. I calculated the hours of labour we spent in assembly would have added at least $120 to the cost if we had been paid the minimum wage. Sydney Morning Herald – Read more…
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