By Megan Harman
Chain stores have infiltrated restaurant and retail markets across Canada, and alongside the decline of independent stores seems to be a decline in the quality of employee-customer interactions.
Corporate fast food outlets like Tim Hortons thrive on delivering the fastest service possible. Employees behind the counter scramble to prepare multiple drinks at once, impatiently calling to the third and fourth customers in line for their orders.
There is no time to waste in places like this and friendly greetings have become rare. Exchanges between customers and employees are usually limited to one thing: what the customer wants.
If retailers today have a top priority, it seems to be convenience. They aim to be easily accessible with multiple store locations and they strive to provide the fastest possible service.
Twenty-first century lifestyles are digital and fast-paced and businesses are trying to cater to these factors.
But as they strive to meet consumers’ convenience demands, businesses shouldn’t forget the details that still count. While quick service is important, particularly for busy customers, quality of service is often more important.
The chairman of Starbucks, it was revealed last month, agrees with this. In a memo leaked to the public in February, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz expressed concerns that the coffee shop chain’s focus on growth had “watered down” the Starbucks experience.
Schultz’s memo points to factors that have reduced the interactive elements—the “romance and theatre”—that customers get. The use of automatic espresso machines, for example, blocks customers from watching employees make their drink and removes the “intimate experience with the barista,” he wrote.
Pre-packaged coffee beans, too, have taken away the strong coffee aroma in Starbucks stores and the experience of watching employees grind fresh beans as customers wait. The product has become “commoditized,” Schultz wrote in the memo.
Automatic machines and pre-packaged coffee have helped stores provide quicker service, something many customers appreciate. The changes mean less time waiting for a morning latte or a bag of coffee.
In today’s fast-paced society, this movement towards faster service and less human interaction is hardly a novelty. Pizzerias have it perfected with their “30 minutes or it’s free” guarantee. Automatic payment machines have made their way to gas stations and grocery stores, and ticket-dispensing machines let customers serve themselves quickly at airports and train stations.
But as coffee shops hop on the speedy-service bandwagon, a question arises: at what point have business strives towards convenience gone too far?
Coffee shops are traditionally social hubs where people take a break from their busy day. By becoming convenience-oriented, coffee shops are challenging this social role and emphasizing the value of fast service over social and friendly interaction in today’s society.
For a perfect cappuccino, many customers are willing to wait a few minutes. To chat with an employee who remembers a regular’s order, many people would walk an extra block.
Automated grocery store checkout systems are not for everyone. Many consumers still value the quality of service they get at the grocery store or the bank as they run their daily errands.
Starbucks’ chairman has realized this and perhaps his memo will inspire the company to rethink some of the convenience-oriented changes it has made.
In an age when corporate chain stores dominate, retailers, both corporate and independent, need to find something that sets them apart from the competition. And allowing their service or customer experience to suffer in favour of speed and convenience is not the best approach.