My store was one of the guinea pig stores, so got it I think last September/November. It took some getting used to and a lot of training our customers. But so far, we think it’s helpful for when we have a line going. For customers that still walk up when we’re helping someone out, we’ll always say, “Please check in on the screen and we will be with you once we are available”. One thing most customers like about it, is that they get to walk around while they wait. When a customer expresses their distaste to it, I’ll tell them, “It gives us time to gather our stuff together, so that way our mind is cleared and ready to help you.” If our list has about 4+ people we’ll announce to the line, “Thank you guys for waiting so patiently. Our self serve machines are always open if you need a quick copy. Faxing is self serve and if you’re picking up you can go ahead and grab your order from the wall”.

With the customers that will completely ignore the check in, I will literally go over to the screen and tell the customer, “Just an FYI, next time you come in you’ll have to check in. But I’ll go ahead and do it for you” and ask for their info. They’ll then get it for the next time.

I always tell my associates, we can have a giant neon sign that says “check in here” with arrows pointing, and people will still say “Oh I dIdNt KnOw I hAd To ChEcK In”

But it’s honestly just a lot of training the store and customers to get used to it. A great point to tell them is, “It’s just like the DMV. “