Liang Hongfu

Stores should take some of the stress out of shopping

By Hong Liang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-06 06:24

The government has been trying for some years to get Chinese people to spend more of their savings. This is good for a country that is seen to be over-reliant on the external sector for growth.

But the folks who are supposed to benefit most directly from increased consumer spending, the retailers are not making things any easier for their customers. Even in the large cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, shopping isn't necessarily fun. Sometimes it's a downright unpleasant experience.

We are not talking here about rude salespeople. Most shoppers have already gotten used to inadequate service at department stores and other retail outlets. Whenever I have felt the urge to complain, local friends remind me that things have already improved a great deal compared to just a few years ago.

Service is a people's business and changing people's attitudes takes time. If we want good service, we'll just have to be patient.

What irks shoppers most are the cumbersome systems and procedures that seem to be designed by retailers specifically to inconvenience shoppers and create chaos at the checkout counters rather than to facilitate the smooth flow of customers. If you have never done any shopping on the Chinese mainland, you can't imagine how far some large retailers will go to achieving the apparent goal of aggravating their customers.

Not too long ago, I went to a large department store near my office in Beijing to buy some cooking utensils. After picking what I wanted, the saleswoman handed me two cards. Surprised that I didn't seem to know what to do with them, she told me to pay at the cashier counter in the centre of the long shop floor and then come back to this end of the hall to collect my purchases.

This I did and when I returned with the pile of bills to confirm my payment, she handed me two large boxes. If I needed a carrying bag, which I most certainly did, I'd have to make the trek back to the cashier's counter to ask for one. There, the woman behind the counter gave me a contemptuous look from behind her thick-rimmed glasses before giving me the bag. She must have thought I was trying to cheat her out of an extra plastic bag.

Feeling cowered, I hurried back to the household appliance section where the saleswomen pointed a finger to the two boxes lying on the floor. She stood there watching me stuffing two large boxes into a most unco-operative plastic bag. Now, I am beginning to appreciate my company's consideration in supplying us with almost everything that we would need when we arrive to work in Beijing. Buying these things can be a real chore.

Supermarkets are supposed to represent the paragon of consumer convenience. This is not necessarily true on the mainland.

The checkout counters at most large-scale supermarkets appear to have been designed by sadists who take pleasure in watching people squashing each other with shopping carts. Otherwise, why would anyone in his or her right mind build four cashier counters arranged in a straight row at each line? Everyone must use the shopping cart to bulldoze their way through to whichever counter that happens to be free.

In Hong Kong, the supermarkets are no less crowded than those in Beijing or Shanghai. But most supermarkets in Hong Kong have adopted a single-file system at their checkout counters. Customers all stand in one line waiting for the next available cashier. This simple arrangement has made it unnecessary for waiting customers to dash around from line to line hunting for the fastest-moving one. Being caught in such a scramble with fast-moving shopping carts swishing around you at close quarter in all directions can be a most intimidating experience.

It's all the fault of the retailers, many of them owned by foreign enterprises with years of experience operating large-scale outlets in overseas markets. I have been to some of their stores in other cities. They are nothing like those operated by these same companies in China.

The managements of these foreign retailers apparently believe that Chinese consumers are willing to accept a lower standard of service than the one that is taken for granted in Western markets. Or their operation handbooks simply say nothing about accommodating big crowds of customers.

In this age of plenty, Chinese consumers should learn to press for better and more courteous service from vendors. Shopping should be a pleasant experience.

Email: jamesleung@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/06/2006 page4)