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Efficiencies in Supermarket Checkout Lines

posted by martyb on Sunday September 18 2016, @04:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the slowest-line-is-the-one-I'm-in dept.

Appalbarry writes:

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports on a former math teacher who claims to solved the question "Which checkout line up will be fastest?"

In a nutshell he has concluded that the number of people in the lineup is more important than the number of items a person has in their cart.

The critical factor, he says, is the average of 41 seconds that it takes a shopper to pay the cashier and engage in idle chit chat.

So a long line of people in the Express line, with two or three items each, will actual move slower than the checkout with one guy with a full shopping cart.

YMMV.

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  • (Score: 2) by CoolHand on Monday September 19 2016, @01:02PM

    by CoolHand (438) on Monday September 19 2016, @01:02PM (#403706) Journal

    I thought about telling them to get each other's phone numbers, but decided it might cause a scene. For all I knew, the middle aged lady might be from Guam as well, and they had some catching up to do.

    I always knew Runaway1956 was one considerate and kind dude, but now he has shown us concrete proof from his day-to-day life... :)

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