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.
(Score: 1) by charon on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:38PM
The only problem with a single line setup is that people are fiddling on their phone or looking at the interstitial merchandise and don't advance when it's their turn. Also it drives me nuts when the cashiers say, "Can I help whoever is next?" instead of looking at the person who is next and saying, "Can I help you?" Nuts, I say.