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Self-Service

In: How to Appreciate Your Customers

Author

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  • B. H. Elvy

Abstract

We have seen that the problem of recruitment of shop-workers and the escalating cost of employing them during the full-employment period of the sixties, was largely the reason why self-service retailing came to Britain. It was not adopted for the benefit of the customer. Initially, it was seen as a means of increasing sales without a corresponding increase in labour cost. Existing staff, who previously had provided personal service to customers, could henceforth be redeployed, operating checkouts, replenishing shelves and performing the laborious task of attaching price labels to every item of stock. Staff turnover, at that time, was high. But for every skilled or semiskilled shop-worker who quit retailing to take up a more financially rewarding occupation, an unskilled replacement could be found to carry out these simplified tasks.

Suggested Citation

  • B. H. Elvy, 1995. "Self-Service," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: How to Appreciate Your Customers, chapter 3, pages 31-47, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-13289-8_3
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-13289-8_3
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