Wal-Mart Adding ‘Holiday Helpers’ to Shorten Checkout Lines

Wal-Mart is deploying “Holiday Helpers” to all of its 4,500 or so U.S. stores during the upcoming months. These workers, clad in yellow vests to make them easily identifiable to customers, will be tasked with speeding up checkout time by, among other things, fetching items that shoppers may have forgotten, so they don’t lose their places in line; helping to unload shopping baskets at the registers; and if it’s very busy, opening a cash register. The helpers will be regular Wal-Mart workers trained to use cash registers but looking to pick up some extra hours.

Total Retail's Take: Customer satisfaction has been an area of struggle for Wal-Mart in the past, so the retailer is taking extra steps to ensure its customers have an enjoyable shopping experience this holiday season. I'm sure we all can agree, standing in a long checkout line that doesn't seem to be moving isn't going to make you want to shop with that retailer again. In addition to expediting the checkout process, the helpers will be bringing some fun to the typically sterile stores. They'll be wearing festive Santa hats and bright red sashes inscribed with “Holiday Helpers,” and handing out candy canes.