Will checkout elves make Walmart’s customers merrier this Christmas?
Photo: Walmart

Will checkout elves make Walmart’s customers merrier this Christmas?

Walmart is introducing a new “Holiday Helpers” in-store position this season focused largely on solving and reducing stress around checkout bottlenecks.

“Decked out in bright yellow vests, jingling hats and a colorful satchel full of goodies, our Holiday Helpers will be stationed near the registers to provide an extra fast, friendly checkout experience,” Walmart said in its blog.

Carrying “S’no line here!” signs, Holiday Helpers will guide shoppers to an available cashier, open an extra register or fetch a forgotten item so customers don’t lose their place in line.

“The Holiday Helpers are actually a great combination of a little bit of retail-tainment to bring fun back into the store, and it serves an incredibly practical purpose,” Walmart U.S. COO Judith McKenna told Fortune last week at a press briefing in Teterboro, NJ. “That’s the #1 thing that customers told us; they want faster checkout.”

The Holiday Helpers will arrive in stores beginning Nov. 4 in various numbers depending on the size and volume of each location, and they’re expected to be more available during busy times.

In a related move, Walmart will add a department manager to each store’s pickup area. Staffers in those areas will also have handheld devices for non-register checkouts. In-store pickup during the holiday season is roughly five times the volume seen in a normal week.

In the second quarter, Walmart reported its eighth consecutive quarter of same-store gain that’s being at least partly attributed to investments in worker wages and taking other steps to improve its customer satisfaction scores.

BrainTrust

"Love it -- proactively helping to solve what may be Walmart's biggest problem during the holiday season."

Dr. Stephen Needel

Managing Partner, Advanced Simulations


"This is a really good idea. We just finished a study around cash wrap and for the most part, there is a LOT of angst around checkout..."

Lee Peterson

EVP Thought Leadership, Marketing, WD Partners


"A cute little ploy to make Walmart a bit friendlier. However, the real issue for retailers this holiday season is gaining retail preference."

Tom Dougherty

President and CEO, Stealing Share


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What will make the addition of holiday helpers worth the investment for Walmart? What other steps could stores take to speed checkout and reduce stress at registers during peak holiday periods?

Poll

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Max Goldberg
7 years ago

These moves by Walmart are in response to rising customer complaints and should help the retail giant turn the complaints from a boil to a simmer. Customers welcome retailers’ steps that reduce stress and make the holiday shopping experience more manageable. Opening more registers, having helpers run to get items forgotten by customers, having additional staff to handle returns and better facilitating BOBIS will all aid holiday shoppers.

Mark Ryski
Noble Member
7 years ago

Slow checkout is a conversion rate killer. Walmart adding helpers to keep checkout lines moving will not only minimize checkout line abandonment, but it will improve customer experience at the same time. This is a smart move on Walmart’s part that other retailers should consider. A retailer can do everything right and lose the sale because of a poor checkout experience. Anything that reduces the friction of processing a sales transaction is worth considering, and one of the most interesting in my opinion is mobile POS. While there are legitimate security issues that retailers need to be mindful of, having the ability to process a sales transaction from virtually anywhere in the store (like in an Apple store for example), can go a long way to maximize conversion rates and keep customers happy during peak holiday selling periods.

Tom Dougherty
Tom Dougherty
Member
7 years ago

A cute little ploy to make Walmart a bit friendlier. However, the real issue for retailers this holiday season is gaining retail preference. They need shoppers to visit their stores at the expense of competitive venues.

This accomplishes none of that. No one will make Walmart a destination because of it. Will it help in retention or an increase in sales? It amazes me how myopic the retail market is. They fix every problem except the ONLY problem — meaning and relevance.

I would not be surprised if other retailers follow suit and copy this nonsense. Gimmickry requires no change and change is what is needed.

Dick Seesel
Trusted Member
Reply to  Tom Dougherty
7 years ago

I think part of Walmart’s “relevance” problem is that poor customer service and execution is tied to its brand identity. So small steps like these (and the move to reduce employee turnover through higher pay) will change the conversation over the long haul. It’s not going to happen overnight.

Lee Peterson
Member
7 years ago

This is a really good idea. We just finished a study around cash wrap and for the most part, there is a LOT of angst around checkout, which is one factor that drives the customer to shop online. So help in any way will pay off tactically.

And tangentially, the fun element of having someone to cheer you up, talk to you and help you around Christmas is a great idea. Good move.

Naomi K. Shapiro
Naomi K. Shapiro
7 years ago

If shoppers hear that Walmart has elves and giveaways, it might be enough to make them come — and that could be a big win that would make it (and the positive publicity) well worth the investment. Plus the distraction and pleasantness at the checkout is also a win. Not much downside to this effort. I can’t think of a better way to speed up the checkout process and reduce stress (if this works as planned).

Steve Montgomery
Steve Montgomery
Member
7 years ago

Smart move by Walmart for several reasons. The first of which is the publicity generated by the announcement. It has gotten a good amount of play in the media. The announcement positions any brick-and-mortar retailer who now does something similar as a “me too.”

All of the components of the Holiday Helpers’ positions will be welcomed by Walmart’s customers. The stores’ volume precludes Walmart from using a single-line approach for queuing and even in non-holiday periods finding the shortest line is not always easy. The opening of additional cash registers will also be welcomed. The only possible negative is when a customer at the front of a line realizes they forgot something and everyone in that line has to wait for a Holiday Helper to go get it. Now if they can only get it consistently executed.

Dr. Stephen Needel
Active Member
7 years ago

Love it — proactively helping to solve what may be Walmart’s biggest problem during the holiday season. Will people come to Walmart who have had long-line experiences? Of course they will — it’s Walmart.

Lee Kent
Lee Kent
Member
7 years ago

Nice way to diffuse a little holiday stress. Kudos and my 2 cents to Walmart.

Lyle Bunn (Ph.D. Hon)
Lyle Bunn (Ph.D. Hon)
7 years ago

Reducing perceived wait time at checkout has long been a domain of digital signage use where additions to a future shopping list are gained and bounce-back for basket additions can be gained. Teaming the checkout elves with runners or holding a line position while another member of the shopping party picks up that forgotten item can add to revenue per visit.

Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly
7 years ago

Walmart is moving in the right direction to relevantly reposition itself via improved in-store experience. Greeters and “Holiday Helpers” add humanity to what has been a mechanical approach to service. Holiday, with its massive traffic, is the best time to use the store as a medium to “communicate” a new position.

“Jingle Elves: Random acts of Kindness” and “Elf yourself” both served other retailers well in past holidays. Bringing that to life inside the store is really smart.

Now Walmart just has to flawlessly execute.

As Mrs. Claus likes to say: “retail ain’t for sissies!”

Mel Kleiman
Member
7 years ago

This is something that Walmart has needed to do for a long time. Every year they seem to get the same complaint from their customers. I, for one, have walked out of Walmart because of long lines. Now they need to live up to the hype.

If I remember comments and ideas from last year, they were going to do things to shorten the lines. Either they got busier then they thought they would be, or once again it was a great idea with poor execution.

Let’s see if this year will be any different.

Ed Rosenbaum
Ed Rosenbaum
Member
7 years ago

Simply said, this might be the most proactive step Walmart has ever taken when it comes to the customer and their satisfaction. But what happens after the holiday season? Do they return to business as usual and the only customer concern is their in-store spending?

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
Noble Member
7 years ago

How well it’s received will depend a lot on how many personnel the store has in general. No one’s going to be mollified by an elf pointing him/her to a humongous line if half the registers are unstaffed, or if they can’t find someone on the floor to help them when needed … in fact, they’ll probably be even more annoyed.

Other than that, this seems like a low budget, can’t hurt/can’t help (much) move.