“Hello madam, how are you today? Here, there is no “next customer”. On this checkout line of the Carrefour store in Chartres, no stress or cursing consumer because it is not fast enough. There, we take the time, we discuss, we tell each other the latest news and we get help, too.
“It reassures me not to have to hurry”
A way of being and working – contrary to automatic checkouts – today valued. For the past fortnight, Marie-Christine Niochaut has been taking care of this “bla-bla cash” with other employees. An almost tailor-made function for the 60-year-old cashier. “That’s what I’ve always done,” she smiles. I like human contact and I’m used to talking. You know, I traded for twenty-two years. »
I like human contact, and I’m used to discussing
–
It’s true that yesterday, it almost felt like we were in a local grocery store, at a time when the supermarket was very crowded. A few minutes spent with Marie-Christine, and you quickly realize that she knows almost all the names of customers going to the “bla-bla checkout”. A store employee since 2006, she first worked in the fish department, before joining the checkout five years ago. She therefore knows the regulars, who come here to do their shopping, of course, but also for the social bond. “I like to chat and maintain contact with people,” she says. There is a lady who spends all the time with her baby, for example, and I tell myself that I will see him grow up. »
A “bla-bla cash register” set up, for fifteen days, at the Carrefour hypermarket in La Madeleine
At almost 80 years old, Danielle spends two hours every Tuesday morning in this hypermarket to stock up for the week. A heavy cart to push and many groceries to move. Marie-Christine helps her to fill her parcels, asks for news of her husband. “I really enjoy coming to this caisse and talking. It reassures me not to have to hurry, ”insists the retiree.
Lidl opens a new, more spacious store on Wednesday, route de Blois, in Châteaudun
This other customer, who buys fillets of sole, leaves with a great idea for a recipe. “You put the fillets in foil, a tomato in the middle and wrap everything in a thin slice of bacon. See you next week ma’am! »
“Very positive feedback”
“Marie-Christine is ‘the blah-blah checkout’,” laughs Corinne Zihlmann, the store’s customer relations coordinator. Since we implemented it, we have had very positive feedback. Some are willing to wait five more minutes to go to that checkout and have the pleasure of trading. »
“Here, thank you for taking your time”: this could be the slogan of the first “bla-bla checkout” in Chartres, set up in the Carrefour shopping center in La Madeleine.
A video shared on the Carrefour Chartres Facebook profile has been viewed more than 20,000 times. One thing leading to another, the media became interested in this local “bla-bla-caisse”. “Me, I just do my job, like my colleagues, insists Marie-Christine. It amuses me, the last time, a gentleman told me he had seen me on YouTube! »
In this context, we need to talk
–
“It’s a winning system for everyone, says Laurence Sergent, manager in training. It is also important that the customer feels that we are interested in him. The job of host and cashier is sometimes difficult, but its image also seems to have evolved during the health crisis. We began to thank them, to consider these professions differently during the confinements. »
It is not this client of Lucé who will contradict her: “In this context, we need to talk. Especially since the masks put a barrier. It’s a human contact, it’s pleasant. These are small moments of humanity. »
Estelle Rosset
[email protected]
–
