Kroger in store new questions

I just did my first in store Kroger. I found it took so much longer as I had to actually wait at both the meat counter and deli counter as there were several customers in front of me being waited on. This is a new store and it is very busy- the other stores I have shopped did not have anyone waiting at meat or deli to be served- this one did. And one customer ordered quite a few deli items as I stood waiting. I found the additional requirement of the name and description of the deli person to be a bit onerous. I waited over 5 minutes at each meat and deli counters to be the "next:" to be waited on. I waited until the other customers were done and stood there- I found the question about whether any other employees acknowledged me to be a bit strange- I passed people stocking shelves and working in the store- they did not acknowledge me- nor did I expect them to be stopping stocking to smile and say hello so I had to mark it down. I actually prefer a well stocked store to clerks who are stopping and being friendly- I guess Kroger does not feel the same so I will abide by their desires to have employees assessed. I spent over 40 minutes in the store- not a great experience.

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If you are watching a meat or deli associate acknowledge/greet the customers in line front of you, what is there to be learned by waiting for them to acknowledge/greet you?
Am I missing something?

@jgardn02 wrote:

If you are watching a meat or deli associate acknowledge/greet the customers in line front of you, what is there to be learned by waiting for them to acknowledge/greet you?
Am I missing something?

My thoughts exactly. Does it actually say somewhere that if they are busy with other customers, you have to wait for them to be available? Or could you stand where you have a good view and evaluate the interaction with someone else?

If I can get their name and description, and I can see them interacting with customers, smiling, greeting, thanking, making eye contact. Then I report that. I'm not going to wait for a long time in line just to wait to be greeted and walk away. That seems more like deliberately outing myself as the mystery shopper. There is NOTHING in the instructions that says we have to interact with them or speak to them. We just need to see them interact with customers.

I think some of us are adding things to the instructions that just aren't there.

The instructions actually say if there isn’t an associate available or the associate is busy helping other customers, wait 5 minutes for an associate to become available before moving to another department. So it seems we should not report how the associate interacts with other customers, but to wait up to 5 minutes for our own interaction.

It's less common for the associate to greet me in addition to making eye contact, but it happens sometimes. I try to stand directly within or near the associate's line-of-vision, if possible. I'm guessing if the associate greets you, it's considered extra points, maybe not necessarily negative points, for not greeting.

Depending on the time of day, the associate may not be there. The produce department can already be fully stocked. The bakery/deli and meat departments are usually not busy for the Kroger locations I visit. The only time I saw a bakery/deli busy was at a local competitor store that is not shopped. In my area, Kroger is more of a store to visit when purchasing items on sale for the week.

for the interactions in the deli/meat departments, if the associate is busy assisting someone or there is a line, i mark the time i was in the department in my notes and continue my shopping. i then will make a second pass by the department after 5 minutes and try again. if the associate is still busy i mark the time down again and in the report i select the “N/A associate was unavailable after 5 minutes” option. then i put the times i was in the department in the notes section at the end of the report.

That is how I treat scenarios where no associate is present. When there is a line to talk to an associate, I stand by my earlier post.

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Kroger in store new questions

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