UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA

TOPIC
Employing Technology to Reduce Customer Queuing At
Shoprite during Festive Periods and Weekends.

BY GROUP 8
NAME INDEX NUMBER

SEWOR LOGOSU 10065137

ALBERT AMON 10064991

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITYOF PROFESSIONAL
STUDIES, ACCRA (UPSA) IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION DEGREE

MARCH, 2020

1
CANDIDATES’ DECLARATION

We, the undersigned do hereby declare that this Dissertation is the result of our own original

research and that no part of it has been presented for another Degree in any university. However,

all sources of borrowed materials have been duly acknowledged.

Candidate Name Signature Date

SEWOR LOGOSU …………................. .. …………………..

ALBERT AMON OKO …………................ ..…………………..

2
SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION

I declare that the preparation and presentation of this dissertation were in accordance with the

guidelines laid down by the University of Professional Studies and was supervised by me and

done independently by the students.

Name: Dr. Micheal K. Mickson

Signature: …………………………….

Date: …………………………………

3
DEDICATION

We dedicate this work to our families, loved ones, friends, lecturers and colleagues who have

encouraged, supported and spurred us in diverse ways throughout our academic lives.

4
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to use this opportunity to acknowledge people who have in various ways helped

us in one way or the other to develop this research work.

First of all, we would want to thank God Almighty for giving us the gift of life and strength to

carry out this research. We express our unflinching gratitude to our supervisor Dr. Micheal K.

Mickson and our first supervisor Dr. Ummu Markwei for their invaluable supervision, support

and encouragement throughout the whole period this research was carried out.

The financial support we received from our parents, friends and other relatives cannot go without

mention. Without the financing, our education would have been impossible and this business

case would subsequently have remained a dream and a well thought one. What we can ask for is

the blessings of the Almighty God for the contributors of this work.

We are also grateful to management, employees and customers or consumers of Shoprite West

Hills Mall New Weija branch for granting us access to conduct this research at their organization

and taking time off their busy schedule to answer our questions.

We would also like to thank all the members of the Department of Business Administration and

Faculty of Management in the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), our colleagues,

families and friends for their support.

5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Waiting in lines or in queues for services and for that matter in a retail store is an experience that

can lead to customer dissatisfaction which in turn can result in negative implications on store

patronage and post customer behavior.

For these reasons, the study sort to examine challenges confronting customers or consumers of

Shoprite as they engage in their shopping activities and find solutions to them. Reports,

Questionnaires, unstructured interview were the methods and tools employed to ascertain the

challenges confronting customers or consumers and management of Shoprite West Hills Mall

New Weija branch. The core challenges confronting management and customers or consumers

were: fatigue and stress due to long waiting and queuing, having contemplating mind when it

comes to making referrals, feeling reluctant sometimes in coming to shop at the mall and

sometimes considering returning items picked as it seems to be the right choice.

To address these nagging challenges, the researchers recommended that, the shop introduces

Smart Carts and MPOS to help reduce customer or consumer waiting times and queuing

experiences at the shop during festive periods and weekends.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Customers or Consumers in Queues

Figure 2: Smart Cart.

Figure 3: MPOS Device

Figure 4: SWOT analysis of Shoprite Weija branch

Figure 5: Organizational structure of Shoprite Weija branch

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LIST OF TABLES

1. Table 1.1.0 challenges faced by customers of Shoprite

2. Table 1.1.1 suggestions by customers

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

RFID: Radio Frequency Identification

LCD: Liquid Crystal Display

SWOT: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats

FIFO: First-In-First-Out

LIFO: Last-In-Last-Out

SIRO: Service-In-Random-Order

SQ: Single Queues

MQ: Multiple Queues

DQ: Diffuse Queues

MPOS: Mobile-Point-of-Sales

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TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGE

CANDIDATES DEDICATION I

SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION II

DEDICATION III

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IV

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY V

LIST OF FIGURES VI

LIST OF TABLES

VII

LIST OF ACRONYMS VIII

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the Case 1-3

1.2 Description of Business Problem 4

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1.3 Methods and Tools 4

1.3.1 Interviews 4

1.3.2 Questionnaires 4

1.3.3 Personal Observation 5

1.3.4 Documentary Source 5

1.4 objectives of the Study 5-6

1.5 Significance of the Study 6

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Waiting Line Priority Rule 7

2.2 Customer post-purchase behavior (customer switching behavior) 8-9

2.3 Queuing model 9-11

2.4 Customer or Consumer perception of queuing time 11

2.5 Structure of a queue
11-13
2.6 Impact of Queuing Systems on Service quality delivery
13-14

14
2.7 Cost of queuing
14-16
2.8 Smart Cart

16-19
2.9 MPOS

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CHAPTER THREE: THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT 20

3.1 Business Needs and Desired Outcomes 20-21

3.2 Strategic Environment Assessment 21-25

3.3 Organizational Overview 25-27

3.3.1 Mission 27

3.3.2 Values 27-28

3.3.3 Strategic Vision, Goals and Service Objectives 28

3.3.4 Current Activities and Services, Stakeholders and Clients 28-29

3.3.5 Organizational structure 29-30

3.3.6 Existing Capacity 30

3.4 Business Need 30-31

3.5 Drivers for Change 31-32

3.6 Business Outcomes 33-34

CHAPTER FOUR : APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY, THEORIES AND

MODELS
35

4.0 Introduction
35-37

4.1 Comprehensive analysis of problem

38-39

4.2 Application of theories, technologies and models

39

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4.3 Application of technologies 39

4.3.1 The Smart Cart 39-40

4.3.2 How Smart Shopping Cart system works 40

4.3.3 The MPOS 40-41

4.3.4 To implement the MPOS 41

4.3.5 How MPOS works 41

4.3.6 How to protect customer data 41-44

4.3.7 Benefits of the MPOS

CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUTION AND RECOMMENDATION 44-45

5.1 Conclusion 46

5.2 Lessons learnt and challenges 46-47

5.3 Recommendations 48-52

REFERENCES 53-60

APPENDIES

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Abstract: Retailing has become a very common business even within the classrooms, lecture

halls and other routes for its conducts since its emergence over the decades. Although several are

the end results that many who engage in the concepts and aspects of retailing, developing,

deploying and managing resources in taking care of challenges that the business brings is not

always easy as some others maybe. Various challenges are faced up by many firms or

organizations who are into the conducts of retailing businesses. These challenges have direct

effects on the side of firms or organizational productivity in terms of return on investment (ROI)

which practically affects the growth and the sustainability of the organizations at the long run.

Proceeds obtained from the conducts of retailing activities especially during festive periods,

weekends and holidays for instance, in malls or supermarkets practically becomes very low when

challenges such as customers’ or consumers’ queuing or waiting lines most precisely at checkout

ends are not dealt with properly. This paper seeks to employing technologies (Smart Carts and

MPOS) in reducing customers’ queuing at Shops (Shoprite) at West Hills Mall New Weija

Branch during weekends, holidays and festive periods. The challenges of customers’ queuing or

waiting in lines have been found to be practically affecting business activities especially during

the above mentioned periods and hence the inability of the Mall (West Hills Mall) living to its

anticipated impact and growth since its break through and commencement. By clearly

understanding the practical in-depth effects of the above technologies, Shops, Supermarkets and

Mall will remain very competitive within the markets and industries they serve at large while

maximizing profits as outcomes.

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Key Words: Customer queuing or waiting in lines, Smart Carts, MPOS, FIFO, RFID, LCD,

SWOT, LIFO, SIRO, SQ, MQ and DQ

Paper Type: Case Study

CHAPTER ONE

1.0: Introduction

1.1 Background of the Case

According to Hwang (2008), long waiting time in queues can become a major source of

consumer or customer dissatisfaction. Also, time is considered a significant tool in measuring

quality since waiting time or queuing for a service can affect outcomes of a customer’s situation

and satisfaction (Hassan et.al, 2014). Moreover, in Hassan et.al (2014), the problems of long

waiting time can be indicating a poorly resourced, poorly managed or poorly coordinated

department. Customers or consumers often have to wait for the delivery of goods and services.

Be it the case that long queue lines are good problem to have when business is growing and

attracting patrons or customers and most especially during festive periods, however, in as much

as it comes as necessary to wait in checkout points or lines in retail shops, it is an undesirable

activity that customers or consumers must go through in completing their purchases. Waiting is

often a negative experience from both an economic and psychological point of view. It includes

economic cost because while waiting, consumers or customers expend a scare asset “time”. This

perceived loss often translates into a psychological cost and leads to stress and anxiety during a

15
typical waiting experience. Being in queue for long comes as one of the most negative defining

experience that can lead to dissatisfaction on post-purchase behavior and also as a result of the

nature of the waiting experience it comes as a relevant dimension that determines customer or

consumer overall satisfaction with the organization. According to Nkrumah, R. (2014), he stated

that an organization’s determination to beat its competitors and stay in business is to promote a

culture of being customer focus with customer satisfaction being the highest priority. Thus, since

their driving force of today’s world economic bars is the maximization of customer or consumer

value, businesses and for that matter Shoprite must be able to channel its internal culture on

customers or consumers in order to maximize customer value.

In (Chebat and Filiatrault 1993; Katz et al. 1991) on studies indicating negative relationship

between long waiting time and customer satisfaction demanded that management be ever alert to

strategies to reduce waiting time in queues. Management can institute operational techniques

such as providing more checkout personnel and more equipment to reduce customer or consumer

waiting in queues. However, there are obvious limitations to decreasing customer or consumer

objective waiting time in queues through operational management techniques. For instance,

physical space limits the maximum number of check stands possible in a retail outlet and

management cannot determine in advance customers or consumers who might be needing special

time-consuming attention and thereby increasing the waiting time for all customers or consumers

following him or her.

Many organizations are initiating a variety of programs to reduce customers or consumers

waiting experiences. Such programs are based on either superior or on creative management of

customers’ perception of time (Larson, 1987 Cited in Gail, T. and Scott, L. 1995). Operations

based initiatives such as increasing the number of servers, having a superior queue processing

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systems, or deploying a flexible personnel deployment policy focus primarily on reducing the

actual duration of the wait. On the other hand, perception based measures only aim at reducing

consumers or customers perception of either the expected duration of the queuing or the

uncertainty surrounding it. Several service providers today employ such measures to fill

customers or consumers waiting time using devices such as video displays with news updates,

weather forecasts and latest sports scores (Larson 1987). Also, other organizations use several

forms of queues to address different situations and goals. Aid desks and customer or consumer

department often create virtual queues, assessing people needing service case numbers and

priority statues (Feigenbaum, E. n.d). Such aid technicians stay on top of their games and all

situations and cases before them. For instance, a firm’s IT aid desk may serve thousands and

more of employees using personal computers, mobile devices and proprietary devices. For

managers to effectively and efficiently allocate their team members time and expertise requires a

detailed comprehensive tracking systems.

Today, an increasing number of organizations across a wide range of industries such as banking,

industrial distribution and maintenance, healthcare and among others offer time guarantees to

their customers or consumers (Hart, 1990; Hayden, 1989; Jaffe 1990; Kumar and Sharman,

1992). Also, in order to keep customers satisfied with time spent, managers and their respective

decision makers must and should concentrate on empowering agents to give an informative

satisfactory answers (Bibinaz, G., Danilo, G, Trevor, A. & Saleh, M. 2012). However, despite

their growing popularity, lots of such guarantees on customers or consumers queuing

experiences remain unanswered. For instance, how do time guarantee affects customer or

consumer satisfaction during the wait or queuing? How do they affect satisfaction at the end?

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Though it is a normal phenomenon to queue and wait in lines for service time attention and

payment in completing one’s purchases process, having to wait that much longer is very

stressful, undesirable and an ordeal customers or consumers frown upon. It can therefore be said

that customer or consumer queuing and waiting for long is an issue at West Hills Mall (Shoprite)

Weija branch that management must attend to or address.

1.2 Description of problem or issue

There is a queuing problem at Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija branch during festive periods.

Customers or consumers spend much more than necessary time at checkout lines in order to pay

for goods bought and even for service attention. This the researchers found worth exploring in

tackling it. Customers or consumers queuing for longer than necessary at Shoprite West Hills

Mall Weija branch is an issue that needs tackling attention by management. The queuing issue if

not address at the long run would have a negative impact on West Hills Mall’s market share of

the retail industry. West Hills as the newly Shoprite avenue for its customers or consumers due

to its vibrant environment and others could lose its status of being the new peoples’ choice in the

Ghanaian society in terms of loss of sales and patronage because customers or consumers who

become very frustrated and feud up would switch to competitors. It could be attested that the

delay in processing customers or consumers transactions is of such a great concern to both

management and customers or consumers. A customer remarked, “I only came to purchase

some few things and had to queue and wait for such a long time for payment”. “I almost

nearly returned the stuff I had picked”, He added.

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1.3 Methods and Tools

The researchers used qualitative methods and tools to identify the business problem and also to

find solutions to the identified challenges. Management and customers were interviewed whiles

sales personnel were given questionnaires. Finally, the researchers also used documentary source

in discovering some of the challenges.

1.3.1 Interviews

The researchers used unstructured interviews in carrying out the study. Customers were

interviewed to ascertain the problems they encounter in having to wait for longer times in queues

to have their purchases scanned and pay for them. The researchers also interviewed the

management of the branch to ascertain some of the challenges they have pertaining to the

problem and how they have tackled it over the years at their branch.

In accordance with the research objectives, two main questions were raised as directive

guidelines for interviewing customers and staff,

1. What is the time length for customer purchases to be scanned and paid for?

2. What is the existing queuing system at Shoprite?

A total of 15 customers and 8 staff members were interviewed over a one and half month period.

Customers interviewed were randomly sampled. The 8 staff members comprised of the manager,

auditor, customer care officer, two (2) supervisors, two (2) cashiers and one (1) security

personnel. The interview guide has been attached as appendix B and C.

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1.3.2 Questionnaires

The researchers also gave out questionnaires to the sales persons of the branch to discover some

of the challenges they encounter whiles working and how they have attempted to find solutions

to these challenges over the years at their branch. The questionnaire guide has been attached as

appendix A.

1.3.2 Personal observations

The researchers visited the Shoprite West Hills Mall branch to observe how long customers have

to queue in checkout lines in order to complete their transactions. Observation was over a 2-week

period, and the researchers observed the queue for an hour each working day. The average

number of people observed in the queue during peak hours was 15 and each person spent

between 15 – 30 minutes to check-out. Checking out time can be categorized into scanning of

items and payment. 70% of the time spent on checking out is on having items scanned.

1.3.4 Documentary Source

Some of the data was obtained from the West Hills Mall (Shoprite) records, reports, articles

newspapers, magazines, journals and leaflets pertaining to retail shopping in general.

1.4 Objective of study

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 1.4.1General objective

The main aim of the case study analysis is to understand, diagnose and provide solutions to

customer or consumer queuing and waiting at Shoprite Weija branch.

1.4.2 Specific objectives

The case study analysis achieved the general objective by examining the following specific

objectives:

i. To examine the effect of queuing time on customers or consumers

ii. To determine the effect of queuing and customer or consumer dissatisfaction on the

mall (Shoprite)

iii. To determine the post-purchase behavioral intentions of customers or consumers

iv. To determine how Smart Cart and MPOS technology will aid reduce queuing time at

the branch

1.5 Significance of the study

This study will aid in improving the checkout system of West Hills Mall (Shoprite) Weija

branch. The study will also aid reduce the cost of queuing to customers or consumers and

enhance satisfaction of customers or consumers and hence makes West Hills Mall(Shoprite) a

heart warm welcoming destination for all mall patrons in the country. Also, findings from the

study will aid by adding to the limited body of literature that would aid managers in making

better and well informed and thought through strategic decisions in their various choices and

selections for better checkout systems. Finally, the research will aid by adding to the level and

21
extent of needed information managers of stores in the retail industry requires to better manage

queues and make decisions among selections for checkout systems.

CHAPTER TWO

2.1 Literature review

This chapter presents a review of literature in relation to waiting line priority rule, queuing

systems, queuing models, the smart cart and the MPOS system.

2.1 Waiting line priority rule

According to Barry and Jay (1993), waiting line priority rule determines which customer or

consumer is next in line to be served. The rule selects customers or consumers based on who has

been waiting the longest in the queue or line. The following are some common waiting line

priority rules (Barry and Jay, 1993).

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  Preemptive priority: very common in extremity circumstances and it gives way for

customers or consumers that arrive at any time to replace those that are being served. For

instance, it occurs mostly in hospitals in the case of treating patients.

 Non – Preemptive priority: comes in a form that an item with the highest priority in the

system is served first and without displacement of items in service. Such includes:

- FIFO: this approach allows the first item to enter the system to be served first

- LIFO: this approach allows the last item that enters the system to be attended to first.

 SIRO: this approach casts on where the server picks customers or consumers without

basing on any condition of time arrival.

According to (Barry and Jay 1993), the most frequently used priority rules is the first come, first

served. Although each priority has its advantage, it is equally important to implement the one

that best supports the overall organization strategy( Abedi et al. 2009, cited in Nkrumah, 2014).

The priority rule used affects the performance of the waiting line system. The study will look at

both priority rules of Barry and Jay and that of Abedi’s different priority rules.

2.2 Customer post-purchase behavior (Customer or consumer switching behavior)

Customer or consumer satisfaction is not a single event or activity, but a process. The process

comes with both consumption and post-purchase behavior or post-consumption activities. The

performance of a service delivery system is inversely proportional to the degree of customers or

23
consumers contact (Chase 1982, cited in Nkrumah, 2014). The more the customer or consumer

close to the service system, the longer his or her waiting times in the service delivery system.

The cost of longer waiting times in the system can be attributed to the following:

CUSTOMER OR CONSUMER WALKING AWAY

FROM THE SYSTEM AND JOIN SOMEWHERE
ELSE

CUSTOMER OR CONSUMER DECISION NOT TO

COME BACK AGAIN

NEGATIVE COMMENTS PASSING BY

CUSTOMERS TO CLOSE RELATIVES AND LOVED
ONES

Many studies emphasize the relationship between customer satisfaction in a service process and

the loyalty (Anderson, 1994; Dick and Basu, 1994; Fornell et al., 1996; Selness, 2001; Mittal and

Kamakura, 2001; Olsen, 2002, cited in Nkrumah, 2014). The study will consider Anderson et al.

(2002) who summarized customer or consumer switching behavior as:

24
 BALKING JOCKEYING RENEGING

OCCURS WHEN ARISE WHEN COMES OFF WHEN

CUSTOMERS DO NOT CUSTOMERS CUSTOMERS ENTER
ENTER WAITING LINES CHANGE ONE LINE QUEUE BUT DECIDES
BUT DECIDES TO COME TO ANOTHER TO TO LEAVE BEFORE
BACK LATER REDUCE WAIT TIMES BEING SERVED

2.3 Queuing Models

According to Ahmed & Huda (2011), in queuing system, there are many types of models:

a) SQ (Single Queue): In this model each customer waits till the service point is ready to

take him for servicing.

b) MQ (Multiple Queues): In this model each customer tries to choose the shortest queue

from a number of individual queues.

c) DQ (Diffuse Queue): In this model each customer takes a ticket from a ticket machine

with single or multiple buttons each for specific service. After the customer registers

25
 his/her place in the queue by a ticket he/she will monitor the ticket number being served.

The customers can not estimate when they will be served.

In general, customer’s arrival and service time are not known in advance. Olaniyi (2004) listed

some of the characteristics that are of interest as follows:

AVERAGE
PROBABILITY NUMBER OF
OF NO CUSTOMERS
CUSTOMER IN IN THE
THE SYSTEM QUEUE

PROBABILITY
AVERAGE
TIME
OF QUEUING
CUSTOMER FOR
SPENDS IN ARRIVING
THE SYSTEM CUSTOMER

PROBABILITY AVERAGE
OF N NUMBER
CUSTOMERS IN CUSTOMERS
THE SYSTEM IN THE
SYSTEM

Olaniyi (2004) argued that Managers who have the above information are better able to make

decisions that balance desirable service levels against the cost of providing the service.

2.4 Customer or Consumer perception of Queuing time

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Delays adversely affects customer’s perceptions of the overall quality of services, especially

when the service provider is perceived to have control over the cause of the delay (Taylor, E.

1994).

There are other factors of which the perceived duration of the wait can also influence the quality

of customers waiting experiences. For instance, in Larson (1987), he suggested that perceptions

of ‘’social justice’’ that is whether the service provider adheres to the principles of the first-

come-first-serve, influences customers satisfactions with waiting. Besides, today the young

segment is growing in terms of population, wealth and most importantly time-consciousness; it

has become increasingly important and necessary to understand and meet their demands (Bawa,

R., Kant, R., Sinha, A. K., 2019). According to George, B. S. (2013), the problem of queuing

and longer waiting shops and centers is with the problem in communication as the problem with

communication is the great illusion that it has occurred. In today’s world of customers, many are

characterized by distinct features and as such, most prefer services matching their distinct

features through different communication channels. Today, many physical shopping malls or

centers are faced with a dilemma as to how to find the right balance between being human and

approachable, whilst maintaining the right distance of being trustworthy and respectable

( George, B. S. cited in Nkrumah, R. 2014). This customers or consumers of today are with the

perception and believe that shopping malls or centers within the physical outskirts are yet to find

the right balances as many are too formal and do not communicate in understandable terms of

customers or consumers.

2.5 The Structure of a Queue

27
Elegalam (1978), citied in Odirichukwu, Lekara & Odii (2014) put a theory on the structure of a

queue. According to him, as customers arrive at a facility, they join a queue. The server chooses

a customer from the queue to begin service. Upon the completion of a service, the process of

choosing a new waiting customer is repeated and this is how a queuing situation emerges. It is

assumed that no time is lost between the completion of a service and the admission of a new

customer into the facility.

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Figure 1 Pictures showing customers or consumers forming queues or in queues

Source: Suncrest Solutions pictures and Mirror picture

2.6 Impact of Queuing Systems on Service quality delivery and customer Satisfaction

Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability

to meet stated or implied needs" (Ellis and Norton, 1993). Quality emphasizes a link between the

customer and his purpose on one hand and the product or service being received on the other.

Quality is considered to be one of the greatest levers for marketing of services. Service quality is

intangible, relativistic, and indivisible and has a tendency to deteriorate. Service quality is more a

function of attitude than technology. It consists of technical quality (hard part) and functional

quality (soft part). Some of the difficulties of determining service quality would strongly let

customers to make high emotional judgment about the quality of services.

Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1996), identified wait time in the retail industry as an

important reference for measuring service quality. Extended wait times may make some

customers angry, leading to the loss of marketing opportunities (Tronvoll, 2011). Customers

forced to wait for a prolonged period may choose to take their business elsewhere (Davis &

Heineke, 1994; Katz et al., 1991). Furthermore, angry customers may describe their waiting

experiences to potential customers. Conversely, when a customer elects to wait in line, or even

enjoys waiting in a line, a company may gain an opportunity to increase its revenue. Waiting

line (length) delays have a much stronger and magnifying negative effects on service quality and

customer satisfaction (Sridhar, 2001).

29
Taylor (1994), also posited that delays adversely affect customers’ perceptions of the overall

quality of service, especially if the service provider is perceived to have control over the cause

for the delay.

2.7 Cost of Queueing

Waiting time in queues can become cost to customers. Behavioral researchers in marketing have

become interested in understanding the psychological costs that consumers expend while waiting

for service (Carmon, Shanthikumar, and Carmon 1995) and in offering prescriptions on how to

reduce these costs (Bateson and Hui 1992; Hui and Tse 1996; Katz, Larson, and Larson 1991). In

the investigation of psychological perspective on service segmentation models Carmon,

Shanthikumar, and Carmon (1995) asserted that typically customers or consumers do not like to

wait, as it causes them to experience a broad range of unpleasant responses such as boredom,

irritation, anxiety, tension, helplessness, and sometimes even humiliation. They examined how

service should be divided and scheduled when it can be provided in multiple separate segments.

Furthermore, their analysis of variants of this problem used a model with a conventional function

describing the waiting cost, which is modified to account for some aspects of the psychological

cost of waiting in line.

2.8 Smart Cart

Shopping in-person typically involves a personal visit to the place of shopping and selecting the

product/s based on various parameters including need, convenience, brand, discount/offer, and

among others. The smart cart intends to assist shopping in person and will minimize the time

spent in shopping as well as aid the store management with real-time updates on the inventory.

30
Smart shopping cart is an existing technology used in shopping malls to solve the problem of

long wait in payment queues in retail shops. The Smart Shopping Cart according to Kumar,

Gopalakrishna and Ramesha (2013) is equipped with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for

product identification and a consistent Wi-Fi connection with the shop’s server. Besides, it also

has an LCD display that informs customers about product prices, discounts, offers and the total

bill. As soon as the object is dropped into or removed from the cart, the RFID tag identifies the

product and updates the bill.

When the customer is done with shopping, he can just press the “End shopping” button and the

details are sent to the shop’s server and the customer has to pay just the amount and leave. “This

shopping cart will change the way people shop as radically as ATM’s changed banking” (Kumar,

Gopalakrishna & Ramesha, 2013, p1). The proposed cart is easy to use and does not need any

special training. The cart’s inbuilt automatic billing system makes shopping a breeze and has

other positive spin-offs such as freeing staff from repetitive checkout scanning, reducing total

number of staffs required and increasing operational efficiency of the system.

The smart cart if introduced, will create a better shopping experience for the customers by saving

time; It will minimize the man-power required at the shopping mall, as the checking-out process

at the check-out counters is eliminated altogether; It will also handle cases of deception if any,

thereby making the system attractive not only to the customers, but also to the sellers (Gangwal,

Roy, & Bapat, 2013).

31
Figure 2

Source: L’Atelier BNP Paribas

2.9 MPOS (Mobile Point- of- Sale)

The modern age customers or consumers are a restless a lot and technology has given them the

power of convenient shopping and instant gratification, and the intense competition in the

industry has spoilt them for choices (Anupa R., 2015).customers or consumers experiences has

accordingly metamorphosed and has assumed a new definition and therefore, services providers

are with the outmost urgency need to be more conscious than ever before in offering services

supports that are aligned with the expectations of today’s well empowered customers or

consumers by most importantly taking care of the long waiting and queuing times. Researches

have shown that hold times make consumers or customers feel unwanted and disrespected, while

adding to their frustrations (Anupa R. 2015).

32
MPOS (Mobile point-of-sales) is a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that performs

the functions of a cash register or electronic point-of-sales terminal (POS terminal) wirelessly.

According to ( Au and Koffman, 2008; Blochlinger, 2012), phrases such as ‘mobile payment’,

‘mobile commerce’ and ‘contactless payment’ are often used but in reality these terms can

encompass a vast array of scenarios. In essence, mobile device such as the mobile phone, tablet

or PDA (personal digital assistant) is used to initiate, authorize, or confirm an exchange of

financial value in return for goods and services.

Mobile payment have been defined most especially as:

 A type of electronic payment transaction procedure in which at least the payer employs

mobile communication techniques in conjunction with mobile devices for initiating,

authorizing or realization of payment (Au and Koffman, 2008).

 A transfer of funds in return for goods and services in which a mobile device is

functionally involved in executing and confirming payments (Raina, 2014).

There are many different types of mobile payment, but the technologies used to deliver them can

broadly be categorized into two main types: remote M-payments and Proximity payments

(Agarwall et al. 2007, cited in Taylor E. 2016). Remote payments requires customers or

consumers to register for a service, usually by downloading an application and then using it on

their mobile devices to pay for items. This the area where the research will revolve. Customers or

consumers may have values stored in a prepaid account or draw funds from a bank account

directly.

According to Taylor E. (2016), it is a prime opportunity to move to mobile. Stay with fixed POS

33
(Point-of-sales) and it will be costly. The mobile platform is agile and can be combined with

other technologies – another reason why moving to m-pay is advantageous (Interviewee 6, in

Taylor E. 2016). Industry and trade publications reflects the excitement about the sales and

marketing opportunities that MPOS can offer (Taylor E. 2016). As an integral part of the

multichannel retail, mobile technologies can provide a range of touch points to connect with,

entice and retain customers or consumers. Contemporary shopping experiences involves more

than just the acquisition of goods and services and mobile devices offer functions not available

with plastic cards, such as using the geo-location technology to alert customers or consumers of

deals at nearby stores (Fiore and Kim, 2007). The MPOS when implemented would bring on

board myriad ways in which the services providers or retailers can build services around

transactions such as automated offers, reviews and feedback, target marketing, check-ins and

social discovery. It will also enables staff or services providers to scan items and accept card

payments on the spot and hence cutting off the lines at the register.

MPOS can streamline shopping experiences for customers or consumers by not only providing

enhanced information about a product (details, reviews, availability and among others) but by

being able to complete the purchases immediately on the shop floor without having to queue or

wait for longer than necessary or find payment stations (Taylor E. ,20016). In addition to the

payment, MPOS can be used in collecting feedbacks customer or consumer behaviors, and

feedback to enhance (CRM) customer or consumer relations management (Taylor E., 2016). The

integration of loyalty programs and offers with an increased mobility for customer or consumer

was the main benefits for the food and grocery industry; ‘payments and loyalty info is brought

together into a single spot’ (Taylor E. 2016; Interviewee 2, 2016).

34
Figure 3

Source: IndiaMART

35
CHAPTER THREE

3.0 THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT

In this chapter, the researchers will discuss in details the business need and desired outcomes,

strategic environment assessment of the business, the organizational overview, and drivers for

change.

3.1 Business Needs and Desired Outcomes

There is a problem of long queues and waiting at checkout lines during festive periods at

Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija branch. This create lot of anxiety and worries to customers or

consumers who patronize the Mall as they normally wait longer than necessary in queues to

complete their purchases processes. The researchers were able to ascertain that, the delay in

processing of customers’ or consumers’ transactions is of great worry to both customers or

consumers and management of the shop (store).

Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija branch opens its doors to customers or consumers from the

hours of 9am to 9pm from Monday to Sundays. The hours between 12pm to closing hours of the

Mall can be said to be the festive periods of its operations according to management. The Mall

also experiences very robust trading on Saturdays and during festive periods. Customers or

consumers shopping at the Mall spend on average of 8 to 15 minutes in payment queues during

festive hours. While during off festive periods, waiting time in payment queues is usually less

than 5minutes. It is often during festive periods that very long slow-moving queues can be seen

36
at the Mall. In reducing customers or consumers queuing times during payment and also to be

attended to at the Mall, the study proposes two major things: Innovation and Technology.

The researchers propose the use of “Smart cart” and MPOS which can aid facilitate faster

payment thereby reducing the amount of time customers or consumers have to wait in queues.

Smart carts are shopping carts equipped with barcode scanners that scan items as the consumer

drops them in the cart and displays the total price of items the consumer has put in the cart as

they shop and on the other hand, MPOS, is a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that

performs the function of a cash register or electronic point-of-sale terminal (POS terminal)

wirelessly. With a smart cart, customers or consumers would know at hand before they get to

checkout lines the total amount for goods and services they have purchased. This would take

away the time the sales attendants spend to scan each customer’s or consumer’s items.

3.2 Strategic Environment Assessment

According to CFI (Corporate Finance Institute), strategic analysis is ‘the process of conducting

research on a company and its operating environment to formulate a strategy (Downey, 2007,

p3). And the basic idea behind strategic management is that an organization needs to match its

capabilities to its ever-changing environment if it needs to attain its best performances (DJ Jeece,

1998, pg87).

In carrying out strategic business assessment, a variety of tools and techniques can be employed.

This study used the SWOT analysis technique in assessing the strategic environment of Shoprite

West Hills Mall Weija branch. SWOT analysis is one useful technique used in business for

understanding the strengths and weakness, and for identifying opportunities open to business and

37
threats a business could face. It starts by defining the objectives of the business activity and

identifies the internal and external factors that are important to achieving those objectives.

A Matrix of SWOT analysis of Shoprite is presented in the figure below:

Wide range of products

Scale of Operations Negative Publicity
Cost Leadership Strategy Long Waiting Queues

STRENGTH WEAKNESS

Rising acceptance of own products Exchange Rate Variation

Leverage the growth the internet toOPPORTUNITY THREATS Online Shopping Malls
enhance business

Figure 4: SWOT analysis of Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija Branch

Source: Researchers field work

 Strengths

 Wide Range of Products.

38
Shoprite West Hills Mall branch offers wider range of products and services from their great

lists of stores. They includes groceries, electronics, electrical, kitchenware, stationery, furniture

and garments among many other categories of stores, and offers both branded and own label

goods. Wide range of products and services attracts more customers or consumers to Shoprite.

The attraction of more customers or consumers because of the wide range of products and

services has seen Shoprite adopt a multiple queuing system.

 Scale of Operations.

Shoprite West Hills Mall branch showcases a lot of products from the Western world and Africa

as a whole, with a wide variety of products ranging from simple plastic container to exquisite

food products, and among others. Its sales volume and revenue makes it the giant no other retail

shop can match. Due to such large scale of operations, the store can exercise strong buyer power

on suppliers to reduce the prices of their products. It can also achieve higher economies of scale

than its competitors because of its size. Higher economies of scale results in lower prices that are

passed on to consumers.

 Cost Leadership.

This strategy has helped Shoprite to become the low cost leader in the retail market. The strategy

requires selling products at the lowest price possible and providing a no frill services to achieve

higher economies of scale and attract masses of consumers or customers and that is exactly what

Shoprite is doing. It sells products at much lower prices than competitors do, builds warehouse

style superstores that contain extensive range of product. All of this result in cost reductions and

lower prices for consumers.

 Weakness

39
  Negative publicity.

West Hills Mall is currently in the news of criticism as many of the view of it losing its

prestigious name, brand and market share. This notion impacts negatively on the image of

Shoprite, and hinders its efforts to attract more customers and stay competitive.

 Lack of Online Presence.

In this era of e-commerce, big retails shops globally are moving from just being brick and

mortar (physical shops) to being click and mortar. That is having both physical shops and an

online shop. Shoprite is yet to adopt this new trend. Operating as click and mortar gives a

business competitive advantage.

 Long Wait times in Payment Queues.

Customers spend so much wait time in payment queues at the branch mostly during festive

periods. Long wait in payment or check-out lines are usually undesirable for customers or

consumers and can lead to their dissatisfaction and hence reduction in market share or

proportion.

 Opportunity

 Rising Level of Acceptance of Own Products.

The majority of goods sold at Shoprite are brought in by the company’s suppliers. Based on

investment in a pool of returnable and recyclable plastics crates, reduces the packaging costs and

improve products protection during their transportation. All these products are enjoying a high

level of acceptance form the shopping public.

40
  Leverage the growth of the internet to enhance business.

The Internet has increased opportunities to communicate with customers and to create new

channels to market for many of its products. This will aid Shoprite in keeping up with a

competitive edge.

 Threats

 Increasing competition from brick and mortar and online shopping malls.

West Hills Mall (Shoprite) faces the threat of increased competition from both brick and mortar

and online shopping malls. In recent times, retail outlets such as Palace, Orca, and Game’

(Achimota Mall, Accra Mall, Kumasi City Mall) among others have all sprung up. Online shops

such ghanaprovisions.com, Kikuu, Jumia, zoobashop.com and among others can pose serious

threat to the Store in the retail industry.

 Exchange rate variation may impact costs.

Exchange rate instability impacts negatively on the costs of the Shoprite considering the fact that

it has to imports most of its wares. The deprecation of the Cedi over the years has resulted in

increased costs for the retailers.

3.3 Organizational Overview

Shoprite holding Limited is an investment holding company whose combined subsidiaries

constitute the largest fast-moving customer or consumer goods (FMCG) retailer on the African

continent and the Indian Ocean islands. It is headquartered in the Western Cape province of

South Africa. The company is with operations in 15 countries and Ghana is not an exception.

The major portion of Shoprite’s business lies in the domain of food retailing and they are also

41
highly placed and extended to a broad range and services including household produce,

furniture, pharmaceuticals, financial services and among others. There are several contributing

factors that has made Shoprite the household name it is today. The company is committed to

providing:

UNBEATABLE
GREAT SERVICE
VALUE FOR
WITH A SMILE
MONEY

LARGEST VARIETY
QUALITY
OF GOODS UNDER
MERCHANDISE
ONE ROOF

By sourcing products from all over the world, Shoprite is able to offer shoppers a huge range of

extremely affordable goods, which leaves them spoilt for choices. Through perseverance, hard

work and dedication from all levels of the vast workforce, it has been possible not only to

identify and achieve these goals, but also to give ultimate consumer or customer satisfaction,

which is the essence of our (customers ‘or consumers’) existence.

As society becomes more affluent, the needs and required standards of esteemed and loyal

customers or consumers change and grow. In keeping with the Company’s continuous efforts to

42
providing its customers or consumers with paramount shopping experience, they have also

recognized the need to keep up with the shifts in consumer trends.

The vast selection of goods ranges from a simple plastic containers of micro and macronutrients

of food stuffs to exquisite furniture, and among others: There is something for everyone and for

every household or office, with unbeatable prices and a vast array of International Brands

Today, Shoprite maintains its position as the fastest growing chain store in Ghana, and boasts of

a number of outlets spread throughout the country. They have 4 shops located in throughout the

length and breadth of the country of which the West Hills Mall branch is an integral part of.

3.3.1 Mission

Shoprite’s mission is;

 To deliver low prices in a world-class shopping across the African continent.

3.3.2 Values

43
 What we What we strive What we
passionate about for contribute
Good customer Efficiency Investing in
services Utilising surplus people
Being a business Keeping low cost Sharing success
with heart profile Giving access to
Integrity market
Embracing
transformation

3.3.3 Strategic Vision, Goals and Service Objectives

The vision of Shoprite is:

“Aiming to be Africa’s most accessible and affordable food retailer”

Shoprite employs Michael Porter’s “Low-Cost Leadership Strategy”. It has been successful using

its strategy of why pay more prices to attract customers. The idea of why pay more prices is to

offer products at a cheaper rate than competitors on a consistent basis rather than relying on

sales. Shoprite is able to achieve this due to large scale and efficient supply chain. They source

products from cheap domestic suppliers and from low-wage foreign markets. This allows the

company to sell their items at low prices and to profit off their thin margins at high volumes.

3.3.4 Current Activities and Services, Stakeholders and Clients

44
Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija branch is into the retail of assorted products. Ranging from

simple plastic container to exquisite furniture, groceries, kitchenware, among others. The shop’s

target market are people from all walks of life who reside in the New Weija Municipal and

beyond. Stakeholders of Shoprite Weija branch include its customers, employees, management,

and competitors.

3.3.5 Organizational structure

The top level management of Shoprite Weija Branch comprises of a branch manager, and two

assistant managers. The branch is co-headed by the branch manager and auditor who both report

directly to Shoprite Holdings Limited Head office in South Africa. To assist the branch manager

are the two assistant managers who manage the functional departments of warehousing, sales and

accounts. Figure 3 below depicts the organizational structure of Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija

branch.

45
 Head Office

Manager Auditor

Assistant Manager

Supervisor

Sales Attendants
Figure 5: Organizational Chart of Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija Branch

Source: Researchers field work

3.3.6 Existing Capacity

The staff strength of Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija branch currently stands at 41. In keeping

with the adopted policy of 'Low Prices and High Volumes', Shoprite’s market share in the retail

business has grown steadily; and today, with over 1,500 items available under one roof, it is the

leading number one stop shopping store in the country.

3.4 Business Need

46
There is a queuing problem at Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija Branch. Customers who patronize

the shop wait for longer than necessary in payment queues to pay for the purchases.

3.5 Drivers for Change

There are factors that have an impact in one way or the other on Shoprite West Hills Mall Weija

Branch’s operation. These are known as driving forces. These forces can be internal or external

based on the nature they influence the business’ operations. Internal driving forces which are the

things, situations or events that occur within the business and these generally are under the

control of the company. To stay competitive, Shoprite needs to embrace a technology-centric

strategy and apply it with a consumer-centric thinking. As such, the 2 main internal drivers that

have triggered the business need are;

1. Technological capacity: New discoveries make the old obsolete. Shoprite has to keep

itself abreast with technological changes as it is an important aspect that shapes the

business’ operations in the long run. Much of the evolution in retail is as a result of recent

advances in technology. Whether embraced by consumers or engaged by retailers, these

developments are altering the entire shopping experience for everyone involved. Their

significance lies not only in the deep and permanent ways in which they can change

Shoprite’s operations so as to help reduce waiting time in check-out lines but in that their

adoption can help change Shoprite’s overall operations.

2. Growing volume and velocity if retail data: More and more retailers are adopting v

robust and cohesive strategy in data analytics and management. From running a more

efficient supply chain to streamlining store operations to engaging customers and

47
 building loyalty, data is at the core of any viable retail operation. With this demand

comes an increase in the volume, power and complexity of data sources and applications.

External drivers of change are factors outside the organization that are likely to influence or

impact it in a way that will have an effect on business operations directly or indirectly. In this

study, the researchers identified 2 external forces that have an impact on Shoprite’s operations.

1. Economy: There is an intimate relationship between the business firm and the economic

environment. The performance of business depends upon the economic environment. In a

country where political influence over the past few years has led to economic instability,

abnormal rise in taxes and among others, Shoprite will have to restructure its operations

to be able to cope in the Ghanaian economic environment because any type of

fluctuations like inflation or deflation can affect the business. The magnitude of this

effect will be dependent on Shoprite’s current mode of operations.

2. Competition: Competition challenges every business to do more. New competitors often

create trouble for existing companies because they introduce new technology, ideas,

innovation and customer satisfied goods and services at reasonable prices. This

competition keeps management on their toes so as to stay in business. Recent years have

seen large scale efforts at innovation, outsourcing among others and have become driving

forces of structural strategic changes at Shoprite, in their bid to remain viable.

48
3.6 Business Outcomes

The introduction of the smart cart and MPOS technology to solving customer waiting time in

payment queues, promises to provide enormous benefits to both Shoprite and the customer or

consumer. It is however the business that will benefit ultimately from this intervention. The

desired outcomes of the intervention to the business and customer have been outlined below.

The Customer or Consumer

1. Make life easier: smart shopping cart system and MPOS at checkout points will give

huge options to customers to make their shopping experience more pleasant and

enjoyable. For instance, in store navigation. Self-scanning will help them to get what they

want more quickly and at checkout points, payment will be very easy and stress free.

Moreover, simple services such as follow the queue will help customers to save time and

avoid long queues.

2. Reduce self-embarrassment: It will also save customers the embarrassment of having

to pick items worth more than they can afford only to return them at the checkout point.

This is because the cost of the items dropped in the cart is automatically calculated in real

time as a person shops.

To Shoprite

1. Increased sales: providing relevant information to customers between the point of sale and

purchase decisions will increase the chances of buying process, in simple words better

information means more sales.

49
2. Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty: Happy and satisfied customers will reward

retailers who best meet their needs for information and services. This will lead to help

retailers to:

IMPROVES EMPLOYEE
INCREASES REPEAT
PRODUTIVITY,
BUYING FROM
SATISFACTION AND
EXISTING CUSTOMERS
RETENTION

PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
ALLOWS INCREASED
VALUE ADDITION AND
PERSONLIZATION -
EXPERIENCES
MEETING CUSTOMER
THROUGH DIGITAL
NEEDS EVEN BETTER
SERVICING

50
CHAPTER FOUR

APPLICATION OF THEORIES AND MODELS

4.0 Introduction

In this chapter researchers provided ample analysis of the challenge confronting Shoprite in

terms of long queuing and waiting in lines and provide result-oriented solutions to the identified

challenge and how useful literature reviews were used in addressing the challenges.

4.1 Comprehensive analysis of problem

Majority of shopping centers and supermarkets including even bigger ones such as the Game,

Shoprite, and among others lacks the presence of Smart Cart to offer their shoppers less stress

experiences during their shopping times with them.

Evidence from the field indicates that customers of Shoprite are confronted with wide range of

challenges within the sopping environment ranging from stress down to the point at which it

affects most, their likelihood of coming back or even making referrals. Table 1.1.1 shows data of

challenges confronting customers or consumers of Shoprite West Hills Mall New Weija and

some suggestions made by them.

Customers wait in queues and in lines more than necessary when they finish picking up their

items and then headed towards the checking out point for payments. Some even wait to the point

where they miss out on duties and tasks they ought to attend to.

51
Out of the 15 customers or consumers interviewed, 5 of them believed that due to the stress they

go through in queues and waiting lines sometimes gives them the options of sometimes feeling

reluctant in coming to shop at the mall, 4 believed that due to their bad experiences, making

referrals to friends and family members to prefer shopping at the mall over others always ended

putting them in contemplating minds, 8 of them also asserts that sometimes returning items they

picked up and just leaving seems to be the preferred choice as the waiting affects them badly.

Also the entire respondents identified fatigue and stress due to their longer waiting and queuing.

2 of them believed that a Smart Cart in operation will reduce the stress they go through in

locating and selecting their items and would also make their check outs much more easier. 3

believed that if mobile payments through Apps like the Google Pay can be initiated, it will also

help in much easier check outs too and 5 also believed that much more training in terms of

customer caring and handling during queuing and waiting times should be taken a closer look at

more than its already be taken.

Table 1.1.1 Challenges Confronting customers or consumers of Shoprite West Hills Mall New

Weija Branch

52
 Challenges Frequency Percentage
1. Feeling reluctant sometimes in 5 33.33%

coming to shop
2. Making referrals gives us 4 26.67%

contemplating mind
3. Sometimes returning items picked 8 53.33%

seems the right choice

4. Fatigue and stress due to too much 15 100%

waiting
5. Total 15 100%

Source: Author’s field data, January, 2020

Table 1.1.2 Suggestions by customers of Shoprite

Suggestions Frequency Percentage

1. Smart Cart can help reduce the stress of 3 20%

queuing and waiting

2. If mobile payment Apps like Google Pay can 3 20%

be applied, it will help

3. Customer caring and handling during queuing 5 33.33%

and waiting should be looked at again

4. Total 15 100%

Source: Author’s field data, January, 2020

4.2 Application of theories and model

Shoprite West Hills Mall New Weija branch operates a multiple queue system in their check-out

lines. It is Non Pre-emptive, First-In-First-Out (FIFO) queue system. This implies customers

have more than one queue to join in order to check out after making their purchases and priority

53
is given to customers who join the queue first. Customers after shopping joins the payment queue

to have their items scanned and then make bill payments presented to them.

The standard shopping procedure at the branch have been outlined below:

1. Customer enters the shop

2. Customer picks up items he or she wishes to purchase and proceeds to check-out line

3. Customer have his or her items scanned and bill is then presented to him or her.

4. Customer pays and is issued a receipt.

5. Customer then proceeds to a checker who checks the receipt against his or her items

to ensure the receipts matches the items purchased.

6. Finally, customer exits the shop.

The problem as identified by the researchers with this shopping procedure at Shoprite is that it

causes long queues at the check-out lines. Long waits in check-out queues causes customer

dissatisfaction. Zenithal et al (1996) identified wait time as an important reference for measuring

quality: the longer the wait time, the lower the service quality. Customers who patronize the

branch have expressed worry about the amount of time they have to spend in check-out queues

and waiting lines. Management of the branch also agree to this being a problem for the branch.

This problem of long waiting times in payment queues is with the potential of affecting the

business of Shoprite negatively. Customers who experience poor service quality such as long

wait times in payment queues are likely not to return to shop at the branch, they may also

tell other potential customers about their experiences at the shop. This has the tendency of

making Shoprite lose business and West Hills Mall as a whole in terms of it being the biggest

54
tent house that houses big retail shops like Shoprite and the rest in the retail industry of the

country.

4.3 Applications of technologies

In order to solve the challenge confronting Shoprite, the researchers propose the use of the

following technologies:

4.3.1 The Smart Cart

The researchers have proposed the use of Smart Cart technology to counter the problem of long

waiting times at the shop especially during festive and weekend times. With the presence of this

technology, cashiers operated way of checking out will be replaced with self-checking out

systems. Smart Carts will enable customers to self-check-out by calculating in real time the

amount of their purchases as and when they drop items into the cart.

The smart cart will take away the time a customer spends to have his or her items scanned at the

check-out point by cashier(s). With this technology, customers will only go through the checkout

process to pay for the items they have picked.

4.3.2 How the smart shopping cart system would work

Smart shopping cart is a system that can simplify shopping process at Shoprite by using a

computerized shopping cart. Smart shopping cart system as identified by Kumar1 et al., (2013)

comprises main server and at least one computerized shopping cart tablet computer with RFID

reader designed for scanning the information from bar codes of the good loaded on the cart.

With the help of the communication link with the said server, customers will be able to perform

55
many tasks included in the main functionality of the LCD monitor. For instance, search for

products, self-scanning prices, daily-deals, the result will be shown on the display.

With the system in place at the moment, the researchers identified that a customer spends

between 15 to 30 minutes during peak times to check-out and 70% of that time is spent on

scanning items picked. With the smart cart technology, the time spent on scanning items will be

taken off implying up to 70% reduction in check-out time can be achieved. The smart cart if

introduced, will create a better shopping experience for the customers by saving time (Gangwal

et al., 2013). Therefore, smart shopping cart system can be said to be the ultimate solution to the

problem of long wait queues that exist in current shopping process systems at Shoprite.

4.3.3 MPOS

MPOS (mobile-point-of-sale) comes as a smartphone, tablets or dedicated wireless device that

performs the functions of a cash register or electronic point-of-sale terminal wirelessly.

4.3.4 To implement

A business or firm just needs an internet connection, a credit and debit card reader, and an

application downloaded to any or whatever device it wants to use in conducting its transactions.

Also, it can be paired with an additional POS hardware such as the barcode scanner and the cash

drawer.

56
4.3.5 How it works

Any smartphone or tablets can be converted into an MPOS with a downloadable mobile app.

Normally, when a firm or business owner registers with an app, the vendor sends the firm or the

business owner a card reader that will be plug or that is plug into a mobile device’s audio jack to

process debit or credit cards. Also, on the request of a firm in terms of serving their customers or

consumers with receipts after payment of their transactions, some MPOS software vendors also

provide optional hand-held docking stations called sleds which enable the mobile device to read

barcodes and print out receipts. Based on the software, MPOS can operate as a stand-alone

device that is simply linked to the firm’s or the business bank account.

4.3.6 How to protect customers

As today’s customer base are with their noses upfront seeking for the protection of their data

when they are involved in an online or any form of tech based machine or device transaction,

customer data is encrypted and stored in the clouds and not the actual device and this is always

done to protect the customer’s data.

4.3.7 Benefits

 For its portability and versatility compared to the traditional POS terminals,

MPOSs are ideal for businesses that are constantly mobile like the food trucks, home and

repairs services, sports venues, and flea markets, shopping centers to conduct credit and

debit card transactions on the go.

57
  With the contactless payment and mobile wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay

increasing in popularity, MPOSs are designed and are also better equipped to

accommodate those customers or consumers who wants nothing more than just simply

tap or dip their phones to making payments for their transactions.

Source: Suncrest Solutions pictures and Mirror picture

 Cost effective as it allows businesses or firms to conduct transactions without having to

invest in an electronic register or pay to support the software. They are also significantly

less expensive than a traditional POS and relies on costs and monthly maintenance

payments.

 Personalized services: Enhancing customer experience, increasing sales

opportunities

The mobility aspect of MPOS device helps firms or businesses to providing a more

personalized experience to customers or consumers. Thus, as sales personnel or

representatives are with the ability to check out customers within the aisle instead of the

check-out lanes, the opportunity to cross sell and upsell becomes greater. For instance, a

58
sales rep or person helping a customer checkout in the aisle can also point other accessories

that fit well with the customer’s purchase. This in returns enhances and improves upon

customer’s experience, help in building a positive perception of the firm’s businesses and

also drives in greater sales opportunities.

 Quick checkout: Retail line busting made easy

As many retail centers are today known for their long queues and checkout lines and as lot of

customers no longer have the patient of waiting in lines or queues, especially if they only

have few items to purchase, the MPOS is one best way of taking charge of such situations. In

such circumstances, a sales person with an MPOS solutions can help a customer or customers

avoid waiting in lines and checkout much more quickly, right from the store’s or the shop’s

aisle. Also, using an in-store MPOS solutions in addition to an existing fixed payment

acceptance solutions can also help firms or shops in managing their customers during busy

holiday seasons and weekends.

 Acceptance of mobile wallets: Providing multiple options of payments.

Mobile wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay and among others are on

the rising and are gaining more popularity among customers and consumers. These

contactless payment solutions are with the ease of allowing consumers and customers the

chances in using smartphones to pay for goods and services. Therefore, firms or businesses

that are with the intent of looking for ways in accepting these modes of payments, this is

where an MPOS can help or assist. From a firm’s perspective, this will provide more and

much conveniences to accept payments anywhere and help in the integration of value-added

services such as loyalty and offers.

59
CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion

In attempt to provide lasting and feasible solutions to the challenge confronting both customers

and management of Shoprite West Hills Mall New Weija branch, group of final year students

from faculty of management of University of Professional Studies have undertaken a business

case (study) on the topic: “Reducing customer waiting and queuing through the use of

technology at Shoprite West Hills Mall branch New Weija.”

The study established that there is a problem of long waiting and queuing during festive times

and weekends especially at check-out lines at Shoprite West Hills Mall. Customers or consumers

who patronize the shopping center spend more than necessary time in queues to check out. This

problem of customers waiting in long queues causes great dissatisfaction and discomforts for

customers or consumers.

60% of respondents (which represents 9 respondents) said that the amount of time they spend in

checking-out affects their decision to re-purchase from the Shop and even to the point of trying

to recommend it for some of their new friends in town who they know hates the experiences of

60
being in queues for longer than necessary. The researchers thus, identified through interviewing

of customers that long waiting queues at Shoprite West Hills Mall causes customer

dissatisfaction. In the long run, customer dissatisfaction will result in reduced purchase since

dissatisfied customers will not repeat purchase. This problem identified can be interpreted to

mean Shoprite is providing poor quality services because wait time has been identified to be key

indicator of service quality and therefore is at its peak of losing customers or consumers and

most importantly future prospective ones.

Longer wait times have the potential of making Shoprite West Hills Mall lose its customer base

because dissatisfied customers may opt to shop at different retail shops which provide superior

service quality. This may also put current customers or consumer’s loyalty and retention in great

questionable point. Shoprite should therefore strive to keep its customers satisfied as this will

inevitably make it gain the loyalty of its customers, and hence resulting in repeated purchase as

well as potential future referrals.

In order to solve this problem of long wait times at Shoprite West Hills Mall New Weija branch

and increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, retentions and possible future referrals, this study

proposed the use of Smart Cart technology and MPOS which among other things will help

reduce customers’ wait time, simplify the shopping process and making the shopping process

more pleasant and manageable.

5.2 Lessons Learnt and Challenges

61
In general, the study of the business needs or the case study on (solving the challenges

confronting customers and management of Shoprite West Hills Mall New Weija) is worthwhile

and in the course of the study, the researchers learnt how to work in groups to solve challenging

problems and find feasible solution to the problems.

The lessons learnt and challenges encountered by researchers in conducting this research have

been outlined below.

1) The staff of Shoprite were reluctant in sharing information with researchers for

competition sake.

2) The researchers encountered the problem of lack of adequate literature on the topic

because the smart cart is currently not used by any retail shop in the country hence the

researchers’ relied mostly on foreign literature.

3) In undertaking this study researchers were confronted with some challenges in the field

of finance. Financially, we lacked the adequate finance to help us in printing,

transportation to Shoprite West Hills Mall New Weija and accessing the internet.

4) The time allotted for this study was a limiting factor since we also had to go for lectures

and also undertake certain activities and assignments.

5.3 Recommendations

This study identified a problem of long waiting times in payment queues during peak times

especially at Shoprite West Hills Mall New branch. This problem has been identified to be a

cause of dissatisfaction discomforts for customers who patronize the shop. In order to counter

62
this problem, the researchers recommend the use of the smart cart and the MPOS to help speed

up the check-out process, thereby reducing customer waiting time and long queuing situations.

63
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16. Hassan et.al. (2014). Analysis of waiting time in Emergency Department of Al-Noor

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23. Odirichukwu, J., Lekara, T., & Odii, J. (2014). Banking Queue Sstem in Nigeria.

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31. Toister, J. (2013). Jedi mind tricks for reducing customer wait time. Retrieved 18 August,

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APPENDIX

INTERVIEW GUIDE AND QUESTIONNAIRES

FOR CUSTOMERS, SALES PERSONS AND
MANAGEMENT OF SHOPRITE NEW WEIJA
BRANCH

WEST HILLS MALL QUESTIONNAIRES AND

INTERVIEW GUIDE DOCUMENT

APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNARIES FOR SALES PERSONS OF SHOPERITE WEST

HILLS MALL
69
UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSTIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Dear Respondent,
An academic research is being conducted on “Reducing customer waiting and queuing
through the use of technology at Shoprite West Hills Mall branch”. Kindly contribute to
make this study a success by providing responses to the questions in this instrument. All
information you provide will be treated confidentially and shall be used for academic purposes
only.
Thank you.
Please Tick the correct answer as pertaining to you
PERSONAL INFROMATION
1. Age:
a. Under 20 [ ]
b. 20 – 25 [ ]
c. 26 – 30 [ ]
d. 31 – 35 [ ]
e. Above 35 [ ]

2. Indicate your gender

a. Male [ ]
b. Female [ ]

3. Location:
…………………………..
4. What is your highest educational level?
a. Secondary education [ ]
b. Tertiary education [ ]
c. Others ………………………………

SECTION A

5. Which section(s) of the shop do you serve?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. How is your relationship with your customers?
a. Good [ ]
b. Poor [ ]

70
 c. Very good [ ]
d. Excellent [ ]
7. Do your customers have trust in you in attending to their needs when they visit?
a. Yes
b. No
8. How do you feel when you see your customers in waiting lines in order to complete their
purchases?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. How do you react to situations of your customers being in lines to complete their purchases?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. How will you rank the following challenges you encounter while working, using a scale of 1
to 5, with 5 being the highest and 1, the lowest?
1 2 3 4 5
Risk of seeing customers always in queues
and especially during festive periods
Unable to see some customers coming back
again as a result of their waiting in queues
or lines
Risk of losing your job as a result of no
patronage due to customer queuing and
waiting

SECTION C
11. Does your supervisor organize queue and waiting in lines training?
a. Yes
b. No
12. Have you been provided with the appropriate queues and waiting in lines handling
techniques and materials?
a. Yes
b. No
13. How often does your supervisor organize (in-service training) for you?
a. About once a month [ ]
b. About twice or thrice times a month [ ]
c. Four or five times a month [ ]
d. Several times a month [ ]
e. Other (specify)……………………………………..
14. How often do you attend (in-service training?)
a. Always

71
 b. Sometimes
c. Often
d. Rarely
15. How often do you attend staff meeting (within sections of the shop?)
a. Never [ ]
b. Rarely [ ]
c. Sometimes [ ]
d. Often [ ]
e. Always [ ]

16. What were the measures the shop adopted to manage the emerging failing Situations of
queuing and more than necessary waiting in lines?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
17. Would you support the ideas of introducing new technologies in managing queuing and
waiting in lines situations at the shop?
a. Yes [ ]
b. No [ ]

APPENDIX B

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR MANAGEMENT OF SHOPRITE WEST HILLS

MALL NEW WEIJA
UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSTIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA

72
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Dear Respondent,
An academic research is being conducted on “Reducing customer waiting and queuing
through the use of technology at Shoprite West Hills Mall branch”. Kindly contribute to
make this study a success by providing responses to the questions in this instrument. All
information you provide will be treated confidentially and shall be used for academic purposes
only.
Thank you.

1. What is your position in Shoprite?

……………………………………………………………...………………………………..
2. How long have you been working at Shoprite?
.................................................................................................................................................
3. How long has your shop being engaged in the rendering of its services?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. How many customers do patronize your shop on daily basis?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. How often do you supervise or observe your employees outside the office?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. Do you organize queuing and waiting in lines by customers handling training for your
employees?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. How often do you organize (queuing and waiting in lines handling) for sales persons or
employees of this organization?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

8. Do you organize (in-service training) for your workers in this organization?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

73
 9. How often do you organize staff meeting
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

10. How would you describe your relationship with your workers and customers?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

11. What are some of the challenges encountered as customer(s) queues and wait in lines for
their purchases to be completed?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………

12. What has been the major challenge for your sales persons unit?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

13. What were the measures the shop has adopted to manage the emerging failing situations?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

APPENDIX C

74
INTERVIEW QUIDE FOR CUSTOMERS
UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSTIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Dear Respondent,
An academic research is being conducted on “Reducing customer waiting and queuing
through the use of technology at Shoprite West Hills Mall branch”. Kindly contribute to
make this study a success by providing responses to the questions in this instrument. All
information you provide will be treated confidentially and shall be used for academic purposes
only.

PERSONAL INFROMATION
1. What is your name and your location?
................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................
SECTION A
2. How long have you been patronizing Shoprite at west hills mall?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. How many people or other customers do you normally visit the shop with?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. How would you describe your patronage of Shoprite at west hills mall?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. How would you describe your relationship with staff members who work at the shop?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. Do you often wait or queue in lines to complete your purchases?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

75
7. How long do you often wait in queues during your visit to the mall?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. How long does it take you to complete your purchases during festive periods?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
9. Does it take you the same time frame when you visit the mall on weekends?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. What has been your major challenge as you often wait and queue during your visit to the
mall?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
11. How do the challenge(s) affect your next time visit?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
12. Would you like the idea of a new technology that can reduce the time spent in queues and
waiting lines?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
13. Do you think Smart Cart can reduce the stress and queuing time experiences?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
14. Are you a patron of mobile Apps payments like Google Pay and the rest?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
15. Any suggestions as to how to offer you good experiences as you visit to shop?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

76
77