Tuesday, January 31, 2006
7-11 To Push Inconvience Model
Dallas (FN) - 7-Eleven Stores, the self-described "pioneers and undisputed leaders" in convenience retailing made a dramatic move today to adopt a radically different business model.
"We were among the first to introduce the convenience store concept in 1927, but now the market is flooded. In an era of 24-hour grocery stores and pharmacies that sell everything from soup to nuts, we have had to question whether there is still a place for us in the convenience market," said Dale Johnson, public affairs spokesman for 7-Eleven.
The international franchise will instead move towards a model based on inconvenience.
"You hear a lot of people say that things are moving too fast these days. The inconvenience model will give people an opportunity to slow things down and really think about their shopping experience with us," Johnson said.
Among the innovations included in the inconvenience model:
- Fountain drinks will now be served in ridiculously large sizes that don't fit in standard automobile drink holders
- The minimum size of bottled soft drinks will be increased to one litre
- In-store microwave ovens will be pre-set at outrageously high levels so as to almost instantly incinerate any food item
- A new "tight pack" system will be introduced for the potato chip section in order to "increase the per-bag chip count"
- Cash registers will carry so little money that it will be difficult for cashiers to give change for anything higher than a $10 bill. "We've heard that some people are afraid of change, so why would we want something in our stores that will scare customers?" Johnson said
- A new human resources policy will require all franchisees to hire only high-school drop-outs who can't do math or old people easily confused by electronic cash registers
Johnson noted that the franchise has been experimenting with these systems for many years with no apparent negative effects on sales.
"It may take people awhile to get used to the new system, but we are confident that they will see that, in this world of convenience of ours, there is something they've been missing, and that thing is inconvenience."
posted by Mentok @ 11:31 a.m.,
1 Comments:
-
At 7:18 a.m.,
A. B. Chairiet said...
-
This is so funny, M!!
Why no comments??
Oh yeah...cause I wasn't here. ;)
Scary ol' cash registers...which I pronounce "raj-is-tur".
Now YOU have something funny to read! ;)
And thanks for the curtain-call. Much, much better...
I'll respond soon.
~ Ash
