Background Research
When researching the basis of our study, we first decided to call the North Olmsted Giant Eagle ((440) 777-3100), where our data was collected. We called the customer service department and stated that we were running a study based on gender at the self-checkout line for a North Olmsted High School AP statistics class. We asked the woman who answered the phone if she has any knowledge of statistics run by Giant Eagle pertaining to their self-checkout lines. The woman then directed us to a supervisor. We asked the supervisor, Rachel, the same question that we asked customer service. She put us on hold and then returned to the phone stating she had no statistics of the sort that would be permitted to be given out. We asked if any collected data based on the paying methods of customers could be given out and she again said no.
Next in our background research, we turned to two different Internet search engines. We used Google and Bing. We came across numerous failed searches. We first searched our entire question as given in our proposal: “Will more males than females go through the self-checkout line in Giant Eagle at 10 minute intervals through the time of 4:30 p.m. and 6:10 p.m.” We were not granted a single relevant link on either search engine. We then searched the same question, but took out the interval portion of the question. Right after that, we searched the same question, but took out the specifying store of Giant Eagle. Again, we were unsuccessful in finding relevant writing in the area of our study for both searches and both search engines. We decided to keep broadening our search entries by next searching, “gender self-checkout line.” Many links provided data on which gender purchases more alcohol and which gender purchases more items in general for each trip to the grocery store. However, none provided any study information related to ours. Next, we searched “self-checkout line statistics.” More irrelevant information was provided, like the items most frequently purchased at self-checkout lines (magazines and candy bars). We then searched “grocery store statistics.” This search found the most links, however, all irrelevant to our topic. Many of the websites deemed as relevant to our search provided only a couple self-checkout line statistics. These statistics dealt with how many of these lines each grocery store has on average and if stores with self-checkout lines acquire more costumers.
We stuck to the same two search engines, Bing and Google, in order to find any studies relevant to our study. We found two links that provided useful information about the topic of gender at the self-checkout line. We found the first link by searching “males self-checkout line” into Google. This brought us to http://www.diggernews.com/NC/0/433.html . Numerous statistics about gender at the self checkout line and just the self checkout line were given. It was stated that in 2006, an IHL survey found that 94 percent of respondents will use the self checkout line. In 2005, Americans spent more than $110 billion at the self-checkout line, up 24% from the year prior. Also stated was that an estimated 20 percent to 50 percent of the daily transaction volume takes place at the self-checkout line. A set of trends we then listed. These trends included that men tend to use the self-checkout line more than women, with 67% of men and only 49% of women using it on at least 30% of their shopping trips. Overall, men are 64% more likely to use the self-checkout line and about 29% of those using the self checkout line, use it due to long cashier lines. Customers cite speed and convenience as the main two reasons for using self-checkout lines. This website had another link within it: http://www.ihlservices.com/ihl/press_detail.cfm?PressReleaseID=57 . This provided data collected by the aforementioned IHL survey. Some statistics, not mentioned by the first website, concluded that in 2006, consumers spent over $137 billion on self-checkout transactions at retailers, up 24 percent from the previous year. Also mentioned, was that 16% of the sample taken would use the self-checkout line more frequently if they could choose the voice of the guide given by the machine. With the usage of the self checkout line for at least six different times, 86% of the users have a positive outlook of the technology. People in the South are most positive about the self checkout line, with 75% of the people having a positive view of the technology.