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Post Info TOPIC: What is "PAL?"


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What is "PAL?"
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So next week's schedule was posted.
I have a wonderful 12 hours.

Yay.

But at least four of our courtesy clerks have PAL labeled into the boxes of the days that they work.
One of them works four days next week and is "PAL" each day.

What the hell is my store up to this time?

I don't have "PAL", is that a good thing or a bad thing?



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PAL is like lot duty. You stand around outside and assist people with loading their groceries into their cars. At least that's how our front end floor supervisor explained it to me when I asked.

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Hmmm that's an interesting theory but I'm not sure our store could ever put that into practice.
We barely have enough courtesy clerks as it is right now, in fact we are always calling out over the radio for help.
Utility, floral, even grocery and dairy have come up.

Sounds like something Kroger would do but I don't think that is the case here.
It very well could be though, I wouldn't put it past them.

Here, our local Chick-fil-A has a reputation of having its employees stand at the front door and escort customers to their cars underneath umbrellas when it is raining.
You don't have one, no problem, our employee is holding one right over there and will be happy to take you to your vehicle.

I could see Kroger trying to improve their image that way, but again, our store is so poorly scheduled on front end that I am just thinking that your theory isn't what PAL means for us.

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Sounds like 1930s, Little Rascals/Three Stooges lingo.

"Gee, you're swell."

"You're a real PAL . . . you know that?"

 

 

 

 



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Bank of Australia wrote:

PAL is like lot duty. You stand around outside and assist people with loading their groceries into their cars. At least that's how our front end floor supervisor explained it to me when I asked.


 

I have been re-thinking your response........

Were I to base the acronym off of your response, I believe I would call it the following:

Product

Assistance

Loader

....it reeks of corporate, it sounds straight out of a Dilbert comic strip and it is entirely something that Kroger would name or use as a name.
So I guess, if this is what it is to be, that this would be if a customer requests assistance in taking their groceries out to their vehicle.

Instead of having that courtesy clerk who just bagged his or her groceries, we get one of the "PALs" to do it.
.....But does this mean that we will inconvenience a cashier or customer because a "PAL" is bagging someone else?
Well, I guess that would explain if there are two or more "PALs" that day...but I don't remember if they are all listed the same days or not.
I think so.

But does it also mean that these courtesy clerks will now be able to expect the possibility of tips compared to those of us who stand and bag at the register?
I have been tipped at the register before. A 'thank you' and a look of gratitude is always there. But maybe management frowns on this?

Seriously, what the hell and how the hell would this work?
"Oh, we can't find Steve so go tell Jacob to come take this customer out to their car. Meanwhile when you've told him that, go back to bagging."
This company...I swear....

I really hope you and I are wrong.
But after re-thinking your response, I think we are right.

*sighs*

Anyone else have an idea?



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Hmmm well I should have googled first, but I'm still not sure...
maybe my store is going to introduce this?
The article is from 2011...the idea sounds inconvenient to all involved, which, of course, would be Kroger's way of thinking.

Perhaps we courtesy clerks are going to be trained on this device?


www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2011/08/26/krogers-scan-bag-go-system-a-shoppers.html

Krogers Scan-Bag-Go system uses handheld devices to put shopping in customers hands.
Shoppers pick up a device called a personal assistant and liaison, or PAL then scan their loyalty card to start shopping. At checkout, the device is returned to an employee and a self-checkout register has the shoppers bill tallied.
Scan-Bag-Go allows shoppers to touch each product only once.
It also gives shoppers the power to watch their grocery tally as they shop. Jim Hertel, managing partner with retail consulting firm Willard Bishop, said this improves the shopping experience and is a non-price-based way to improve customer loyalty.
PAL also could suggest alternate cost-saving brands, sale items and house brands.
Other grocers are testing similar devices. Doug Madenberg, CEO of Retail Feedback Group, said some stores have struggled to get more than early adopters to use the devices. Others are testing smartphone applications that allow the shopper to use their own phone to scan, which has been shown to boost popularity.
The smartphone is yours and is always with you, Madenberg said.
Keith Dailey, Krogers spokesman, said the company is exploring smartphone scanning but has technology with the PAL that is exclusive.
Kroger performs verifications to make sure items that werent scanned arent among customers groceries.
Kroger is looking into smart carts that use the same weighing technology as self-checkouts.

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Personal
Azz
Licker

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"Resistance is futile...you will be assimilated" - The Krog



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FrontEndSlave wrote:

Hmmm well I should have googled first, but I'm still not sure...
maybe my store is going to introduce this?
The article is from 2011...the idea sounds inconvenient to all involved, which, of course, would be Kroger's way of thinking.

Perhaps we courtesy clerks are going to be trained on this device?


www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2011/08/26/krogers-scan-bag-go-system-a-shoppers.html

Krogers Scan-Bag-Go system uses handheld devices to put shopping in customers hands.
Shoppers pick up a device called a personal assistant and liaison, or PAL then scan their loyalty card to start shopping. At checkout, the device is returned to an employee and a self-checkout register has the shoppers bill tallied.
Scan-Bag-Go allows shoppers to touch each product only once.
It also gives shoppers the power to watch their grocery tally as they shop. Jim Hertel, managing partner with retail consulting firm Willard Bishop, said this improves the shopping experience and is a non-price-based way to improve customer loyalty.
PAL also could suggest alternate cost-saving brands, sale items and house brands.
Other grocers are testing similar devices. Doug Madenberg, CEO of Retail Feedback Group, said some stores have struggled to get more than early adopters to use the devices. Others are testing smartphone applications that allow the shopper to use their own phone to scan, which has been shown to boost popularity.
The smartphone is yours and is always with you, Madenberg said.
Keith Dailey, Krogers spokesman, said the company is exploring smartphone scanning but has technology with the PAL that is exclusive.
Kroger performs verifications to make sure items that werent scanned arent among customers groceries.
Kroger is looking into smart carts that use the same weighing technology as self-checkouts.


 Oh my!  Did Kroger not learn anything when they gave the employees the RF's? biggrin



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Permissive Action Link

That's right. The cuts that Kroger has implemented across various channels, departments, personnel, and resources were for a nuclear arsenal.


The people with "PAL" in their schedule are herded into command bunkers or ballistic missile submarines and spend weeks of not months inside. They stand ready to launch their missiles once Cincinnati says so.

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Anonymous

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FrontEndSlave wrote

Kroger is looking into smart carts that use the same weighing technology as self-checkouts.


Oh lord.  Scale offline because your kid is in the basket.  

Deli chicken, milk, ice cream off weights.  

Can you imagine alerts that someone will be around shortly to assist you and reset your cart so you can keep shopping.  HAHAHA.  And all that BS would become front end's problem which is something other depts in my store don't realize.

 



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Ugh. That's all i got.



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Anonymous

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The way our store did it was we would have some courtesy clerks outside helping people load groceries into their cars and greeting people as they walk into the store while also helping with carts. We only do PAL during the summer though or when corporate people come to visit. biggrin It would be scheduled like lot duty though, you'd only be out there from ? - ? And then it would be someone else's turn. 



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Anon I hope you are wrong and that our store isn't going to be doing this...but sadly, it seems exactly like something Kroger would do.
Our Front End is barely staffed as it is, we are always calling for assistance over the radio or "All courtesy clerks to the front, please!"
Can not tell you how much I hear that when I work.

So to take one of the courtesy clerks from bagging and put them outside with such staffing issues is ridiculous.

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Orange vests.
Four straight hours of cold weather.

Yep, we started it today.
Basically it's courtesy clerks wearing orange vests.
I took one aside and privately asked him what his 'duties' are for the 'job'.

They can line up carts in a corral but are prohibited from bringing them inside to the foyers.
They are supposed to ask people if they need help getting their groceries unloaded or to the car. If 'yes' then do the aforementioned.
They are supposed to pick up trash in the parking lot.
They are supposed to grab random carts -- such as the ones left in a parking space rather than a corral -- and move them to a corral.

That's about it.
They are not supposed to accept tips -- but come on, we are goddamned courtesy clerks, do you think we are going to say 'no'? I never have...
One of the two we had working today told me he made $8 in tips.

They are out there the entire time.
Today's weather? The wind gusted 30 mph and stayed an average of 10, the temperature was in the mid 40s all day with the wind chills in the high 30s.
And when the sun went down so did the temperatures. But they are not supposed to go inside.
They generally hang around the foyer-lobby areas and, if in the actual parking lot, approach customers to ask about any needs of assistance.

I did not ask him about the pay. I'm not ignorant enough to think Kroger would pay us courtesy clerks anything extra to be outside for four hours.
This sounds similar to what I have already complained-suggested-whined about...help on the parking lot. But it's not.
*I* want Kroger to have a situation similar to Wal-Mart, where the Lot Duty is an entirely separate entity from other areas.
Where it's considered an actual title and / or job. All *this* is doing is taking a courtesy clerk and keeping him (or her) from bagging and putting him (or her) outside instead.

Oh yea I was told it stands for

Person
Assigned (to)
Lot

Sheesh.


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4x4


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I know we do curbside help in the winter months so we dont have to take the carts outside in the snow, but that just seems stupid. Why not help clear the lot because if your store is anything like mine, maybe only 1 out of 30 customers need/want help to their cars.

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4x4 wrote:

I know we do curbside help in the winter months so we dont have to take the carts outside in the snow, but that just seems stupid. Why not help clear the lot because if your store is anything like mine, maybe only 1 out of 30 customers need/want help to their cars.


 

yep from being out in the 'lot these past two days as our PAL guys go around, I have seen them approach customers and ask if assistance is needed and be told no.
And I would put at LEAST 4 out of 10 saying no...but I would think the reality is 7 or higher.



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FrontEndSlave wrote:

Orange vests.
Four straight hours of cold weather.

Yep, we started it today.
Basically it's courtesy clerks wearing orange vests.
I took one aside and privately asked him what his 'duties' are for the 'job'.

They can line up carts in a corral but are prohibited from bringing them inside to the foyers.
They are supposed to ask people if they need help getting their groceries unloaded or to the car. If 'yes' then do the aforementioned.
They are supposed to pick up trash in the parking lot.
They are supposed to grab random carts -- such as the ones left in a parking space rather than a corral -- and move them to a corral.

That's about it.
They are not supposed to accept tips -- but come on, we are goddamned courtesy clerks, do you think we are going to say 'no'? I never have...
One of the two we had working today told me he made $8 in tips.

They are out there the entire time.
Today's weather? The wind gusted 30 mph and stayed an average of 10, the temperature was in the mid 40s all day with the wind chills in the high 30s.
And when the sun went down so did the temperatures. But they are not supposed to go inside.
They generally hang around the foyer-lobby areas and, if in the actual parking lot, approach customers to ask about any needs of assistance.

I did not ask him about the pay. I'm not ignorant enough to think Kroger would pay us courtesy clerks anything extra to be outside for four hours.
This sounds similar to what I have already complained-suggested-whined about...help on the parking lot. But it's not.
*I* want Kroger to have a situation similar to Wal-Mart, where the Lot Duty is an entirely separate entity from other areas.
Where it's considered an actual title and / or job. All *this* is doing is taking a courtesy clerk and keeping him (or her) from bagging and putting him (or her) outside instead.

Oh yea I was told it stands for

Person
Assigned (to)
Lot

Sheesh.


 We are allowed to receive tips.  We had a manager once who said we weren't allowed to, but in the employee handbook it says "employees are allowed to receive tips".  I'm not sure of the exact wording but it also states that "employees are not allowed to SOLICIT tips."  I say take the money.



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Tips.  The definitive answer may be in your contract.  Tips have their own mini-section (9.14) in the Local 1000 agreement.


Person
Assigned (to)
Lot

PAL appears in the List of Acronyms as "Personal Assistant and Liaison".

 

 

 

 

 

 



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no assistant or liason here.
it's person assigned to lot.

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