Thank you very much for the positive feedback on my contribution to this thread
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I trust you figured out I wrote 'subscriptions' when I meant 'prescriptions'. My brain does that.
Besides the laser scanner checkouts and pharmacy setups, I've also seen touch screens in the produce department where you can view preparation tips and recipes, then ask for a printout if you see one you like. With the touchscreen system for the deli I was thinking of, both the customer and the deli service personnel would need to view the order, with orders cued in the sequence received on the service personnel's side.
Maybe the software could automatically estimate the wait time and show the customer how many orders are ahead of theirs so they could plan what they can get done in the meantime. The system would probably need to print out a numbered claim ticket (which could include both the order number and the estimated pickup time) to keep people from picking up the wrong order. For large orders, the items could be bagged and sealed (stapled, tape whatever) with a receipt attached for the checker to work from while avoiding having to re-handle each item individually. Or, if the software were set up right, the checker could use the order number to call up and add the deli items without having to handle each one.
One of the chain grocery stores in this area used to so something like that with prescriptions from the pharmacy, but I think they stopped because too many people forgot and/or couldn't resist the temptation to leave without paying for pharmacy items some of which could be quite expensive and yet small and easy to miss or conceal.
Oh no,not another if!! The setup/software would probably also need to be set up allow for people requiring that sort of accommodation to be bumped ahead of other orders in the cue. Can't think of an example where that might be appropriate --- yes I can! Someone elderly or physically disabled and only gets around by using one of those paratranportation deals (call-a-bus or whatever) may have to be out of the store by a certain time for pickup or get stranded.
Now I'm scaring myself. I'm such a frustrated micro-managing neat freak!
I'm so glad to get all of that out of my brain!
Cheers!