6 ms·

Why Pre-Order Food Then Wait in Line

42 points by prostoalex 9y ago

neonate 9y ago
http://archive.is/XgyGw http://archive.is/XgyGw
- DecayingOrganic 9y ago
  I believe that another method to bypass the paywall is to copy the link and post it on facebook and then click it again, preferably in incognito mode.
  - dec0dedab0de 9y ago
    There is also the web link under the story
    - Johnny555 9y ago
      The web link for WSJ articles haven't worked for me in a long time (even if opened in an incognito window). The Facebook trick still works.
lando2319 9y ago
The best way I've found to circumvent the paywall is to simply edit the URL by putting "full" before "wjs" so this link would be https://www.fullwsj.com/articles/why-pre-order-food-then-wait-in-line-i-do-not-want-to-seem-like-an-ass-1525272972 https://www.fullwsj.com/articles/why-pre-order-food-then-wai... It redirects through Facebook so you'll need a FB account.
- smnrchrds 9y ago
  If you use Firefox, you can use this handy add-on instead: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-firefox https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-firefox
- neonate 9y ago
  That doesn't work for me.
  - sudouser 9y ago
    use outline.com
skywhopper 9y ago
Of course the reason is that the stores are not set up to accommodate pre-orders. The design of the stores themselves imply a particular relationship with the cashiers and other customers. It ought to be easy to fix for new construction and renovation if it's part of the plan. But it's a risk of pasting new business models onto existing infrastructure.
- tarheeljason 9y ago
  Panera has a really good model (Rapid Pickup) whereby preorders are name-tagged and shelved on a self-service, grab-and-go counter.
wyldfire 9y ago
Starbucks designs their stores' flow to have cashiers near an ingress point and the orders are usually delivered at the far end of the counter from where queuing starts. Starbucks has signage indicating "mobile order pickup here" and it's usually in the same location that normal orders are delivered. I would probably wait in line at other stores but at Starbucks, I can see my order waiting for me with my name written on it. I don't feel like I'm jumping the queue -- most folks probably can't distinguish my order from one that was placed at the cashier.
downandout 9y ago
I have had to send cash to my sister a handful of times recently. Because her bank (Bank of America) stopped allowing cash deposits to any account other than your own, the most convenient and inexpensive way to do this was through Walmart, which has its own money transfer service. You can arrange the transfer through an app, then you go to an express line at a Walmart store and complete the whole transaction in under a minute. The problem is that Walmart underestimated just how angry its typical customer would get by seeing someone skip the line (even though there is a special line for app-based transactions). Of the three times I have done this, once I was called expletives by a couple of the people in line, and a second time a woman simply decided to come up at the same time I was called up and insist that it was her turn, not mine. Only after the cashier threatened to call security did she go wait her turn. It turns out that the typical Walmart customer tends to already be stepped on by the rest of the world a lot during their normal lives, and being slighted in a Walmart seems to be a bridge too far for most of them. So while I enjoy the convenience of skipping the line, I won’t be doing it again. Stores that offer features like this need to consider how their clientele will react to others skipping the line, and engineer the experience in such a way that normal customers don’t feel slighted.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  A simple "on-line orders pickup" sign/queue is how most places handle this. Panera has a rapid pickup section/shelf, or at some places you can sit at a table and put in the table number for your order (although I'm not sure if you should use their app after the recent Panera security post on here). The bank transfer issue is another thing entirely. Zelle is suppose to fix that issue in the US, even though most other countries have this figured out: https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-is-still-in-the-1990s/ https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-i... But from what I've read, Zelle has a lot of the same issues as non-bank services like Venmo. So I haven't shopped at a Wal-Market since 2009. They offer some app/pre-order services, but they don't have a sign for pre-orders or on-line transactions? .. or they call out your name? How does their system work? How do you think it could be improved so it didn't look like you're jumping the queue?
  - 9y ago
ryanbertrand 9y ago
Very similar to CLEAR. I love the idea of expediting security at the airport but I hate the way the agent moves them to the front of the line. It is very awkward.
- capkutay 9y ago
  that's just a not-so-subtle marketing tactic.
  - komali2 9y ago
    Why do government agencies need to market services? Why are there slow lanes for people with less money in a government situation? Can you pay extra to skip the line at the DMV? (actually, you can in California, by having a AAA membership)
    - enra 9y ago
      Clear is a private company though? I assume they have just negotiated a deal with the airport and the TSA. To the question for government agencies to market they services, I absolutely think they should. Often marketing it's just informing people that something exist, so if they government wants people to use some service or change their behavior, they should do marketing.
- pwillia7 9y ago
  I love it at the airport though.
sdca 9y ago
Just use the drive-through and you'll skip everyone.
bfuller 9y ago
This is how it is at Jersey Mikes. They'll give you a discount to preorder, but you still wait in line and during lunch it can take 15 mins. without the online code i don't know why you'd order online and have your sandwich sit there for 15 minutes.
- c22 9y ago
  There's a sandwich place near my house that works like this. The line often takes 15-20 minutes during lunch times, but I call just as I step into the line. I can literally see the cashier way up at the front pause the whole line to take my call. By the time I get up to pay my sandwich is ready while the people before me are still standing around cramped against the counter for another 10 minutes.
ggm 9y ago
maybe its a "thing" for some of us, but if you are in a queue you can feel like a prole, when somebody bypasses you to be served before you. Sure: they paid and ordered first, but the emotion in the queue is very disempowering. breeding resentment is usually bad. I think if the 'pick up here' was a hole in the wall outside the store, it would be more like drive-through with MacDonalds where everyone understands its a distinct queue. The way these pre-order lines work, it can feel like you've been put into the second-class citizen box. Queueing at Airline desks is often similar btw. I have high status, but its a walk of shame to inact it sometimes. People in economy, 100+ deep, resenting my ability to get quick service because the airline doesn't pre-empt my queue to service them, in slack times. (some do, many dont)

42 points by prostoalex 9y ago

neonate 9y ago

http://archive.is/XgyGw http://archive.is/XgyGw

DecayingOrganic 9y ago
I believe that another method to bypass the paywall is to copy the link and post it on facebook and then click it again, preferably in incognito mode.
- dec0dedab0de 9y ago
  There is also the web link under the story
  - Johnny555 9y ago
    The web link for WSJ articles haven't worked for me in a long time (even if opened in an incognito window). The Facebook trick still works.

lando2319 9y ago

The best way I've found to circumvent the paywall is to simply edit the URL by putting "full" before "wjs" so this link would be https://www.fullwsj.com/articles/why-pre-order-food-then-wait-in-line-i-do-not-want-to-seem-like-an-ass-1525272972 https://www.fullwsj.com/articles/why-pre-order-food-then-wai... It redirects through Facebook so you'll need a FB account.

smnrchrds 9y ago
If you use Firefox, you can use this handy add-on instead: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-firefox https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-firefox
neonate 9y ago
That doesn't work for me.
- sudouser 9y ago
  use outline.com

skywhopper 9y ago

Of course the reason is that the stores are not set up to accommodate pre-orders. The design of the stores themselves imply a particular relationship with the cashiers and other customers. It ought to be easy to fix for new construction and renovation if it's part of the plan. But it's a risk of pasting new business models onto existing infrastructure.

tarheeljason 9y ago
Panera has a really good model (Rapid Pickup) whereby preorders are name-tagged and shelved on a self-service, grab-and-go counter.

wyldfire 9y ago

Starbucks designs their stores' flow to have cashiers near an ingress point and the orders are usually delivered at the far end of the counter from where queuing starts. Starbucks has signage indicating "mobile order pickup here" and it's usually in the same location that normal orders are delivered. I would probably wait in line at other stores but at Starbucks, I can see my order waiting for me with my name written on it. I don't feel like I'm jumping the queue -- most folks probably can't distinguish my order from one that was placed at the cashier.

downandout 9y ago

I have had to send cash to my sister a handful of times recently. Because her bank (Bank of America) stopped allowing cash deposits to any account other than your own, the most convenient and inexpensive way to do this was through Walmart, which has its own money transfer service. You can arrange the transfer through an app, then you go to an express line at a Walmart store and complete the whole transaction in under a minute. The problem is that Walmart underestimated just how angry its typical customer would get by seeing someone skip the line (even though there is a special line for app-based transactions). Of the three times I have done this, once I was called expletives by a couple of the people in line, and a second time a woman simply decided to come up at the same time I was called up and insist that it was her turn, not mine. Only after the cashier threatened to call security did she go wait her turn. It turns out that the typical Walmart customer tends to already be stepped on by the rest of the world a lot during their normal lives, and being slighted in a Walmart seems to be a bridge too far for most of them. So while I enjoy the convenience of skipping the line, I won’t be doing it again. Stores that offer features like this need to consider how their clientele will react to others skipping the line, and engineer the experience in such a way that normal customers don’t feel slighted.

djsumdog 9y ago
A simple "on-line orders pickup" sign/queue is how most places handle this. Panera has a rapid pickup section/shelf, or at some places you can sit at a table and put in the table number for your order (although I'm not sure if you should use their app after the recent Panera security post on here). The bank transfer issue is another thing entirely. Zelle is suppose to fix that issue in the US, even though most other countries have this figured out: https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-is-still-in-the-1990s/ https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-i... But from what I've read, Zelle has a lot of the same issues as non-bank services like Venmo. So I haven't shopped at a Wal-Market since 2009. They offer some app/pre-order services, but they don't have a sign for pre-orders or on-line transactions? .. or they call out your name? How does their system work? How do you think it could be improved so it didn't look like you're jumping the queue?
- 9y ago

ryanbertrand 9y ago

Very similar to CLEAR. I love the idea of expediting security at the airport but I hate the way the agent moves them to the front of the line. It is very awkward.

capkutay 9y ago
that's just a not-so-subtle marketing tactic.
- komali2 9y ago
  Why do government agencies need to market services? Why are there slow lanes for people with less money in a government situation? Can you pay extra to skip the line at the DMV? (actually, you can in California, by having a AAA membership)
  - enra 9y ago
    Clear is a private company though? I assume they have just negotiated a deal with the airport and the TSA. To the question for government agencies to market they services, I absolutely think they should. Often marketing it's just informing people that something exist, so if they government wants people to use some service or change their behavior, they should do marketing.
pwillia7 9y ago
I love it at the airport though.

sdca 9y ago

Just use the drive-through and you'll skip everyone.

bfuller 9y ago

This is how it is at Jersey Mikes. They'll give you a discount to preorder, but you still wait in line and during lunch it can take 15 mins. without the online code i don't know why you'd order online and have your sandwich sit there for 15 minutes.

c22 9y ago
There's a sandwich place near my house that works like this. The line often takes 15-20 minutes during lunch times, but I call just as I step into the line. I can literally see the cashier way up at the front pause the whole line to take my call. By the time I get up to pay my sandwich is ready while the people before me are still standing around cramped against the counter for another 10 minutes.

ggm 9y ago

maybe its a "thing" for some of us, but if you are in a queue you can feel like a prole, when somebody bypasses you to be served before you. Sure: they paid and ordered first, but the emotion in the queue is very disempowering. breeding resentment is usually bad. I think if the 'pick up here' was a hole in the wall outside the store, it would be more like drive-through with MacDonalds where everyone understands its a distinct queue. The way these pre-order lines work, it can feel like you've been put into the second-class citizen box. Queueing at Airline desks is often similar btw. I have high status, but its a walk of shame to inact it sometimes. People in economy, 100+ deep, resenting my ability to get quick service because the airline doesn't pre-empt my queue to service them, in slack times. (some do, many dont)