> I feel like the only reasonable approach is what is already done, go to the store during a convenient time for you that is the least busy based on passed data

> I feel like the only reasonable approach is what is already done, go to the store during a convenient time for you that is the least busy based on passed data. But people don't have good data--you'd have to go at random times for weeks or months to have a sense of the best times. And in any event people don't invest much effort in this. We're not rational beings. We systematically underestimate the value of collecting and applying such data, just as we systematically overestimate the value of other things. Not to mention the collective action problem in maximizing total social benefit. Supermarkets need to lower the cost of information aggregation. They could prominently display at the entrance and at checkout lanes a simple graph of customer traffic so that people could instantly, freely know how to avoid the crowds. But this might have to be mandated by law as they otherwise have very little perceived incentive to do this. Even though the cost is trivial, businesses aren't perfectly rational actors any more than humans are. Anyhow, trivial isn't zero, especially when the returns are uncertain. It will take a significant external push to move away from their local optimum solution--managing crowds by adjusting the number of cashiers.