IH02-MarshallAnderson
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
Marshall Anderson Individual Project Proposal
02/14/2007
Problem Description
Everyone has seen loose shopping carts in the parking lots of stores and it is probably a safe bet to say that most everyone is guilty of not returning carts at one time or another. Sometimes these loose carts catch the wind just right and go flying into the cars while other times they seem to be strategically placed to prevent you from using a parking spot. Also stores managers are forced to have their employees take time to go out and collect the carts many times a day. If these loose carts are such a nuisance, why don't people simply return their carts to the dedicated return stalls?
Perhaps the most common reason that people do not drop off their carts in the stalls is that people see it as a inconvenience. For most people, taking the time or physical expense to walk an empty cart down the parking lot is too much to ask. Another perfectly valid reasons could be bad whether as shoppers would want to spend as little time outside as possible. However, behavior reasons such as laziness, selfishness, and a general lack of common courtesy certainly play a large part in the problem. One last possible reason carts are not returned is a bad distribution of return stalls throughout the parking lot.
Technical solutions to this problem are plentiful. Anything from smart carts that can find their way back to the stalls by themselves to having a dedicated employee to push carts back will solve most of the problem. However, solutions that help the community and city by encouraging good habits while discouraging bad habits are harder to come upon. The goal of this project is to create some sort of system that encourages users to keep or gain the good habit of returning their shopping carts after they have finished putting their goods in their car. A broader and more hopeful goal would be to make the public more aware of the need and benefits of common courtesy in all aspects of society.
Problem Context and Forces
A successful system to encourage users to return their carts would have to be both fast and easy to use. This is because a system that would require more time or effort is not a solution to the problem as it is likely to be seen as even more of an inconvenience and cause more motivation for users not to return carts. With this in mind, the ideal system would be one that does not require the users to read instructions or figure out button layouts. Such a system would be fast to use for those shoppers in a hurry and easy to learn for those shoppers that have never used the system previously.
Besides being easy to use, the successful system must somehow motivate the users to return their carts. There are numerous ways ranging from saving shoppers time, money, or both. Not to be overlooked, efforts to education shoppers of the problem may be enough to motivate.
There are also several technical requirements that a successful system would have to meet. Any outdoor components would need to be whether-proof and since the system is likely take a lot of physical abuse, it would have to be rugged in general. From a business perspective, the system would have to be cheap to install and operate. In addition, any expensive components would have to be difficult for thieves to steal.
Target Audience
The target audience of this system is those shoppers that, for a variety of reasons, do not return their shopping carts to the dedicated return stalls. The system could also target users who could be encouraged to return carts that others have left unreturned. The needs of all shoppers are to put their goods in their car and then to get the cart out of their way so that they can leave. Most of the people want to get done with shopping quickly so they can return home. However, there are also shoppers that are in no particular hurry. The people that make up the target audience may or may not want to care about other people's needs and may or may not care to save money.
Potential Solution
One potential solution revolves around offering a momentary incentive for people to return their carts. This system could work with cheap RFID technology and existing store discount cards. Any shopper who drops off their cart in the stall could then swipe their store card on a small device mounted directly to the stall. This would encode a coupon, like 5% off, onto their card for their next purchase. Clear signs on the stalls and carts themselves would advertise the system. If any particular user does not have the time to return their cart, other users will return the carts to get extra coupons.
Perhaps a related solution that could be even easier to use would be to have the system print a physical coupon. Either way, the momentary incentive should reduce the number of loose carts. This system also makes business sense because it disperses coupons that will encourage shoppers to return to the same store. In addition, stores would no longer have to send out their workers to collect carts and that could also save the stores money.
Similar and Existing Systems
Many airports have luggage carts that travelers can use to help get their luggage from the baggage claim to their mode of ground transportation. While I believe that some of these systems revolve around renting the cart, other systems only require a deposit that is refunded only if the user returns their cart. Bagport Group is one company that makes these airport cart systems.
http://www.bagport.com/vending-units.php
There are also companies that build devices that prevent the theft of shopping carts. This is apparently a common and costly problem. Carttronics offers a solutions that locks one of the front wheels of the shopping carts if they are brought outside the stores property.
http://www.carttronics.com/CAPS_brochure.pdf
One last system is a motorized cart pusher than enables employees to retrieve carts fasters. Gate Keeper Systems makes this product.
