Retail Checkout Experience Assessment & Benchmarking
Clarkston Consulting recently performed a retail checkout experience assessment for a client. Read a synopsis of the project below or download the full case study.
Download the Retail Checkout Experience Assessment Case Study Here
The client is on a journey to optimize its value store operations and deliver a more efficient, customer-friendly checkout experience from queue design through payment. To help identify what “best-in-class” looks like in value retail, Clarkston Consulting partnered with the client to conduct a competitor assessment and benchmarking effort focused on end-to-end checkout performance and queue management.
Over a four-week period, Clarkston teams visited the client value stores and competitor locations to capture both qualitative and quantitative insights. Qualitative observations included queue structure and wayfinding, line-busting approaches, checkout-area layout, exception handling, and overall store-flow factors that influence customer experience. Quantitative measurements included time studies of queue wait times and checkout durations, along with supporting operational metrics such as number of active registers, transaction volume, and maximum line length.
To scale data collection and accelerate analysis, Clarkston leveraged a custom AI-generated app to gather more than 3,000 data points across 100 stores, spanning 25 brands in 13 metro areas. Using Clarkston’s AI Recommendation Engine (CLAIRE), the team connected observational findings with timing and throughput data to identify patterns, highlight performance drivers, and surface opportunities across stores and competitors. Clarkston also benchmarked the client’s value brand against the competitive landscape and compared the client stores to one another to pinpoint high-performing locations and replicable practices.
The engagement produced a prioritized set of recommendations – both quick wins and longer-term strategic opportunities — to help reduce average checkout time and queue wait time while improving customer satisfaction. A value model quantified the potential impact of operational improvements, including an estimated $17M revenue upside from a 1% reduction in checkout time.
