[deadmetheny]

Shutting down registers and making the handful of regular checkers do delivery/pickup orders isn't tenable - the throughput isn't even close to similar. Putting together pickup/deliveries is very time consuming for traditional grocers. And then what happens when someone who doesn't have the ability to shop via app needs groceries? Do they call in, and take up another employee's bandwidth while they take down the list?

[mullingitover]

> And then what happens when someone who doesn't have the ability to shop via app needs groceries? Do they call in, and take up another employee's bandwidth while they take down the list?

Absolutely. An employee taking orders on the phone instead of working the cash register is an employee who's not getting exposed to coronavirus.

I can't believe we're talking about unemployment going to the moon and at the same time saying we can't spare precious labor resources. Talking grocery orders over the phone is something anyone with a grade school education can do.

[s1artibartfast]

It seems like you are assuming supermarkets can support the same number of customers if the reallocated their staff to pickup/delivery.

As a shopper who knows what I want and where to get it, I might spend 15 minutes shopping at a minute at the register, and that doesn't count my drive to and from the store.

With respect to unemployment, nobody is interestested in working at a super-market, especially when unemployment is pays 50% more [1]. Workers would quit if it did not disqualify them from unemployment

[1] the average cashier salary is 30k/year (575/week) and the current unemployment benefit for the same salary is 875/ week when you include the additional $600

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/cashier-gro...

https://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/ui-calculator.htm