[AStonesThrow]

When my family would go shopping, the cashier would invariably ask "Did you find everything OK?" and my father deduced that this informal polling was actually so that they could figure out when a large percentage of people answered "Yes", they would then go and reconfigure ("upgrade") the store, rearranging all the shelves and products, so that the regular customers could not, in fact, "find everything OK".

Because for any store, or any shopping mall or city, for that matter, the worst kind of shopper is the one who knows what he wants, makes a beeline for that product, picks it off the shelf and checks out, without having any opportunity to get lost and see other aisles, other shelves, and other products that he doesn't need, but may decide to purchase nevertheless.

[vinyl7]

At least when I worked in retail, we asked that just to be polite or make sure they actually found everything. Never had to report yes/no

[theandrewbailey]

That's the cynical take. If a product was hard to find and the customer gives up, that's a lost sale. The store might also want to know if the customer was looking for something that wasn't in stock or not carried by the store, which is also a lost sale.

[droopyEyelids]

The store might want to know that but not the cashier. “Did you find everything ok?” is small talk and if you try and answer it’ll be as jarring as if you gave a real answer to a stranger who asks “hows it going”

[AStonesThrow]

Yeah, my father was mostly jesting, because it is undoubtedly a regular schedule or management's say-so when the store gets rearranged indeed, and not by the "polling at the register".

But in terms of the stores where we shop, the clerks at the register are empowered to help us look up an existing item, or to order an item that's not on the shelves, or even to place a new item on the wishlist. So it's more than small talk for them to ask that; it's an opening and an opportunity to find out what items are in-demand that they're not carrying, or may not be obvious to find if we're just wandering around the store.

Of late, I've found that clerks in stores such as Target and Wal-Mart are equipped with tools no better than the ones we have ourselves: that is, the mobile app or the website has exact information on store layout, item availability, and what aisle we can find this stuff in. Some Targets have spiffy kiosks which I can query without needing to call up stuff on my smartphone, but if I ask a clerk, their nose will immediately go into their own mobile device, just like I would've done.

On the other hand, smaller grocery stores that sell organics are likely to feature a cadre of very personable clerks who are intimately familiar with all stock and everything on the shelves, and they can immediately escort me over to where something is on a shelf, and make recommendations based on what they carry, and tell me how their logistics work. Without even glancing at a computer or screen!

[chmod775]

I can't be bothered to search stores, so I usually just as ask an employee stocking shelves or at the register.

Can't imagine that's cheaper than just making stuff easy to find.