9A- Testing The Hypothesis Pt. 2

The opportunity: The opportunity that I selected is when you go to the supermarket late at night and there isn't enough registers open. We could decrease wait times at the store by selling a cheaper self-scanner that can be used at every register.

For this assignment I conducted the following five interviews:

-First I interviewed my friend from my industrial organization class. He has similar interests as me and I'd say we have a similar personality.

-I interviewed my sister who is one of the most impatient people I know so I thought she would love my idea.

-I interviewed a coworker that loves sports and hates going to the grocery store as much as me.

-I interviewed my old coach who would always complain when the fast food line was long so I assumed he would hate when the line at the store was long.

-Lastly, I interviewed my roommate who I've been friends with for basically my entire life.



I got an answer I was expecting from my friend but I wasn't expecting to get the same answer from my roommate and coworker as well. They all told me that they hate having to bag their items. This point of view is understandable and there are plenty of lazy people out there that would agree with them. The need I had envisioned was spending less time but they have a more dominant need for not bagging up groceries. It was shocking to me that all of them would rather wait a line than have to bag their items.  This could be a problem for old people This backlash is worth considering when thinking about my business idea because if there are enough consumers that agree with them then we could be put out of business quickly when the retailers stop buying from us.

My sister and my roommate both had similar answers. When I questioned them about their opinion on my idea they told me that it takes away the social aspect of going out to the store. I never have cared for talking to the cashier because when I go to the store I want to get out as fast as possible. But there are social butterflies out there who love having conversations with every one and this is worth considering when starting up our business. For example, my roommate told me that he practices his professional speaking skills when he talks to cashiers.

One point I got from these interviews is that my idea could get hate from old people. That market of people doesn't want to be scanning their items and they are the type that is used to speaking with the cashier.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is in: Anyone who would benefit from an all out self-scanner system that eliminates the job of the cashier. As well as retailers who think decreasing wait times is a priority.	Who is not: Anyone that would rather have to wait a long line over having to bag their items. Also, people who are too hung up on being social when they go to the store.
What the need is: Selling a cheaper self-scanner so that they can be used on a larger scale to decrease wait times at large retailers.	What the need is not : It's not for saving jobs in the retail sector because the cashier position would be eliminated. It's also not for patient people who have other needs that are more important than decreasing wait times.
Why the need exists: Companies aren't scheduling enough workers in the hours when they have a large influx of people.	Alternative explanations: Some people don't see a problem with waiting the longer line when they have other needs that need to be satisfied first.