Why do 7/11's close during power outages?

[nithisa78]

The last time I was in our local 7/11 and the power went out mid-afternoon the cashiers calmly closed the door and proceeded to hand-total every one's purchase and make change out of a register draw that was still open. Once the store was clear, they let in a couple people at a time to make additional purchases and then closed.

Don't know what the limit is.

sounds like they were thinking outside the box. remembered why they went to work, why they were there.

for us.

[misterphil]

I think your forgetting where you are.

[laobali]

What would a chain store in your home country do?

I guess they would close down.

And if it only be that the theft alarm does not work.

Most stores have little daylight.

A dark crowded 7/11 shop, a shoplifters paradise.

All such highly engineered businesses are completely dependent on power.

No power, no IT, no business!

There are doomsday scenarios which say that the civilized world would break into chaos after a few days without power.

Absolutely clear to me that they close.

An automatic standby generator would take care of the problem, but relatively expensive and probably not worth the investment for the occasional power out.

[JacChang]

How about something as simple as service?

If you wanted products, you could go to your average mom and pops shop.

But 7-11 is about the shopping experience, the right temperature when you walk in, the bright lights, the greetings and doorbell.

Imagine if you own a spa massage place, and the electricity went out. Would you continue to offer service with no lights and sweaty hot environment? No, it will destroy your business image and most importantly, the customer experience.

You wouldn't continue to offer services to passengers if you are a bus driver with a transmission stuck in 1st gear would you?

[benalibina]

How about something as simple as service?

If you wanted products, you could go to your average mom and pops shop.

But 7-11 is about the shopping experience, the right temperature when you walk in, the bright lights, the greetings and doorbell.

Imagine if you own a spa massage place, and the electricity went out. Would you continue to offer service with no lights and sweaty hot environment? No, it will destroy your business image and most importantly, the customer experience.

You wouldn't continue to offer services to passengers if you are a bus driver with a transmission stuck in 1st gear would you?

You forgot ...the background music..shopping experience.

[elgenon]

Because no annoying ding dong bell .

And without that noise 7-11 is no longer 7-11

555555555555555555555555555 Love it!!!!!!!!!

[bkkcanuck8]

To summarise:

- No security (no power), shoplifting

- refrigerator/freezers have to be kept closed (half of what a 7/11 sells)

- Safety - would not be legal in North America if lights lower than minimum -- probably wise to make sure people don't get hurt anyway if not a legal requirement. (7/11 brand needs protecting so must keep same standard)

- No cash registers / scanners - and often staff do not have the math skills to work it out themselves (I have had a few where you change things a little - like hand change to make sure no change back and it confuses them).

- The ghosts come out to play.

[RTH10260]

They don't trust their staff.

Right - the CCTV and the cash register stop working during a power cut.

I have noticed that lately there are some appliances available that keep them working.

Think they're called UPS or something.

A small business type UPS will keep some electronics going for about 20minutes. Investing into anything larger will drive a typical Thai shop out of business. Edited October 19, 2014 by RTH10260

[malt25]

Me thinks this topic is just about worn out. Many valid reasons why 7-11 close during power outage.

Hope you all have a great day, I know I will.

Cheers..... Mal.

[Strangebrew]

Power go out no light Thai's think must be bed time.

[sirineou]

The aircons and coolers go off so they keep the door shut to slow down the temp rise. Duh.

Bingo!! we have a winner

The really dont know how long the power will be off, if people were allowed to go in and out , opening and closing refrigerator doors. very soon the temperature in these refrigerators would be room temperature.

I wonder what the looses would be if all refrigerated 7-11 stock was at room temperature for a couple of hours, and whether any additional sales they made that time would cover such loses.

[captspectre]

is this a serous post? a little late for holloween. BUT in case you have the mind of a peanut, the answer is when the power goes off, the automatic doors don't work, the cash register don't work, the thai employees are not smart enough or HONEST enough to manually log all purchases. plus the long lines that would develope would be hard to handle.

[enufsaid]

It's because they won't have security with door buzzer going and also fridges freezers being open and ruining food. They don't know how long powers going out for

[Strangebrew]

This not about bashing this is about safety There are or should be rules and regulations concerning safety of passengers carrying vehicles. And these rules and regulations need to be followed and enforced . Period. If in deed there were 40 passengers on a speedboat then speedboat owner and operator should be held liable for any deaths. Till then this will keep going on. But if passengers were on fishing boat then fishing boat owner and operator are liable for having passengers on a commercial fishing vessel. It is about Accountability here.

[benalibina]

This not about bashing this is about safety There are or should be rules and regulations concerning safety of passengers carrying vehicles. And these rules and regulations need to be followed and enforced . Period. If in deed there were 40 passengers on a speedboat then speedboat owner and operator should be held liable for any deaths. Till then this will keep going on. But if passengers were on fishing boat then fishing boat owner and operator are liable for having passengers on a commercial fishing vessel. It is about Accountability here.

Hmmm...you posted in the wrong thread....maybe....this is about 7/11 and power outages....

[sirineou]

This not about bashing this is about safety There are or should be rules and regulations concerning safety of passengers carrying vehicles. And these rules and regulations need to be followed and enforced . Period. If in deed there were 40 passengers on a speedboat then speedboat owner and operator should be held liable for any deaths. Till then this will keep going on. But if passengers were on fishing boat then fishing boat owner and operator are liable for having passengers on a commercial fishing vessel. It is about Accountability here.

You mean they close 7-11's during a power outage so that boats will not run int them?

[bheard]

Get real. No shop can operate without power these days.

[bongoz]

Most of the people I have seen working in a 7/11 wouldn't be capable of turning on a calculator let alone work out how to use it.

Someone has a chip on their shoulder against Thai people ^^

Also check out bertty Topic about -Thais taking selfies - "And it doesn't seem to matter if they are as ugly as a sack of spanners."

"Do they realize how retarded they come across as ?."

"Do they realize how retarded they come across as ?."

Who the Thais?

On a serious note - there are things called UPS's (uninterrupted power supply) that are designed to allow a computer system to function when the power goes out. Available in different sizes and capacities.

If it was a viable option I'm sure 7-11 would be using them. All major retailers throughout the world use them and also have generators...

[mrtoad]

This has been keeping me up at night for years, thanks for the answers

[gyrosman]

Food quality control. How many 7-11 in the near blocks. Southland Corp.(USA), still operates at a Westerner quality control product company before some tourist said's; Oh! I got sick eating a hot dog or deli meat because they sold it to me when the power went off.

[keestha]

Thanks for all the replies, and for the replies which are possibly yet to come. I was surprised that an opening post about something you couldn't call hot stuff generated an avalanche of replies. Quite a few people saying things that really make sense, like temperature in the fridges/freezers getting too high. Anyways I am glad that for the daily shopping for my restaurant, I depend on a supermarket which keeps going when the power goes off.

[iamariva1957]

Disparaging remarks regarding the employees aside (too many folks on this site seem to think that it is fare to do that), 7/11's close during power outages simply because they are mandated to by corporate. This is only because this is Thailand and no one is exactly sure when the power will come back on and due the fact that the stores are not equipped with the POS (point of sale) forms/paperwork. It is a pain for both the store and the customers.The stores do not have power backups (except for the perhaps, and I stress perhaps the computer system. But this is usually purchased by the owner of the franchise though in some cases by the corporate rep on behalf of).

But such is life.

[Suradit69]

How would the 711 staff know how much each item cost without the barcode reader?

And presumably the barcode reader also works with inventory accounting.

That said, a local Family Mart stays open and the staff have used a calculator as well as writing down barcode numbers that they must plan on running through the system when power is restored.

[A1Str8]

Use a calculator, put it into the system later etc seriously?

That might work in another country but i strongly doubt that Thais could do it.

[samran]

Given they are multi national and highly successful firm in Thailand it probably revolves around duty of care to the customers. Don't want people tripping in the dark.

The staff may not be too bright, but the marketers behind it have a brilliant formula for maximising the revenue potential of every square inch of their stores.

[mikiea]

seems like some of us have nothing to do.....so we whine about the closed 7/11 or complain about the counter help in the store.some of you need to put on your big boy pants on & stop the crying. if it is so bad here, well... dont let the door smack you in the a#s on the way out :-)

[bertty]

seems like some of us have nothing to do.....so we whine about the closed 7/11 or complain about the counter help in the store.some of you need to put on your big boy pants on & stop the crying. if it is so bad here, well... dont let the door smack you in the a#s on the way out :-)

And some have even less to do other than moan about people moaning.

Don't even try the big boy pants. They sure as hell wont fit.

[KonaRain]

Cash registers.. and keeping the cooler doors closed 'til the power returns..

How big a UPS would I need to keep everything going for 20 minutes..

Have a good morning..

[Thai at Heart]

Because it's mandatory with every purchase to ask the customer in Thai: "do you want that microwaved?"

Yes, even cigarettes and a can of coke

[mikiea]

seems like some of us have nothing to do.....so we whine about the closed 7/11 or complain about the counter help in the store.some of you need to put on your big boy pants on & stop the crying. if it is so bad here, well... dont let the door smack you in the a#s on the way out :-)

And some have even less to do other than moan about people moaning.

Don't even try the big boy pants. They sure as hell wont fit.