One of the big national convenience store chains has two stores between the train station and our house. We prefer using Lawson because they tend to stock a lot of different items, occasionally weird ones, and that makes for superior drunken shopping. We’ve been visiting for a while now, and thanks to my unique appearance we are familiar with most of the clerks. They always give us an extra smile when we come in, and sometimes throw some extra goodies in the bag.
This is one of those cases where being different is good – I’m sure most people that shop there don’t get extras. But I guess they like us a lot, and we are scoring little snacks here and there. They occasionally say hello when walking on the street, and it sometimes takes a second to recognize them without their signature uniforms. There are other choices nearby – 7-11 and Family Mart, but the friendly service (and chance of freebies) at Lawson brings us back.
It is interesting to see this kind of customer service in action. For most Japanese people I think that any convenience store will do, and there are a lot of them to choose from. Usually the transaction is quick and without any warmth. The workers are paid very little and the customers are in a hurry to get on with their day, and so there is no time for small talk (in fact, it probably would piss off the other customers). I wonder what the effect would be if a convenience store chain encouraged a little more warmth in their employees for everyday transactions.
There is a cultural difference in what makes a good transaction – I put a high priority on friendliness, smiling, and the efficiency and speed of the worker. I’m guessing that most Japanese customers have only one priority – efficiency and speed. They may throw in politeness, but the repetitive mechanical chant of “thanks, please come again” passes for politeness here.
The local convenience store is a little sociological snapshot just around the corner – and as you can see, it provides a lot of food for thought for me day to day…
