97 Cents in Change is Stupid

I've never understood why a single purchased product would generate a pocket full of change.  You know...those stops for a coffee or bagel and the clerk rings up $2.03.

Oh my. 

Just what I needed. 

97 cents of change rattling around in my pocket.  In fact, I'd rather the price be $2.99.  Seriously, put the penny in the "Take a Penny" holder and thank you very much.

Seth Godin agrees and has a post that is written much better than mine...as always!

[link] to Keep the change...

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tags:  coins | customer service

Comments

[Mark Sicignano]

I worked for a company called RetailDNA a few years back. They understand exactly this point. The customer doesn't want this loose change, and the restaurants DO want the loose change. Why give it back at all?

So RetailDNA has an advanced POS system that looks at the amount of change, and figures out what it can offer to the customer as an "upsell". It takes into account the profit and likelihood of the customer accepting the offer.

For example, let's say you're going to get $0.47 in change back, and you ordered two hamburgers, two cokes, and one fry. Hmmm, fries retail for $1.19, but they only cost $0.20... That's an extra profit of $0.27, and the customer gets a "deal" as well. Looks like the order was for two people (two burgers, two cokes, and only one fry), so I'm guessing that they'd like another fry.

Sure, I'll have another fry instead of that $0.47 in change that I don't really want.

[Paughnee]

It's funny. I just read Terry's post asking why anyone still uses checks. Then, I see that Business2.0 has a bit about the decreasing circulation of coins in Japan due to the increasing use of digital cash and credit ( http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog/2005/09/goodbye_coins_h.html ). Then, I come here and see you writing about loose change.

I remember when I was little kid, I would always have fun at my grandparents house collecting all the pennies. Grandpa would never carry pennies and just dumped them in various places throughout the house. My sister and I would get small empty butter tubs w/ lids and go on a scavenger hunt. Then, we'd entertain ourselves playing with our pennies -- looking at all the dates, counting them, etc.

Sorry to digress there, but the memory just hit me.