SELF-SEEVING IN EETAILING FOOD PRODUCTS. 31 



of goods, which the dealer believes represent the best value to the 

 customer, would be almost impossible. This salesmanship is brought 

 about by the proper correlation between the outside advertising 

 (newspapers, circulars, etc) and the display of merchandise in the 

 store. This backing-up of the advertising is probably best effected 

 by the use of display tables. Articles on the tables located nearest 

 the entrance have more prominence than articles located in any 

 other part of the store ; therefore the use of tables so situated is most 

 effective. By the constant use of the front tables to display ar- 

 ticles advertised, or, wdiere advertising is not extensively carried on, 

 to display articles of exceptional value both as to quality and price, 

 the customer comes to look upon the merchandise on those tables 

 with special interest. If care is used in selecting the articles, so 

 that in every case the customer's satisfaction is assured, the method 

 can be made very efficient. In the case of one successful self-seri^e 

 store the customers have apparently come to give as much weight to 

 the fact that an article is displayed on a certain table as they would 

 to the recommendation of a salesman. 



In order that the customers who do not see the advertisements nor 

 notice the articles on the display table may find those goods in their 

 accustomed places, it is advisable to leave some of them on the 

 shelves ; so the tables should be filled from the stock room rather than 

 from the shelves. Some dealers use numerous signs indicating the 

 location of the various groups or classes of merchandise in an en- 

 deavor to aid the customers in locating their purchases. In the case of 

 articles on the display tables, the large price tag is headed with the 

 name of th€ article itself. Investigations have shown, however, that 

 if the merchandise is arranged logically, customers have very little 

 difficulty in locating their purchases where no signs are used except 

 those stating the price. 



PREVENTION OF THIEVERY. 



Assuming that under the self-service plan, because of the accessi- 

 bility of the merchandise, the attention of the public is more fre- 

 quently called to the possibility of petty thievery or shoplifting and 

 that this petty thievery does exist to a greater extent than in the serv- 

 ice stores, the question is, How can it be most successfully combated ? 

 It has already been shown that under proper conditions thievery does 

 not exist to such an extent as to make self-service impracticable; 

 that is, the saving in the cost of operation and the elimination of 

 other conditions existing under the service plan outweigh the loss 

 which is assumed to be peculiar to self-service. 



The loss varies greatly in different localities and under different 

 conditions, depending apparently upon the class of trade to which 

 the store caters. An idea as to its extent can be obtained by observa- 



