I have worked in retail. So, my guess is that if they have checkout clerks with roving devices they are going to multi-task them to death. And they will frequently be sent off the sales floor. So, customers will be wandering around looking for some over worked clerk.

I have literally walked all over that store looking for an open cash register.

At times, I've felt like jumping up on the counter and yelling, "I've got money and I'm willing to spend it!!"

Whenever I encounter that, I am really loathe to give that store any return business.

Best of luck to Penney at it continues to try to make itself viable.

it needn't be done wrong.

I understand the concept and I just don't seeing working with their entire customer base which I suspect contains a goodly number of folks who will be resistant to change (older folks in particular come to mind). I also suspect it will increase shoplifting as those roving checkers will be "roving" overworked and not able to watch the entryways as well as stationary checkers and frankly they can't security tag every little item in the store.

We now have to drive 50 miles just to get to the nearest store.

JC Penney sales have nosedived because he got rid of all sales...the point of shopping for the vast number of people is to find a bragain...if there are no sales, why shop?

That said, the demographics for JC Penney might not be best for mobile checkouts.

Here's an idea...hire more people to staff the check-outs.

Not everybody is into their clothes, but people do still decorate their houses, now I've had to go to the internet to find curtains and I've got to be honest it's terrible. They can get rid of all the queue's they want, when they start cutting down on what is even displayed in the store, how does that drive business?

It works int he apple stores because they are small but in a big store how are people going to find them?
I personally find even the apple store system more annoying than convenient.
I prefer knowing where to go when I'm ready to pay.

The sample gadgets are out in the open and tethered to the display tables/counters. Stuff on shelves is pretty much confined to one or two areas, and of course there is nothing like clothing racks. Access to merchandise, especially high value merch, is far more limited.

Is the plan to hire enough people to provide concierge service to everyone who walks in the store? I'm rather doubting that is the case...

Sounds like it's kind of like the Jones Store or Macy's around here that have little checkout kiosks scattered all throughout the store. Sometimes that is handy, but other times I have to wander around to about 5 different kiosks before I find someone working at one. Then, the one that I find is in some weird department like women's bras and there is a line there of like 12 people because they too couldn't find an open payment kiosk.

What a goofy idea. If JC Penney really wants to be more successful, try to be more like Kohl's and send us mroe coupons and stuff. That's what it's all about for wife and I and kids, where can we get decent quality clothes for CHEAP.

Just in case you haven't, it consists of pieces of paper with numbers and pictures, and round pieces of metal, also with numbers and various imprinted designs. Some of them are quite cute, actually.

With no cash registers, how in the world is some silly old person like me goi8ng to be able to pay for my goods? I guess I'll have to shop elsewhere.

I have a debit card, but use it almost exclusively for online purchases and I don't have any credit cards.