Anybody here ever successfully conquer a cash register

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Any tips and advice would be appreciated.

Are you taking one apart or trying to use one?

I've held many retail jobs. If you're trying to use one (I STANK at it, but managed to hold these jobs anyway) I will be happy to give you my experience - but please be more specific. Where are you trying to use one? What type of job is it?

Is the cash register a computer system or an old-fashioned crank one with numbers? What types of money will you be dealing with (Cash, credit, checks, money orders?)

I use one continually. I can rebuild one, and given the manual, reprogram one. I make about one error every two months and I'm on a register about 5 hours a day. There is some basic register stuff that might help with an Aspie. The big one is to NOT let yourself get distracted. Practice saying "just one sec." Either face the customer OR face the register but don't ever, ever, ever try to both run the register and talk to the customer simultanously. You will get them both wrong. If they try and speak to you, just ask for a second, finish the button and math part of the transaction, and then do the social bit. If they get snippy about it, come up with a pat phrase about getting the money right or math is hard or something like that. Use one hand for taking in money, cards, flying monkeys or whatever, and the other hand for giving money, receipts and flying monkeys or whatever back. Figure out how to control the interaction flow to reduce dead silence, because the customer will want to ask you questions and you will get confused. Asking them for ID (credit card machines take some time) gives them something to do while you're finishing the button part of the transaction. Use a generic greeting, such as "Hello" instead of "Good morning" in case you screw them up and then people laugh and it's sort of weird.

Now, if anybody has any idea what to do with the bastard who plays keep-a-way with his money, I'd love to hear some suggestions. I can't figure that one out.

Before I moved to the sales floor at my work I used to work the registers. They were the best designed registers ever. So easy to use, so idiot-proof. Yes it took me 5-10 minutes when i first started working there to get used to it and so they could teach me how to use it but I was fine.

The only thing i needed to worry about was putting on the smile and saying hello to the customers

I worked a lot of years in retail. I can work a register. The more primitive the better but I can manage the new ones with the split transaction processes and all the bells and whistles. I like that a supervisor's key isn't necessary for every single Return/Exchange anymore.

But, as a customer, do you know what I like best? The Self Check-outs. I love those. I don't have to deal with cashiers or baggers. I just ring, pay and go all on my own.

My advice is to find a pattern. Understand your transactions and make a list of what has to be done during each transaction. Then keep at your patterns until they become habit. You'll probably have moments where your mind will totally blank and that's okay... then you just look at your list. If a customer gets agitated because you're not working fast, just apologize and say, "I'm really going slower today and I hate it. It's my dumb allergies." and smile. People will understand and back off then.

But if you create your lists and establish your patterns, you'll train up well and the register won't be challenging.

I worked on a cash register with the Aloha computer program installed on it for nearly three years. I think I can give you a few tips and tricks with working on a register.
First, memorization is king in this situation. Memorize pricing, button locations, and, if you have a new register with all the whistles and bells, menus for varying options for certain items and the options themselves.
Second, it is okay to look at the register and glance up once in a while to ask a few questions. Most customers will understand this, but there are a few who will get in your face to look you in the eye.
Third, use the inability to look people in the face to an advantage. If you notice a piece of jewelry or some article of clothing, compliment the customer on it. People eat this up, and will remember it.
Fourth, try to memorize customer's orders, if appropriate. Again, people love this.
Finally, and I know you probably have heard this, the customer is always right. This means that if the customer is angry, do your best to make them happy. Where appropriate, give them something complimentary, like a coupon good for their next visit. Even if it is not your fault, apologize; people seem to love to hear this and can diffuse an explosive situation lickety split.

When i started my job at a convenience store, i required less than 30 minutes of training on the register. We use the PalmPOS (not related to Palm phones) system, which runs under windows XP with a touchscreen. I have never had problems with cash registers, having started out in a grocery store with a Retailix System under Linux, later worked for walmart which had the old school keyboards, and now at the C-store with Palm.

Without knowing the system, i really cant offer any advice, except that repeating the same process over and over will eventually make it stick.

I haven't worked a register in years, but in my younger days I did time in fast food and a few Gas Stations (three - but all for the same company).

Memorize the routine - I could walk into Mighty Taco tommorow and take an order - I worked there 15 years ago.
- Hard or Soft shell?
- Hot, Medium or Mild?
- Sour Cream?
- Would you like a drink with that?
- Would you like to try an empanada? (or whatever the extra was that month)

Practice your patter - only you know you're saying the same thing to the customers all day - to them it's a fresh conversation.

Make it fun - Dianna and I opened the kitchen every morning, then worked side by side on the registers.. We'd have little contests - see who had the biggest drawer, see who could get the most drinks for the other person. I suspect that's why I actually enjoyed the job.

Have a set list of things you're supposed to do when there are no customers. I used to stuff comment cards in the bags whenever the line died down..... or at the gas station I had a list of things to stock - cigarettes to count, gas sales to total, beer cooler, pop cooler, snacks..... and I usually had a book with me for once I finished my routine. Robo loved me - that's why I worked at three of their stores over the course of years (1994-2000) whenever I needed some extra income.

Nice choice of words. Standing at a cash register for hours can feel like prison. I hope to be out on parole in the near future.

This definately. I work in a supermarket, and I used to dread whenever a customer wanted me to take off a scanned item they ended up not wanting, because it would require the supervisor's key and oftentimes she was busy. The customer would get irritated, I would feel mad, and boy was it not fun. So I am glad this is a feature.


I have mastered the cash register, and while it can look hard to an outsider, mostly what it comes down to is just repetition, repetition, repetition. You end up doing the same things several hundred times a week. Eventually it becomes rote and time goes by quickly.

Are you looking for advice with the register itself, or the combination of customers and cash registers?

I worked in a hypermarket last year and a little bit before last year. The job was all right. Supervisors micromanaged you like crazy, corporate had ridiculous rules, but co-workers were great. I got along well with nearly all of them. People understood my sense of humor, and no one gave me a hard time for my personality quirks. Since I'm good with computers, after the word got around about that, I ended up being the go-to guy for approving electronics returns, since I was good at finding out if they were fraudulent (like taking out the USB cable).

Most customers were neither good nor bad. They just wanted to get their merchandise, pay the right amount, and leave. A few were really great and made my day, and fewer still were actually difficult. It was the fact that there were many of them that made things overwhelming at times.

The cash registers themselves, I had no problems with whatsoever. Since I work in the IT field in my career, learning devices was like second nature to me. After a few practice rounds and maybe a few rough patches at first, I was working the register like I've done it for years.