Comment from the Flickr page:

I work at Target and used to be a front end manager. There is a Y (yellow) “speed score” but it is not shown on the register. On the weekly cashier speed report yellow is between 80%-87% I believe.

The actual G/Y/R rating is created by a very elaborate timing setup. There is a specific amount of time allowed for each item scanned, with apparel and accessories (clothes) items being given more time then hard-lines items (stuff like food/toys/health/beauty).

Each form of payment also has different timing specifics. Check payments are given the longest time, and credit the shortest I believe. If you meet or exceed the goal time, you are scored with the giant “G” after the transaction. If not, you’ll receive the giant “R” and death will swoop down upon you.

If all this isn’t enough to drive you insane… the scores are also sent in real time to the front end supervisor and store leader on duty via their handheld device. As you can tell, cashier speed is of major importance to Target.

Any suggestions for keywords to use if I wanted to set up some persistent searches to scoop this kind of stuff up? I can’t think of anything obvious. It feels like it would actually be a really hard blog to maintain—you’d need contributors from every industry, every sub-industry. It’s not like a pre-existing subculture with established lines of communication. So how would contributors find out about it in the first place? Hmm.