Expat shocked by Kmart checkout detail

One US woman has expressed her shock at a uniquely Kmart detail – and she has Aussie shoppers nodding in agreement.

When it comes to Kmart there are some experiences that are all too common.

Like how it’s possible to just ‘nip in’ to the store for one item and find yourself leaving 45 minutes later with everything but the kitchen sink.

Or how you don’t go to Kmart with a shopping list of what you need but instead let Kmart tell you what you should buy.

These experiences are something US expat Kaymie Wuerfel can relate to with the TikTok star, who has more than 244,000 followers on the app, sharing her first time going “down the rabbit hole called Kmart”.

The US woman recalled picking out items – but forgetting the socks she had gone to Kmart to buy. Picture: TikTok/@kayywuerf

In the video Ms Wuerfel recounted nipping into Kmart to buy socks, only to quickly get distracted by all the cheap products available.

She ended up picking out clothes, candles and plastic containers – forgetting the socks she had gone to Kmart for in the first place – and walked to the front of the store to pay.

But Ms Wuerfel was stopped by a Kmart security worker who asked: “Excuse me, where do you think you’re going?”

Explaining that she wanted to pay, the store employee told Ms Wuerfel she needed to go to the middle of the store.

“Oh so I go to the middle of the store to check out … OK then,” she replied, confused.

Ms Wuerfel had been stopped by a Kmart security worker trying to buy her items at the front of the store. Picture: TikTok/@kayywuerf

She was surprised to learn she had to pay in the centre of the store. Picture: TikTok/@kayywuerf

Ms Wuerfel’s video has since been viewed more than 131,000 times, with Aussie shoppers say they too could relate to her confusion over Kmart’s checkout location, claiming it “made zero sense”.

“Don’t worry, even we don’t understand why they changed it to the middle,” one person commented.

“I don’t think a single one of us Aussies understand why Kmart has their checkout in the middle of the store,” a shopper commented.

“It’s so confusing!”

“It still confuses me that we pay at the back too,” another wrote.

Why does Kmart have its checkouts in the middle of the store?

Kmart began changing its store layouts to having checkouts in the middle of the store rather than the traditional retail location of at the front of stores in 2017.

Retail analyst Barry Urquhart said at the time the change was about getting customers to “spend more” and increase “productivity and profitability”.

By getting customers to the centre of the store to pay, Kmart hoped to get customers to buy more “ancillary items” related to what they already planned to purchase, he claimed.

“They are looking at the psychology of the store layout,” Mr Urquhart said.

Kmart moved its checkouts to the centre of the store in 2017. Picture: Supplied

“What Kmart is doing is trying to attract people into the soft area of the retail store and get them migrating through the store.”

Kmart and Target’s senior manager of corporate affairs Steve Mann told news.com.au in 2018 the decision to move registers to the middle of stores had been a success.

“The rationale is we want the entrance of the stores to be free from clutter and inviting for people, showing off our products rather than registers,” he said.

“We’ve noticed the layout is more open now and more spacious without having the registers up at the front part, which can get congested during busy times of the year like Christmas.”