Bagger, packer, sacker or bag boy (US)
is an unofficial title given to a courtesy clerk at a
grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...
.
Job profile
The primary duties of a bagger revolve around putting
groceries
A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...
into a
shopping bag
Shopping bags are medium-sized bags, typically around 10–20 litres (2.5–5 gallons) in volume (though much larger versions exist, especially for non-grocery shopping), that are used by shoppers to carry home their purchases. Some are intende ...
and then into a
shopping cart
A shopping cart (American English), trolley (British English, Australian English), or buggy (Southern American English, Appalachian English), also known by a variety of #Name, other names, is a wheeled cart supplied by a Retail#Types of ret ...
.
Upon requests, baggers may take the groceries out to a
customer
In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a Client (business), client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a Good (economics), good, service (economics), service, product (business), product, or an Intellectual prop ...
's
motor vehicle
A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...
or supply other forms of service.
Some baggers in stores will do this unless the customer refuses and wishes to bring their own groceries out. Depending on store policy, it may be customary to tip a courtesy clerk for this service.
Depending on the store, other duties may include cleaning the store, cleaning the
bathrooms
A bathroom is a room in which people wash their bodies or parts thereof. It can contain one or more of the following plumbing fixtures: a shower, a bathtub, a bidet, and a sink (also known as a wash basin in the United Kingdom). A toilet is al ...
, collecting carts, sweeping the store, fixing and maintaining the
bottle recycling machines, giving customer assistance, putting back items left behind, and reorganizing products on aisles to make a neater appearance (commonly called "breaking down", "blocking", "facing", or "conditioning").
Some courtesy clerks can perform maintenance in the stores, such as minor plumbing, electrical, landscaping, child care, elderly assistance, and many more jobs.
The duties vary vastly depending on the store and
union regulations, and some of the previous duties, in fact, are actually prohibited from being done at some stores by a courtesy clerk due to union contracts.
Etymology
The title of ''bagger'' is the result of an extensive evolution of the position of ''courtesy clerk''.
The title ''bag boy'' was adopted for some time, until it was finally shortened to ''bagger''.
Availability
The position of baggers is particularly widespread in grocery stores in the United States.
There are volunteer baggers in Mexico who primarily offer services for tips.
Other countries never adopted this service.
There are no baggers in Norway.
In Germany, self-service is standard
and shopping carts are also used to load one’s vehicle oneself, ''without'' necessarily transferring goods to a bag first, with the American branch of
Aldi
Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...
also utilizing this type of non-bagging service to reduce overall store costs (though bags are sold in stores to account for customers loading their own bags in the dedicated bagging section in front of the store after checkout).
Convenience stores usually do not employ baggers.
The customer frequency is too low.
Instead, cashiers may perform the duties of a bagger (provided the purchase volume is significant enough).
In territories
prohibiting alcohol consumption in public, liquor stores bag individual bottles at the checkout.
See also
*
Checkout divider
*
Right to sit
References
{{Wiktionary, bagboy
Bags
Personal care and service occupations