Check: are you problem-free?

We often ask bag users if they have problems opening bags. The most common answer is "oh my goodness yes" and only infrequently do we hear "no".
    The small "no" group is dominated by retail checkout staff who use racked bags---but, even there, less than a half of them answer "no". Furthermore, when we query the "no" response, we often get the answers "well, sometimes you get a batch that's hard to open", or "well, I used to have trouble until I started using moisturiser on my fingers".  (Amazingly, Staples even sells a special moisturiser for retail checkouts. Good idea, but not as good as fixing the problem in the first place!)
    Another component of the "no" group is people (rare in the total population) who have unusually grippy fingers. Most of us have dry fingers, which may explain why some people say the problem with bags is weather-related; it's not the bags that change with the weather, it's our fingers.

Finger-licking / spitting check:

How often, in a supermarket or food business, do you see staff or customers licking a finger to help open a bag? It is surprisingly often that people do it.

In a supermarket produce section, how often to you see a customer peel off and discard (without trying them) a layer of bags from a roll, and take the next bag to use? Ever wonder why they are doing that? To get a bag that could not have been touched by another finger-licking customer. Think how many people avoid the self-pack section entirely, due to disgust at the idea of spitty fingers having touched half the produce already. How does that affect customer perceptions of your store?

We've even had a produce department employee advise that the best way to open a bag is to lick your fingers first.

Think of that in the context of disease. What's your due diligence with regard to hygiene? Consider that in post-problem terms, given that hygiene-friendly bags are now available: "what would the judge say"?

Produce depts are major profit centers

Do they care? Do supermarkets care about ease-of-use of bags? Is it fair to think "they don't care because it's the customer's time"? Well, maybe some might think that, but think it through (this is how you or your competition will market to supermarkets). Produce departments are major profit centers ... and that means that attracting the competing supermarket's customers is a primary profit booster. If the manager preferentially markets produce over canned or frozen produce, how much better would it be to bring the competition's produce customers?

Customers are people, and people don't like germs, dirt, nuisance, or wasting time. People know about SARS and Norwalk Virus, and people are simply grossed out when they realise people are licking fingers and touching produce. Produce with other people's saliva on it? It isn't even necessary to say it. People will shop more where they are more comfortable. "Bags that don't fight back"™ are an attraction even without the customer being aware of it. We don't realise how many things we do each day that we don't think about, but these are smart choices we make subconsciously to save time and frustration. Choosing a cleaner store is that kind of subconscious decision. Choosing a store where you don't waste time fighting the bags is also like that.

How quickly will people figure out how to open the new bags?

Can you use a clothespeg? Do instructions come with a hammer? See it work once, and you've got it. When it works better, you remember it for sure. Your customers are smart. Give them a smart product.