convenience
Rich, poor, Slimfast or Milky Way, one thing grocery store customers can usually agree on is that they hate waiting in line. Retailers have sought out a number of solutions over the years - from self-checkout terminals to entertaining distractions and ambient fragrances - but, according to
the Wall Street Journal, the latest trend is single-line queues.
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usaa
The friendliest bank in the world, USAA, will soon let customers instantaneously deposit checks through its iPhone application. Here's how it works: you snap a picture of the front and back of your check, and send the picture to USAA. That's it.
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subway
Subway has launched a
pilot program called SubwayNow where
New York City residents (Manhattan only at the moment, it looks like) can register to place pick-up orders via text message. According to IntoMobile, after registering with your address and providing payment info, which they keep on file, you set up a list of sandwich orders that are saved as a personal menu. When you're ready to use the service, you text "menu" to the Subway shortcode, and Subway sends back your pre-set menu. Then you text back the menu item you want, and Subway responds with a pick-up time.
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skippy
As any convenience-seeking American knows, the bane of natural
peanut butter is its tendency to separate into an unspreadable sludge of crushed peanut and an eager-to-spill pond of oil. You have to stir the two together to get back to the peanut butter texture you've come to expect from the hybridized brands. Skippy says they've solved the problem, but based on the two jars one customer bought, they're plain nuts (
wocka wocka!).
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no credit
Four benjamins will no longer get you an iPhone, now that
Apple is requiring credit cards for all iPhone purchases. The new policy, which is billed as an anti-piracy initiative, also prevents customers from buying more than two iPhones per visit.
Apple claims the policy went into effect this Thursday, however we received the following tip more than a week ago:
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food
For all of us out there who are hungry but antisocial, the New York Times today presents
an overview of online food ordering services. The benefits are obvious - it's fast, (usually) more accurate, you can place an order the day before, and you don't need cash. Lots of chain restaurants are now offering it (
Pizza Hut,
Subway, and
Papa John's are some examples), but there are also a few special websites that aggregate menus from multiple restaurants (after the break).
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Consumerist
