The Checkout Where There's Time

In the summer of 2019, in Vlijmen, a small town in Brabant, the Netherlands, a Jumbo supermarket opened a checkout unlike the others.

It is called the kletskassa. The "chat checkout."

Here, nobody tries to go fast. You can take your time. Say hello, talk about the weather, your week, your grandchildren. The cashier has time to listen.

The idea came from Colette Cloosterman-van Eerd, an executive at the company. She started from a simple observation:

"Many people, the elderly in particular, can feel lonely," she said.

In the Netherlands, about 1.3 million people are over 75. More than half say they regularly feel lonely.

The chat checkout was born at the same time as a national programme, Eén tegen eenzaamheid, "One Against Loneliness," run by the Ministry of Health.

The trial worked. In 2021, Jumbo announced about 200 chat checkouts, first in areas where loneliness weighs the most. Some stores also added a chat corner, with coffee.

By early 2026, these checkouts were operating in more than 200 stores.

For the company, the secret is not a machine. It is a person. Enthusiastic employees, open to a chat with their neighbours, are, according to Jumbo, the most important element.

At a time when you can buy groceries without meeting a single pair of eyes, a slow checkout becomes a gesture against the current.

And Jumbo does not want to keep the idea to itself:

Loneliness is not solved in one minute at the till. But one minute when someone looks at you and listens can be what the whole day was missing.

Anyone can offer that gesture. Slow down at the checkout. Ask the cashier how they are, and wait for the answer. Let someone who wants to talk have the time. Suggest the idea to your local store.