Not to be confused with Percent Effective, Ring Tender is an indicator that tells us whether or not your Front End is moving Customers through the check lanes quickly and efficiently. The ELMS system calculates the time it should have taken a cashier to process an order based on the order size and method of payment, then divides that number by the actual time it took the cashier to process the order. A store that consistently achieves a 95% or better every week will have fewer instances of lines backing up throughout the day. Floor supervision, managing queue lines, extended hours on all available express lanes, increased self-checkout utilization, and proper training on productivity for all new cashiers and courtesy clerks are keys to achieving success on your Front End every day.
How Much Time Am I Given For Each Task?
Every possible task is given a value (a measure of time in seconds). Here are the most common task and their value in seconds:
| Description | Value (in Seconds) | |
| Item Scanned-Standard | 1.523 | |
| Manufacturer Coupons Scanned-Standard | 2.041 | |
| Item Scanned Express Lane-Standard | 2.900 | |
| Item Lookup-Standard | 3.464 | |
| Item Weight from Scale-Standard | 3.531 | |
| Cancel Key (Item Void)-Standard | 4.766 | |
| Change From Till-Standard | 7.402 | |
| Age Verification-Standard | 7.988 | |
| Manual Card Entry-Standard | 17.708 | |
| Cash Tendered-Standard | 20.635 | |
| Gift Certificates-Standard | 26.339 | |
| Debit Cards-Standard | 26.515 | |
| Credit Cards-Standard | 31.877 | |
| EBT Cash-Standard | 51.077 | |
| EBT Food Stamps-Standard | 51.077 | |
| Manager Override-Standard | 60.571 | |
| WIC Vouchers-Standard | 61.078 | |
| Personal Check-Standard | 63.200 | |
Every task you perform within an order is added together. Then all your orders for the day are totaled together. Then the total time (Standard) it should have taken you to process the days orders is divided by the time it took you to process the days orders to determine your ELMS score.
This example is for those who don’t meet the goal of 95% or underperform.
Time it should have taken you to perform the tasks you performed in the order: 2 minutes 30 seconds or 150 seconds.
Time it took you to process the same exact order: 3 minutes or 180 seconds.
Time it should have taken you /Time that it took you:
150/180 = 83.3% Score
This example is for those who meet the goal of 95% or exceed it.
Time it should have taken you to perform the tasks you performed in the order: 2 minutes 30 seconds or 150 seconds.
Time it took you to process the same exact order: 2 minutes or 120 seconds.
Time it should have taken you /Time that it took you:
150/120 = 125% Score
The difference in these two examples is only 60 seconds and a difference of 41.7% in the scores. A few seconds from each order you process, added together throughout the day, adds up and can make a HUGE difference in your weekly ELMS Score.
