ABSTRACT
Grounded in ethnomethodology and multimodal conversation analysis, this chapter describes how supermarket shoppers organize the check before checkout; that is, the practice they engage in when they glance into their basket before approaching the checkout counter or browse the list of items in the virtual basket before clicking Go to Checkout. The data comprise video and eye-tracking recordings of shopping in brick-and-mortar and online supermarkets. The analysis demonstrates how shoppers organize the check before checkout and what it serves to accomplish at that point in the shopping activity. Based on the analytic findings, the chapter discusses how shoppers’ organization of the check before checkout in online and brick-and-mortar supermarket shopping reveals their different orientations to trust and accountability in these different shopping environments: Customers assume accountability and trust to operate in brick-and-mortar supermarkets, while customers in online supermarkets do not.
