Retailers: Get Customer-Centric with Queue Management
Customer-centric suggests putting a focus on the customer experience. It’s not easy for retailers to keep pace with the changing ways people want to shop for products and connect with brands. Consumers expect an enhanced shopping experience. How can retailers address the question: How do I better serve my customers? Implementing an automated line management system will improve the customer experience and enhance profitability, too.
Consider the Emotions Surrounding Waiting In Line
No one likes waiting in line and there are many lines we can’t avoid like at airports, the DMV (yuck!) and sports events.
Having customers waiting in line to purchase is a real problem for retailers. Did you realize most purchase decisions are first made emotionally and then justified logically?
It’s way too easy for shoppers, when confronted with a line, to balk (abandon shopping entirely). Or, shoppers remember the line, skip your location in the future or post negative comments on social media. Emotions surrounding a delayed checkout will impact future transactions!
Investing in Queue Management Technology Improves the Wait Experience
Technology is all around us — and it will help reduce the time shoppers spend in line and enhance the experience, as well.
Studies show average wait time can be reduced 15-30% when an automated line management system is implemented. The optimum configuration is having the POS notify the line management system when a transaction is completed. Then, the next available register will call shoppers. Shoppers, particularly in busy metro stores with multiple cashiers and banks of registers, no longer have to continuously look for an available cashier or go a a register that someone else just located. Efficiency abounds!
Line dissatisfaction also considers perceived wait time and the issue of fairness. Customers typically over-estimate the amount of wait time — that’s human nature. Providing an automated, call forward line management system efficiently directs customers to the next available register and encourages them to think the wait isn’t as long as it actually is. Customers like knowing what is going on — so seeing the next available register is beneficial even if it isn’t their register!
Retail shoppers like knowing everyone in line is being treated in a similar fashion. You’ve probably waited in “the worst line” while others were moving quickly through theirs. Research shows a single, serpentine line moves people quickly. The customer experience is enhanced as no one ends up in the “slow” line.
Improve the Emotional Connection, Add Promotion
Whether an automated line management system operates a single, serpentine line or multiple, register-specific lines, the opportunity exists for expanding impulse purchase opportunities. First, the retailer regulates how and where the lines are located. And, customers are less stressed waiting so they’re more likely to review offerings and make impulse purchases. It’s also possible to advertise and encourage such purchases through messaging on queue management monitors.
Let’s focus on a more customer-centric shopping experience. CPS can provide you with a QuikLine demo and discuss the benefits for your retail location!