How to Manage Retail Customer Lines & Improve Customer Satisfaction

Lines are a very big topic these days.  It's Memorial Day Weekend and there are media reports of record numbers of travelers and record long lines anticipated through TSA checkpoints at airports.

Shoppers appreciate social fairness while waiting in line!

In comparison, it might seem trivial to talk about lines of 10 or 20 people at a retail store.  Yet, from the retailer's perspective, lines are anything but small talk.  The retail checkout line is a critical aspect in the "total" shopping experience and, because of balking and reneging possibilities, there's a possibility that a sale can very well be lost because of a line.

Perry Kuklin, writing in Business2Community, suggests consumers would consider not returning to a location with long or badly managed lines -- and would probably tell others about the experience.  And, social media outlets are available everywhere for disappointed consumer stories.

What's a retailer to do? There's actually an established body of knowledge regarding lines -- operations management and queueing theory. Queueing theory has been around since the early 1900's.  However, the focus has transitioned from mathematical theory to shopper experiences.  There are 3 basic tenets: people get bored while waiting in line, consumers don't like expecting a short wait and experiencing a long one and the experience needs to be perceived as fair.

Retailers have added all sorts of ways to combat line boredom from impulse items next to the line to demographics-sensitive music and always-on monitors running video and news. Shoppers tend to mind waiting less when provided with estimated wait lines (think: Disneyland).

However, the biggest line issue (and, therefore, the most emotion-laden) is the quest for fairness. Dick Larson is considered one of the foremost queue management scholars and he notes there have been incidents of "queue rage" when the concept of social fairness has been breached.

CPS' QuikLine helps manage the social fairness aspect of consumer line expectations.  Whether implemented with a serpentine line or a series of individual lines, QuikLine signals for the next person when a checkout location becomes available (an example of call-forward queueing). It can display results on a monitor, call out an available register and prompt lights to flash. Coupled with impulse items at the checkout stand and great background music, QuikLine will help minimize actual wait time and the emotional impact of waiting for retail consumers. End result: improved customer satisfaction!

A Retail Checkout Line isn't for the Fainthearted

The retail checkout line is a critical aspect in a shopper's experience.  Some might think the consumer's "sale" is already finished when they enter a checkout line -- with just paperwork to be completed.

In reality, the sale could very well be lost just because of the checkout line!  There's always the chance of a consumer balking and reneging. And, if not this particular sale, future sales are at risk.

Perry Kuklin, writing in Business2Community, mentions a retail study indicating 38% of customers would consider not returning to a location with long or badly managed checkout lines; 81% will tell others, he says, about an unpleasant checkout line experience.

QuikLine: Call-forward Queue Management

And, when someone says "tell" others, we're no longer talking about one-on-one conversations, there's are all sorts of social media conversations available and ready to listen!

For retailers, the entire selling cycle needs to be completed -- from marketing to selection to actual purchase -- for the retailer and consumer to achieve success.  As a result, Queue Management becomes essential with customer wait time and experience critical.

Queue management technologies are available to assist in processing shoppers in a consistent and "fair" manner -- and they'll positively influence customer satisfaction as well as profitability.

Take a look at CPS' QuikLine system installed in Chicago -- shoppers are notified when a free register is available and directed by both signage and audio.  And, there's the ability to display automated marketing messages, as well.

QuikLine is an example of call-forward queueing which successfully manages customer throughput in the store and reduces register staff waiting.  Each successive customer is guided to an open register based upon either POS integration (that is, signals from the cash register process itself) or cashier notifications.  This checkout process is regarded as fair and efficient -- increasing the shopper's customer satisfaction!