A survey by Barclays has found more than two thirds of shoppers have abandoned their shopping because of the time it was taking to get served. 68% of people, in a survey of 2,000, had left a queue at one time or another.
The outlets most likely to upset their customers were supermarkets and stores selling food, drink or clothes.
Shoppers main dislikes include there not being enough staff at tills, followed by staff taking too long to chat to customers. Shoppers taking too long to find their cash, cards or cheque books was also a big irritation, as Barclays argues contactless payment technology would speed up the process.
Stuart Neal, of Barclaycard, said, “Embracing technology and installing new payment systems, such as contactless, retailers will stay ahead of the curve and limit the amount of time that people are waiting in shop queues”.
That argument has be challenged by Terry Green, whose firm Qmatic designed the queuing systems in operation in Post Offices. Green said, “Those kind of systems which give you feedback, that tell you that service is progressing, make the queue stickyand stop people walking away because they manage their expectations”.
Other findings from the survey revealed long queues had also put off most people entering shops or stores, with 29% of those surveyed saying this happens to them once a week. Barclays even went as far as saying they believe a third of retailers move their tills to hide queues.
Terry Green, whose voice you hear calling customers to cashier in the post office, said dealing with queues sensibly was crucial to any shop.
“Retailers must understand that this is the last opportunity they have to influence how we feel about the visit in their store”. He added, “The Post Office is soon to start offering bank accounts and mortgages, as part of an improved service”.
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