What can we do to prevent customers abandoning their shopping baskets and not spending because of queues at our tills?

Tensator’s UK General Manager, Kevin Hickson, has answered this question in depth in the current issue of Retail Week (4th September 2009). Hickson, recommends a number of solutions that can speed queue flow, capture shopper’s attention while waiting in the queue with the use of In-Queue Merchandising and also considers providing estimated wait times as an ideal way to reassure queuing customers.

One ideal way in which to speed up the queue without opening more tills is to try a single line call forward system, which can increase customer flow by 25%. In a recent trial in one US store, there were 164 walk-aways from the tills in a week without such a system, and only 6 a week later after it was installed.

It is also suggested that retailers consider the position of their tills, moving them to the rear of the store, to prevent another trend – walk-on-bys – where the sight of a queue puts consumers off entering the store at all.

To see the full Retail Surgery piece, check out Retail Week now!
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