So, it’s time to redesign your queue. Whether you’re opening a new business location or looking to upgrade your current queue, it’s important to understand the best practices of queue design. This is the place your customers will form lasting impressions about your business so it’s important to get it right. You know your customers best, so queue design should cater to your customer demographic while also working seamlessly to provide good service. The queue is a means to an end, but it’s also all about the customer experience, and if their time in line is less than positive, then your business will feel the effects. Here are some basic queue how-tos to keep in mind as you design your waiting line:
- How much room do you have? The only limit to your queue design is the amount of space you can dedicate to your queue. It may be necessary to rearrange some displays or elements of your business in order to accommodate a longer queue. If you’re dealing with a small area and don’t have a generous space to work with, you can make do with a few stanchions, or consider in-queue merchandising fixtures to optimize your retail-able space. What’s most important is to 1) look at the big picture before settling on a final design, and 2) walk in your customer’s shoes and experience what it is like to stand in line at your business.
- What is the best type of stanchion for your queue? The stanchion is the foundation of your queue and can be chosen for their various post heights, base options, or belt options. The right kind of stanchion is versatile and allows for flexibility so that your queue design can be adjusted as needed to contain customer flow or allow for attachments like signage or merchandising panels.
- Should you have a single-line or multi-line queue? It may seem that a business with multiple queues is far more efficient than a business with a single-line queue, but studies have shown that a single-line, multi-server environment can actually increase queue efficiency and lower customer wait times. Plus, it promotes the first-come-first-served idea of fairness. However, your queue environment will determine what type of queue formation is feasible for your business. A multi-line queue can still be designed so that it functions exceptionally well and accommodates your customers.
- How can you incorporate signage into your queue? Minimizing the perceived wait should be a major goal of any queue manager and digital signage can help in that regard. The promotions, videos, commercials, or information that you choose to display on digital signage will keep customers engaged as they wait, while also imparting valuable details about your place of business. Post-top signage can inform customers of queue entrances and exits or other important information or directions along the way.
- Have you implemented an in-queue merchandising system? If you’re a retailer, you know that an in-queue merchandising system is a no-brainer. People who aren’t quite done shopping will be happy to have items to capture their attention in the queue, and people who thought they were done shopping might be encouraged to make some impulse purchases. An in-queue merchandising system, when thoughtfully implemented in a well-designed queue, can extend the shopping experience, keeping customers engaged and satisfied.
- Is electronic queuing feasible for your queue? When you’re looking for ways to make your single-line queue even more efficient, electronic queuing can help. By using audio and visual cues – flashing lights, call-forward announcements, numbered service stations – customers can afford to get a little distracted as they wait knowing that their turn is coming and someone will notify them of it.
- Are you able to manage customer flow? A queue can be well-designed but it can also fail if it’s not properly managed. Maintaining the waiting line, constantly monitoring the queue, ensuring that things are running smoothly, and customers are happy, are all part of good queue design. Utilizing an intelligent queue management system can help keep managers informed of any parameters that fall out of compliance and need to be tended to immediately.
