Five Ways to Design a Successful Well-Organised Queuing System

Waiting in line is an inescapable part of everyday life, yet it’s something we all dread. It’s the amount of time we are forced to spend waiting plus the kind of experience we’re having while waiting that can be either pleasant and positive or irritating and negative.

Slimline Warehouse Display Shops has spent many years involved with all types of queue management systems. Along the way we’ve learned which five elements make for a successful and well-organised queue design across almost all industries: 

1. A well-designed highly successful queue management system puts customer experience above all else.

Over the years, we’ve come to realise that there are 3 highly effective and fairly inexpensive ways to make the time go more quickly for customers.

• By providing informative brochures on your business your customers while standing in line allows them to find out what you offer and even get many of their questions answered while waiting. 
• Offer easy to access free WiFi
• Offering a free Phone Charging Station helps customers focus their attention on getting as much charge as possible, which reduces perceived wait times.
• Have a TV mounted for customer viewing. You can show an informative documentary about your business or even the news, but letting your customers watch TV can make their wait more pleasant and seem much shorter. 

2. Ideally a queue should be designed in such a way that it seems fair to those in line waiting. 

This is not to say that someone who arrives later cannot jump the line to be first because you can set it up so that you have separate queues for different services. For example, in a doctor’s office you often have patients waiting who have appointments with different doctors.

When there are good reasons for someone being served ahead of another, this should be clearly communicated to your customers to ensure that they wait in the correct line.

In situations where there are several lines all leading to the same service counter, switching over to just one single line can alleviate frustrations because customers will see that this process is first-come-first-served, which is only fair.

To set up separate queues for different services, view our barrier poster signs to clearly designate the purpose of each queue.

3. A well-organised queue design is a solid structure that has been well planned to handle the constant ebb and flow of people. 

The design should take into consideration a number of factors:

• There must be a clearly designated spot for entering the line and waiting.
• Your structure should be adjustable to accommodate the shorter and longer lines that occur throughout any given day. Frustration builds among customers when they are forced to walk up and down several rows when there are just a few people waiting.
• Will your customers be standing in line with shopping carts or some form of baggage? If so, your aisle must be wide enough for customers to move comfortably.

When taking these basic factors into consideration the result should be a well-designed and successful queue management system.

4. The positioning of your queuing system is critical to its success.

It is very important that you carefully consider where to place your queue so that it has limited impact on other customers not standing in line. The last thing you want is to disrupt the flow of customers as they make their way through your store.

The entrance to your queue should be easily visible from the store entrance. There should also be a clear path at the front of the line leading to the staff member who is there to ring up the purchase and/or provide customer service. 

5. Studies show that if customers are informed ahead of time about how long the wait is, they become less anxious about having to wait in line.

The length of the wait should be transparent to store managers and employees as well as customers. When service personnel and managers know what the current and expected wait times are they can take steps to mitigate problems before customers become irritated about long waits, causing a negative customer experience.

The customer experience waiting in line can either make or break any type of business. It is important to be closely involved in how your queuing system is designed. Consider these five elements in determining whether your queues offer your customers a positive or negative experience.

Slimline Warehouse Display Shops offer a comprehensive and adjustable range of products and systems to easily move and track customers going into your store, shopping through the aisles and when they’re finished, moving them outside.

We are highly experienced problem solvers who know how to design a well-organised successful queuing system that will comfortably accommodate your customers in the space you have.

To view our comprehensive product line of barrier posts and accessories, click here.