12 ways to reduce queues in the store

Customers don't like long lines, even if half of them have plenty of free time and have no problem standing at the checkout for 10–15 minutes. Think about yourself, almost every detail is annoying: the slow work of cashiers who are slowly punching in goods; only one or two cash registers working when three others are empty; people who have put too much in the basket and, as luck would have it, the very products that still need to be weighed.

The solution seems obvious - open an additional cash register and hire a cashier. However, the situation has changed in the retail environment over the past five years - customers are expensive, but staff is even more expensive, because each employee needs a salary and a social package. That's why there was a need to automate solutions to combat queues.

Why there are long lines in supermarkets

• Unequal ratio of working cash registers to the number of customers in the sales area.   
• Frequently changing staff who are constantly learning and working at a slow pace.   
• Employees' working hours are not planned rationally.  
• The layout of the trading floor is incorrect.   
• The cashiers' workplace is not organized.   
• Instead of eliminating them, retailers entertain the queue. For example, they install mirrors near the checkouts - customers are busy looking at themselves and are distracted for 2-3 minutes. Or they place TVs with news or music channels.   
• Store employees are not interested in solving the problem of long queues. Why should they be, since they are paid a fixed salary and no one will pay them extra for solving small tasks. The store management is busy optimizing costs, so they don't think about how to reduce the queue in the store, starting with counting bored people at the checkout. After all, such a study of the issue will lead to the need to explain to the store owner the need for additional cashiers, which is not in any way related to optimizing business development costs.  

How to understand that there are long lines in the store

Observe how busy the cashiers are and how they feel after a day's work - if they don't even have the energy to talk, then the workload is not distributed rationally.

Regularly review recordings from surveillance cameras located near the cash registers.

Install a sign with a phone number or a button near the checkout that informs customers that there is a long line.

Talk to the cashiers, pay attention to the cleanliness and number of checks. The staff is unlikely to address this issue to their superiors on their own.

How to beat the queues at the supermarket

Instead of constantly fighting the queues, find out the reason for the crowds and solve the problem once and for all. Otherwise, the situation will be repeated regularly, which will increase costs.

• You can introduce self-service cash registers. This innovation is most often used by the younger generation. However, shoppers aged 35+ who are in a hurry will not stand in line, but will go to a self-service checkout. Such cash registers are compact and take up half the space, but require significant costs for the installation and constant presence of security guards.   
• Motivate employees. If the reason for the long queues is related to the work of cashiers, do not rush to launch a wave of layoffs and look for new employees, because it is worth training them from the very beginning, spending time and money. And there is no guarantee that new staff will solve the problem. In such cases, motivate cashiers who already work in the store. For example, if it makes no difference to an employee whether he or she serves 10 customers per hour or 25, then why bother speeding up the process? Therefore, we advise you to introduce speed bonuses - weekly or monthly. 
• Optimize staffing levels so that more than two cash desks are open during rush hour. And in order not to pay cashiers' salaries when the number of customers in stores does not reach 50%, bring out the full staff only during hours when the cash register is at 200% of its capacity. Therefore, conclude part-time employment contracts.   
• Try to relieve the queues yourself. Offer discounts on goods during the daytime, and then in the evening there will be fewer customers at the checkout. Among visitors, there are about 25% of unemployed people who do not care when they shop. Therefore, use promotions and discounts to encourage people to come in the morning or afternoon.  
• The allowances will be cheaper than a full salary. If you can't hire cashiers, involve employees from other departments in the cash register during rush hour, after training them. Motivate them with bonuses and allowances for overtime.  
• Install additional cash registers. However, before ordering equipment, weigh the pros and cons - whether your budget can afford to purchase a cash register, register it, and maintain it on a regular basis. And if the queues in the store accumulate only 2–3 hours a day, the purchase of such equipment may be inappropriate.  
• Keep price tags up to date. Due to the lack of staff or the unwillingness of employees to perform their duties at 100%, misunderstandings arise when making a purchase at the checkout. In 90% of cases, the intervention of an administrator is required, which will slow down the queue and put the store in a disadvantageous light in front of other customers. Therefore, control the work of employees who are responsible for the information component in the sales area.  
• Unusable technology. Just like phone models, computers are also being improved from year to year. Those models that were released 5–7 years ago will not cope with the influx of customers as quickly as those that entered the market this year. Conduct technical analytics to see if fiscal registrars, bank card terminals, and computers are working quickly. If the equipment is old, then no matter how fast the cashiers are, the business will not move forward. Therefore, replace outdated models with those that are designed for 200% load.   

Also make sure that customers feel comfortable in the checkout area. Equip this place with additional air conditioning so that visitors do not feel hot, hang a TV in front of their eyes, and arrange the goods on the stands so that they attract attention and make people want to buy something they did not originally plan.

How to reduce the queue in small shops

If we are not talking about supermarkets or minim arts, but about neighborhood grocery stores. Here, experts recommend three steps for the entire department, with one or two salespeople responsible for arranging goods, keeping price tags up to date, and calculating revenue or losses:

• Automate sales. In 70% of stores, salespeople still use notebooks to record the goods sold, the arrival, the results of work with sales representatives, and neatly attach invoices. Although such a workload makes employees work and serve customers faster, it reduces the quality of work. Automation solves these problems by doing most of the work instead of the salesperson.   
• Arrange the store's equipment in a way that makes room for customers. To do this, place shelving, refrigerators, and glass display cases along the walls. Place stands with candy, gum, and bars near the cash register.  

And if possible, install a mini cash register and a bank terminal. This will cut customer service time in half and eliminate queues by 30-45%.