Reducing The Wait Time In Your Retail Business

If you’re someone who works a lot on the shop floor, or you run a business that involves the shop floor being the main area of activity, now’s the time to focus on your productivity and the productivity of your staff. You always want to benefit your customer and do everything you can to make sure they come back again and again, and one of the best ways to keep them satisfied is to reduce the amount of waiting around they have to do.

We live in a fast paced society, and no one wants to be standing in a queue or sitting and waiting for the bill for any longer than a couple of minutes. So now’s the time to try and live up to those expectations, and improve the time people spend in your business.

Make Bill Paying Easier

There’s a lot of overlap between the retail and hospitality sector, but in the public mind, having to sit for another ten or so minutes in a restaurant or cafe waiting to be served the bill is one of the worst things for ruining a night out. So if there’s a variety of ways for someone to pay their tab or bill for the evening in a hospitality business, there’s going to be significantly less wait time for someone to have to go through before they can leave and enjoy the rest of their evening.

Something like a Bar POS system would be a great installation here, and it’s going to be easy to use for any server behind the bar as well. Make sure you’re decreasing the flow of staff traffic on the shop floor by telling people they can go and pay at the bar when they’re done; it’s a very simple trick that works wonders.

Have Something to Watch

All in all, the most trouble over wait times is the amount of time people perceive that they’re waiting vs what they’re actually waiting. And therefore, you need to find ways to entertain and comfort a customer when they’re stuck in a queue. One of the best ways to do that is to have a screen over the counter, facing the customer, for them to watch and pass the time in what they feel is a much faster manner.

It’s a cost effective solution, and makes sure people’s perceptions never get too demanding. After all, your staff can only work so fast, and when there’s a customer in front who’s getting a bit impatient or shouty, the entire store is going to slow down to try and help them. Make sure you’re taking care of your staff by lifting some of the pressure by always keeping the counter lines entertained.

Reducing the wait time in a business that’s meant to cater to a fast paced world is one of the best ways to bump up your reputation and improve your efficiency. But there’s no wonder solutions, as we can’t change time itself to try and fit customer needs!

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