Food and drink outlets face queue challenge

6th August 2010, 11:02am

A recent survey carried out by Barclays and Barclaycard has found that it takes just two minutes for customers to become impatient when it comes to queuing at food and drink outlets.

Two fifths of the 2000 people polled would refuse to queue for longer than two minutes, with food and drink outlets likely to cause the most frustration, found the survey.

The report also found that the lower the value of the item, the more likely the customer will be to abandon the purchase if the queue is perceived to be too long. In addition, the study suggests that retailers must be prepared to fit in with the busy lives of consumers by offering innovative solutions to speed up transactions.

Andrew Markwell, sales director of software specialist Fretwell-Downing Hospitality, developer of self-ordering solution Saffron Xpress explained: "This survey underlines just how big a challenge it is for caterers and retail food outlets when it comes to handling big influxes of custom, say at lunchtime, when time is so precious.

"Busy lives combined with the immediacy we expect now when it comes to receiving information or making purchases, makes queuing even more of a 'no-no' which is why we're seeing increasing enquiries from caterers looking for technological solutions to this problems. One contract caterer has seen a 29% upturn in sales as a direct result of reducing queue times having installed Saffron Xpress."

FDH's Saffron Xpress is a system that can be tailored to a retail or catering outlet's specific requirements and will enable customers to order and pay for food, either in advance via a web screen while sitting in front of their PC or laptop; or via a touch screen kiosk located on-site without having to queue at a till.

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Sam

18 August 2010 at 8:22pm

As a manager responsible for an affiliated and two non branded cafe bars I am continually faced with the challege of reducing the queueing time. I believe that customers are willing to queue and wait between 5-7 minutes for a product if they perceive it to be of value (i.e. the best place for a coffee) and that they see the team enjoying their work whilst serving their customers. Queueing allows for theatre and customer interaction.

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