If you want to make life easier for your customers and staff, introducing a queuing system for your retail business is a good idea. Many businesses can benefit from this type of system, whether you serve customers from behind a counter — like in a bakery — or you have a retail business with a large customer service area for people who are returning or exchanging products. Buying the right type of system is important, but it's also critical to do all that you can to make the use of this system convenient and pleasant for your customers. Here are some ways of doing so.
Make The Ticket Terminal Evident
If you want people to grab a ticket in order to place themselves in the queue of customers waiting to be served, the ticket terminal needs to be evident. If you position this terminal in a non-evident area, many people will approach the counter to ask for service — only to be directed to the terminal. This is a scenario that is detrimental as it will waste your employees' time and may annoy your customers. Consider the layout of the space and position the ticket terminal in an evident location — perhaps right at the entrance of the area.
Use Enough Number Display Boards
A queuing system uses digital display boards that depict the next number that is ready to be served. Different systems have different numbers of display boards, but it may be useful for you to buy additional boards that connect to the system. This is especially true if the space in which you'll be using the queuing system is large. You want people to be able to see at least one board from wherever they are in the room. If you don't have enough boards, people may miss their numbers being displayed, which can result in confusion and conflicts.
Have Multiple Employees Helping
You want to make the process of waiting as quickly as possible for your customers, whether they're exchanging products after purchasing them or buying products from behind a counter. A long wait can alienate your customers, so it's important to set up your space so that multiple employees are serving people quickly. For example, if a person draws the number 85 and sees that number 65 is currently being helped, he or she may lament what is expected to be a long wait if there's only one staff member working in the area. However, if there are multiple employees helping people, the person with number 85 will know that the wait won't be long.
To learn more about queuing systems, consult a resource in your area.