Black Friday is a sale that takes place after Thanksgiving. This is the time of vacation when retailers can expect their sales to expand. Also, the customers look forward to taking advantage of promotions, offers, and discounts. Hence, it is vital to provide customers with a remarkable experience throughout the process.
Earlier, the Black Friday sale was always associated with long waiting queues, crowded waiting areas, and frustrated employees. However, nowadays, it’s easier to handle stress during the holiday sale. How? With curbside pickup, online shopping, home delivery, and virtual queuing.
Stats put it better:
- 53% of shoppers say they intend to buy from shops offering contactless purchasing.
- Also, 57% of them expect to purchase on holiday dates like Black Friday.
More importantly, virtual queuing is the perfect solution. It maximizes security and provides an efficient shopping experience, reducing wait times and adhering to safety measures.
As 2021 is moving towards Black Friday, it is time to understand why it is crucial to implement a virtual queue system. Also, let us learn about how it can help you prepare your store for your holiday times.
Overview of Virtual Queuing
Virtual queuing can be defined as the ability to hold a customer’s place in the queue virtually, eliminating the need to physically wait in line.
Additionally, it allows the shoppers to go around and complete their other tasks. Thus, enabling the service representatives to serve the customers without any hassles.
How Virtual Queuing System Works
There are several ways that customers can check-in, but how virtual queuing allows customers to do so is given below.
Step 1: Scan QR Code
Customers can scan the QR code easily or contact customer service representatives for mobile support. While checking in, they can choose the type of services they want to receive.
Step 2: Generate Ticket
A mobile ticket will be generated once remotely checked in. It shows the average wait time, number of people waiting ahead of you, and allows the customer to track their live queue position.
Step 3: Sends SMS Reminders
When it will be their turn, the SMS will be sent as an appointment reminder.
How Virtual Queuing Will Help in Black Friday Crowd Management
Eases Pressure on Staff During Black Friday
Without a doubt, the holiday shopping sale or Black Fridays, all are highly stressful times for retailers.
Some common shopping sale issues that stores faces includes:
- Increased foot traffic, increasing the wait area crowd
- Lack of sufficient and well-trained staff
- Extended working hours
- Long waiting lines
The benefits of the Black Friday sale come with these challenges, but virtual queueing can help manage everything.
A virtual queue management system keeps informed about all the bottlenecks, so you can eliminate them before they impact the entire process.
Additionally, the staff’s focus is shifted from manual operations to more crucial tasks for preparing the store for Black Friday’s shopping.
Ensures Safer Experience to All
Since online shopping has become normalized, shopping habits and behaviors have changed a lot.
Businesses’ focus on safety practices amid the COVID-19 outbreak is more crucial than ever before.
The only way to ensure that the shoppers are willing to visit your store is to establish the queuing guidelines. A virtual queue management system can handle the customer flow during the holiday sale, limit on-site crowds, and minimize wait times to avoid virus spread. This is possible as customers can wait remotely and will be notified when it’s their turn.
Provides Customer Data and Insights for Future Use
We all do not know what the future holds for the retail industry, especially after the COVID outbreak. But what can be done best is to use the information that you already have.
This is where a queue management system is even more efficient. When you collect customer information over this sale of Black Friday, you can better understand several metrics. It can include dwell time, average wait times, foot traffic, etc.
Prevents Overcrowding
Overcrowding was always both stressful and profitable for companies on Black Fridays in the previous years.
Nowadays, crowds are still profitable but have become a health threat more. This is the reason where stores need to incorporate virtual queue management systems for their upcoming holiday sale. It will help the customers to hold a virtual place in line without having to wait physically and closer to others.
In addition to this, the digital queue system ensures an increased customer inflow and remains even all day long. As a result, the store staff gets required downtime to upkeep the space for the upcoming appointments.
Enables Customer’s Complete Charge Over Their Experience
The Black Friday shopping sale this year will not just be difficult for employees but also for customers.
This is why putting the buyers at ease and enabling them to control their shopping experience must be the goal of every queuing strategy. And again digital queuing is the ideal solution to achieve this. First of all, it eliminates the stress of being with strangers in a crowd.
In addition, customers can enter their personal information themselves when entering the queue remotely. Afterward, choose the type of service they want to receive. Once they have been registered and verified digitally, they can work on other priorities. Thus, no need to worry about missing the appointment.
How?
Thanks to the SMS notifications. When the customers check in to the queues for services remotely, they start to receive alerts. In this way, they always know what their queue status is and when their turn comes.
And for instance, sudden changes occur, such as a product is out of stock or service delays. The customers are not returned.
Again, SMS makes a great communication medium with the consumers. It will help notify the customers about the same and inform them when the product will be in stock. Or, if the appointment is a matter of fact, it can be rescheduled according to the customer’s convenience.
The Bottom Line
Lastly, it is time to add something unique to your brand and make your business stand. Virtual queuing makes it easy for customers to book online appointments and visit just when it’s their turn.
Therefore, deploy Qwaiting, the remote queuing option for a more enjoyable and safer Black Friday. It delivers a better customer experience and assures that customers will probably continue to shop from your brand even after Black Friday.