The time customers have to spend waiting to pay – and their experiences in the queue – are of vital importance to any retail or service operation.
 
Poor management of the checkout process not only results in the inefficient deployment of resources, but it can also impact potential sales – deterring customers from making full use of their shopping time, or worse, leading to customers abandoning goods in the aisles.
 
The ‘checkout experience’ creates a lasting impression and effective queue management helps promote customer loyalty and a positive image for the business.

Irisys’ real-time queue management solution is already proven in more than 4,000 of the world’s busiest supermarkets - see our Tesco and Morrisons QM case studies for examples. Powered by Irisys’ Intelligence Optimised sensor technology, queue management uses non-intrusive infrared sensors at store entrances and above the checkout lanes to monitor customer numbers and queuing behaviour.

From this, the system is able to automate the capture of accurate queuing data, and calculate in real time the average queue lengths, average wait times, cashier idle times and overall transactions service times.  The behavioural algorithm used to monitor and predict queues is based on our experience hundreds of thousands of shopper visits. This is the unique element of the system that enables it to genuinely know what makes up an accurate queue measurement.

This data is used by retailers to drive the measurement and management of service and productivity Key Performance Indicators. The system also predicts the optimum number of checkouts needed in 15 and 30 minutes to maintain their desired service level.

Displayed on VGA monitors and hand held terminals, this real time predictor data gives the store managers the advance information needed to open and close checkouts in the most efficient manner. This ensures that performance indicators are met, and staff are deployed in the right place at the right time.

Historical queuing data and ideal lane schedules generated by the system can in turn be used with, and integrated to, labour scheduling software to further improve the alignment of staff schedules to changing customer demand and trading patterns.

Arriving customers who see short checkout queues when they enter a store will often spend more time shopping. This can increase basket size and build long term loyalty through an improved shopping environment.

Wait times can be prominently displayed for customers to see, both inside and outside the store. This is of particular use at busy times – when customers shop during a lunch break, for example. They are far more likely to enter an apparently busy store if they know in advance that they will not have to queue for more than a couple of minutes. This is queue management as advertising: another concept created by Irisys.