Queuing tracking system Archives - RSI Concepts - Top IT Solution Provider Company in Dubai, UAE

May 27, 2022

Why Queue Management Systems Are Essential In Supermarkets

Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the supermarkets, shopping malls, retail stores, discount stores, and other small and medium size retail businesses are booming. In fact in some places you can find more than 10 supermarkets in the same row. This is due to the fact that most of the middle class population lives in flats and high rise buildings, so these stores have enough amount of customers. However, this also provide customers with more options in a close proximity and make the competition very tough. When people visit supermarkets, shopping stores, retail shops and businesses their experience could have very long-lasting effects on them. If a customer had a great experience they will most likely to return, if they had a bad experience they might not return. Another very common behavior is detected in retail customers which is that if they found there are long queues at the counters, they might not even enter the supermarket, instead they immediately move on to the next business. That is why having a good queue management is extremely important for supermarkets.

How a Retail Queue Management System Works

A retail queue management system is completely different from the traditional queue management system where the customers and visitors sign-up for the queues and get a ticket number issued against their position in the queue. In the supermarkets and retail sector the queue management system is rather a bit more of a data collection tool which help managers to get real-time data from the store. The integrated algorithms and AI (Artificial Intelligence) based software engine can accurately predict the crowd formation several minutes (20 to 30 minutes) priors which provide manages enough time to activate all the counters and make sure all the cashiers are at their positions. The retail queue management system relies on a video processing mechanism which accurately measure the number of customers entering in the supermarket and the number of customers/carts at the cash counters.

With the help of previous data and intelligent software engine the retail queue management system can accurately predict the crowd formation and it can also help managers understand the reasons of cart abandonment. This data can help managers refine their future strategy and help them understand the major factors of crowd formation and cart abandonment. Furthermore the system can accurately track the idle time of each individual cashier/service agent, the wait time of each customer and the service delivery/transaction time of each customer. This data can help managers monitor and improve employee performance as well which could have significant impact on service quality and customer satisfaction.

The Impact of Wait Time on Supermarkets & Retail Customers

The retail market is getting very sensitive, the customers are becoming more sensitive to wait time and overall experience. Studies have revealed that the 25% customers don’t tolerate more than 2 minutes of wait time, 55% to 60% of the consumers prefer not to wait more than 4 minutes, and almost 70% to 75% says they would abandoned their carts if they had to wait more than 5 – 6 minutes. The studies was done among selected customer groups from all around the world. In different countries and regions these figures could be different. However we can get an idea of the importance and impact of wait time on customer happiness. The ability to check out quickly have significant impact on customer’s perception of the brand as well. Most of the customers judge a business’s credibility on the bases of the experience they have with them.

A retail queue management system is a great tool to effectively reduce the customer wait time. It provide real-time data updates, and it has in-built automatic notification and alert mechanism which can alert the management and the relevant personals when things go beyond the thresholds. This way the management can also take steps and get themselves ready for increasing number of customers at the counters to prevent long wait time.

Retail Queue Management System Improves Resource Management

Here in Dubai and all across the UAE the supermarkets and the retail sector always have multiple tasks for the cashiers. The fact is that the market is not always crowded, it is just a few peak hours when the supermarkets and the other retail businesses gets too many customers, in such scenarios all the cash counters must be online to expedite the checkout process and to prevent the long queues and crowd formation. A retail queue management system can monitor the footfall along with capabilities to measure the number of customers at the cash counters awaiting checkout. This ability blended with intelligent software engine enables the retail queue management system to accurately predict the queues. All this data collection and data analysis is done in real time and the results are provided to the managers. Which allow them to get ready for the increased number of checkouts and provide them enough time to gather employees at the counters to ensure a continuous and uninterrupted customer flow.

With the help of real-time data and predictive abilities of the retail queue management system the manager can effectively and more efficiently manage the resources. Furthermore the retail queue management system also maintain the historic data which can be analyzed with in-built analytical tools to understand several trends. The managers can effectively understand the cart abandonment trend, the peak hours’ trend, and even the employee performance and various KPIs. Which help them make policies and build strategies to effectively use resources to obtain maximum efficiency and productivity.

Retail Queue Management System Measures Cart Abandonment

For any supermarket and retail business the tracking of cart abandonment is crucial. The retail queue management system is very good in accurately measuring the cart abandonment. As we already know the customers don’t tolerate much wait time. But the wait time is not the only factor causing cart abandonment. In fact there is another very important aspect of retail queuing that cause results in increased cart abandonments. Several studies and researches have concluded that on an average in a supermarket or any other retail business if a customer found the queue is longer than the 7 people, they are most likely to look up for another counter and eventually they will leave empty handed. This is a very important matric to track. There has been several studies and surveys that showed that almost 85% of the customers avoid such supermarkets and retail businesses where they think they will have longer queues.

The retail queue management system not only accurately measure the number of cart abandonment but it can also correlate it to the number of customers in the queue. The businesses can use this data with the average cart value to estimate how much sale value they are losing on an average. This data can be very helpful for the management in decision making process and they can compare the sales value loss with the expense of hiring a new cashier and make a decision very easily. Such features make retail queue management system a very useful tool for the supermarkets and retail businesses.

Retail Queue Management System Help Improving Customer Experience

Retail queue management system is very helpful in improving customer experience. The customer experience is majorly driven by the wait time and waiting lines in the supermarket and other retail businesses. In order to make your customer happy it is extremely important to make their checkout experience happy. The retail queue management system help businesses understand customer behavior, cart abandonment trends and several other matrices which help businesses effectively and efficiently manage resource. The retail queue management system also have ability to make accurate predictions of crowd formation and send alerts to the manager and other relevant personals. This feature help managers to take necessary steps to prevent crowd and appoint more employees at the cash counters to ensure smooth customer flow. Which not only enhance customer experience and reduce their waiting time but it also help reducing customer churn rate or cart abandonment.

Happy customers experience help supermarkets and retail businesses to gain customer trust, improve brand image and increase their loyalty. The loyal customers can be a great asset for supermarkets and other retail businesses as they are tend to be a good brand advocate and help getting more customers. The real-time data and recorded data can be used in decision making and policy building process and can help business in long term.

Conclusion

For any supermarket or retail business the biggest challenge is always to manage the long queues at the cash counters. The customer experience is pretty much driven by the waiting time they had to spend at checkout queues. A business can easily train its staff to make the checkout process quicker, but it is very hard to control the number of customers lined up at a cash counter. A retail queue management system is specifically designed for supermarkets and retail businesses to help them reduce the customer wait time, it also help them efficiently manage their employees and resources. And it collect and provide real-time data. The managers can use the real-time data to understand customer behaviors and cart abandonment trends. This help them identify the problems that their customers are facing and provide them accurate business intelligence data to help them in decision making and policy building phases.

These traits of a retail queue management system make it essential for the supermarkets and retail businesses. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you with your queuing needs, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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October 9, 2021

How to Choose the Best Queue Management Software?

A queue management software have become a necessity these days, especially for all service based sectors. Managing queues manually is very difficult, it ruin customer experience and it put extra burden on the staff. The rapid advancements in the digital technology all around us has led to several new trends, one of these trend is a digital queue management system. Whenever we go to a bank or a customer service center, or any such businesses we expect a proper digital queue management system there, the very first thing anyone do is to look up for the sign-up or ticket dispensing kiosk. A business must have to meet the expectations of its customers. The very reason of deploying a digital queue management system is to achieve highest level of customer satisfaction and customer happiness. If a business provide services as per its customer’s needs and expectation, it will make the customers happy.

The queue management system is extremely important for a business as the customer journey and customer happiness relies on it. The ultimate goal of any service based business is to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction. A happy and satisfied customer is tend to be more loyal to the brand. The customer loyalty improves customer retention. Loyal customers are more likely to promote the business and are very less likely to switch based on a bad experience, they can tolerate the business more and always give their favorite brand a second chance. However, the customer who left unhappy, are most likely to never return, on top of that the unhappy customers can also repel other prospects and cause harm to the brand reputation and brand identity. That is why having a perfect queue management system is very important. The queue management system based on two components, the hardware and the software. No matter how advance the hardware is, if the software is not capable the business can’t get desired results. So it is very important that each business knows how to choose a best queue management system software.

Here are some key points that a business should consider while selecting a queue management software:

1. Queue Management Software Features

The most important thing that a business should consider about the queue management software is its features and functionalities. Rest of everything comes later. If a queue management software is offering all the features that you need and you can use to improve the customer experience and customer journey, then move ahead for further evaluation. Here are some key features that a queue management software must have:

Interactive self-service sign-up terminal/kiosk
Capabilities to manage separate virtual queues for all available services
Features to improve customer waiting experience
- Live queuing information updates on digital displays/signage
- Multimedia content for customer engagements
- Information about the estimated time remaining
Audio-visual customer calling
- Multi-lingual queuing information on display
- Multi-lingual audio customer calling
Dynamic Counter Plates and Digital Signs
Automatic Customer Journey Management
Ability to Detect Customer Types (ordinary, VIP, Premium, Customer with Special Needs, etc.)
Automatic Single Step and Multi-step Service Delivery and Customer Routing
Dedicated Agent Dashboard
Ability to Facilitate Service Delivery Process
Statistical and Analytical Data Collection & KPIs Monitoring
Customer Feedback Collection
Integrated Alerts for Customers and Management
Online Appointment Booking Module or Integration
Smartphone and Mobile Apps Interfaces
Virtual Queuing and Mobile Queuing Support
Easy Administration and Management

These are some of the basic and most common features of a queue management software. Any good queue management software must have at least these all features. These features will allow a business to effectively and efficiently manage their queues to ensure the ultimate customer satisfaction and customer experience. Some businesses might have certain needs hence required customized features, so a good quality queue management software must be able to accommodate such needs by third-party integration and customization.

Read More: Queue & Waiting Time Management

2. Queue Management Software Types and Cost

The term ‘software type’ is a pretty vague terminology, it could mean a lot of things, however in case of queue management software the type usually refers to the ownership type. The queue management system manufacturers in Dubai and all around the UAE offers certain types of queue management software, such as cloud based solution which is usually a SAAS type software, SAAS means software as a service. For that type the businesses will have to subscribe for the software, whether it is annual subscription or monthly the businesses subscribe for it. Here are some most common queue management software types:

Cloud Based Queue Management Software or SAAS
Purchasable Queue Management Software
Off-the-shelf Queue Management Software Solution
Customizable Queue Management Software

The cloud based queue management software solution (SAAS) is completely managed by the service provider. The service provider owns the actual queue management software and the business is only renting it out or subscribing for a limited time period. In such scenarios the queue management software customization is very limited and expensive too. In fact the service itself is very expensive.

The purchasable queue management software is fully-owned by the business. The vendor offer the software and the entire source code to the business. Usually that kind of queue management software are based on an open-source technology. It doesn’t require any regular subscription fee or renewal charges. The business had to purchase it once and then there is no renewal or any such cost.

The off-the-shelf queue management software are the software that came as a standalone package. The software is a one-time-purchase and there is no annual or monthly or any other rental or renewal fee. The business will have to purchase a software once and it will be a lifetime license. The only limitation is that the business wouldn’t be able to customize it. In case if they want to customize such queue management software they will have to revert back to the original vendor/manufacturer.

The customizable queue management software is a tailor-made queue management software and solution. Here in Dubai and in other parts of UAE the queue management system vendors usually charge once for the solution. The business owns the queue management software and it’s all source code as well. Such software are usually built on an open-source technology platform. The business who owns the customized queue management software can have full ownership rights and they can hire in-house programmer to do any further customization or they can hire any vendor who is well versed with the technology to do the customization or modifications for the business. This is the most convenient plan for long term use and is also the best choice for usability and cost-efficiency.

3.Administrative Management and Monitoring Mechanisms

For a queue management software the primary objective is to improve customer journey and customer satisfaction, however, the administrative management and monitoring is also equally important. Eventually the management will have to configure the system and use the data collected from the system for business intelligence feeds. Usually when a business or organization is purchasing a new queue management software and solution they often overlooked the administrative management and monitoring aspects of the system. Later when they start using it, they face difficulties. It is very important that a queue management software provide a professional level of administrative management and controlling features. Because in every business there are certain levels of management with a predefined hierarchical structure. The queue management software should allow such management functionalities and any other work flow which is vital for the business and its operations.

Usually businesses have multiple branches along with a head office or main branch, the head office always have access and control over all connected branches, then comes the branch managers who have full control over the queue management of their designated branch and then comes assistants, supervisors, agents/servers, etc. This is a basic management structure that almost every business follows, however, businesses could have multiple intermediary stages as well. Most of the time the queue management software offer a pre-defined management structure, which can cause a lot of issue for the business so, it is important that the queue management software offers a flexible control over administrative access and job role assignment mechanisms. The branch manager and top level management, whether from the branch or from the head office will have real-time monitoring capabilities as per their respective authority and administrative control and job role. So, it is critically important that the queue management software allow the businesses to configure the job role and authority for admin users as per their convenience.

4. Third-Party System Integration Compatibility

Third party integration by definition means interfacing or connecting a database from another system to a system via APIs (Application Program Interface) or secure web services. The web-apps and digital software such as queue management software have revolutionized the businesses and their practices. Businesses can integrate advanced systems and solutions to work together to provide ultimate user experience and to get administrative and management related advantages. The third-party system integration not only allow two digital solutions or systems to share and synchronize data but it also allow them to share functionalities/resources. For example if a queue management software need to recognize a customer through their mobile number or customer ID, instead of managing a separate customer database it can linked to a system which is already managing that data, so the identification process can be done through the existing system which will save a lot of resources and cost. This is how a third party system integration works.

In queue management software the third party system integration is used for various purposes and at various levels. The customer interface where the customers can sign-up for a particular queue for their required service and it can also be used at the agent dashboard to speed up the service delivery process. The third-party system integration is not only a unidirectional data traffic but it is a bidirectional data transfer. As the queue management software can fetch data from a third-party system using API integration it can also push or send data to a third-party system too. For example the queue management software can share the system usage data, reports, stats, customer feedback and other business intelligence data with any other performance management system or customer relationship management tools, etc. The queue management software can also effectively measure many staff KPIs which can be linked to the HR or employee performance management system for further use and so on and so forth. The third-party system integration make the queue management software more effective, useful and efficient. The businesses can utilize this feature for various purposes.

5. Queue Management Software Collects Business Intelligence Data

Business intelligence data is an umbrella term that includes a lot of different types of statistical and analytical data. All of the historical data and the present data is then emerged and processed by purpose-made tools to compile actionable reports which enable a business to make informed decisions and build their future strategy. The business intelligence data is extremely crucial. It highlights the areas of improvements, businesses can easily understand market trends, and their customer, employees, and business can easily evaluate and assess their infrastructure, business practices and methods. Moreover the modern day queue management software also come with an in-built customer feedback and survey tool. Which further provide crucial insight and customer feedback data. That is why it is extremely important that a queue management system offer some kind of business intelligence data gathering and in-built analytical tools to compile that data into reports and downloadable formats.An ordinary queue management software can easily collect data from all important touch points of the customer journey.

However a good quality queue management software not only collect deeper insight. It can effectively capture each and every customer touch points, along with additional information and various customer trends and employee/staff performance or KPIs. These all different data feeds along with the customer feedback are stored in raw format. The analytical engine segregate them in various reports, such as executive trend report, corporate customer feedback reports, and much more. The queue management software can also provide daily, weekly and monthly reports. It should also provide tools to alert the management in case of any event such as if too many customers are giving negative feedback, if a particular service delivery is taking more than average time, etc. These functionalities are very helpful for the management and let them easily assess the employees, various business processes, service delivery mechanisms, customer journey and employee performance and business intelligence data is also capable of identifying the areas of improvements so that businesses can take appropriate actions and make future strategies to achieve ultimate customer experience and maximum operational efficiency, which minimize the cost and maximize the revenue and ensures steady growth.

Conclusion

A queue management software is absolutely necessary for businesses these days. In Dubai and other parts of UAE the service based industry is significantly modernized. The competition in the market is very high and the customer have too many options to go to. It is extremely important to provide your customers with a great customer journey and ultimate experience. A queue management system not only promises a great customer journey and experience but it also maximize the operational capabilities of a business and it also boosts employee performance. These are some of the major reasons each business wants to deploy a good quality queue management software. In the market there are too many vendors and manufacturers, which makes it a bit tricky to choose the best queue management software. The purpose of this blog was to guide our audience and customers about the necessary features and attributes that a good queue management software must have.

First of all any good queue management software must have certain features and functionalities that will enable it to perform better. Secondly there are different types of the technology and purchase plans which impact the cost and scalability. A good queue management software must also offer a very flexible administration and management controls so a business can implement their work flow and management polices without any trouble. The third-party system integration is a great tool to maximize the performance of the queue management software and it also allow the businesses to easily develop their innovative solutions for the performance and the management. The business intelligence data provides a deeper insight to the entire operational process and the customer journey. A queue management software is very powerful and effective tool, it have capability to make or break a business’s growth. If you still have some questions, feel free to ask. If you are planning to deploy a new queue management software or want to replace your existing system please do let us know. You can contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Why do you need a queue management system?

September 1, 2021

World’s First WhatsApp Queue Management Solution

The queue management systems and solutions are considered to be a mandatory tool for any service based industry. Whenever a business will have to manage daily customers and guests, they need an effective and efficient customer flow management. Which is only possible with a digital queue management system. These days as the customers are more inclined towards a bit more digitalized and contactless user experience, the virtual queuing gain popularity. Businesses are getting amazing results after implementing virtual queue management system. When it comes to virtual queuing the biggest advantage is that is enables the guests and customers to sign-up remotely for the queues. However there are certain ways that a customer can sign-up. The most popular method is the smartphone applications, which have a lot many other advantages and benefits too. However, the most convenient method to enable remote sign-up is the WhatsApp. These days in Dubai and all around the UAE almost everyone have WhatsApp, in fact it is one of the most popular messenger app in the entire world.

How WhatsApp Queue Management System Works?

A queue management system is all about improving and managing the customer experience and the WhatsApp is the simplest method a business can offer to their customers. The WhatsApp Queue Management Solution is a queue management system integrated with the WhatsApp instant messaging application. The customers can sign-up using their WhatsApp, no need to print tickets, or call at the branch to reserve a spot, or access to the customer portals for appointment or anything else. Usually businesses encourages their customers to install their mobile apps on their smartphones, however, not everyone appreciate it. But with the WhatsApp queue management solution the customer can instantly sign-up for the queue, get live coverage and announcements on the WhtasApp without getting hustle of any app installation, or accessing a website or anything else. This makes the customer journey over simplified and yet very impactful. The customers get a great user experience and end up happy and satisfied with the brand.

The WhatsApp queue management is very simple and easy for the customers. All they need is to scan a QR Code, and the mobile phone will automatically open up a new WhatsApp window, which usually have a list of the categories, and then the customer can choose the appropriate category to sign-up for and instantly receive an e-token or digital token for the queue. The customers can get real-time updates of the ongoing queue and will be notified when their turn will be near and also when their turn will come. After the customers got served the businesses can easily collect customer feedback from the whatsapp.

What are the benefits of WhatsApp Queue Management?

The biggest advantage of a WhatsApp queue management system is that it significantly improve customer experience and customer satisfaction. There is also no need to download and install any new application which occupies storage space on the phone. The customers’ overall journey is reduced and their efforts are also reduced. Here are some of the best advantages and features of a WhatsApp queue management:

Remote Sign-up Facility
Real-time branch data and updates
Easy Sign-up using a QR Code
Reduced wait time and automatic customer journey management
The WhatsApp interface makes it easier for the customers and help reducing customer effort score
Completely contactless sign-up process
Customized notifications, reminders and alerts throughout the entire customer journey
Direct communication with the customers
Simple Information broadcasting such as branch timing, current queuing status, pre-signup requirements, etc.
Ability to check status of multiple branches, and on-demand status updates
In-built customer feedback system or integrated customer feedback system
Reduce customer wait time, improve customer flow and reduce workload of the employees result is improved employee efficiency
Easy branch management, crowd prevention and social distancing compliance features
Improved customer experience and smooth customer journey results in higher customer satisfaction
Simple and easy administration, automation capabilities and monitoring tools enable the business to have a close eye on the entire process
Customer feedback collection, KPIs monitoring and business intelligence gathering
Very Cost-effective queuing solution

These are the general features of a WhatsApp queue management solution. Moreover when a system is customized for a particular business or enterprise it could offer a lot more benefits and could be a great competitive advantage. The system integration also allows to integrate the WhatsApp queuing system with other business tools and enterprise solutions to enable a robust and swift control and command center at head-office or at the branch. The remote management makes it easier for the head office to monitor and improve the performance of the connected branches and make informed decisions on the bases of customer feedback and business intelligence.

Conclusion

WhatsApp is one of the most popular app in the world. In Dubai and UAE almost everyone have WhatsApp on their phones. The whatsapp sign-up process is very simple and convenient. The customer will have to scan a QR Code and they will be directed to the WhatsApp chat where they can chose the required service and sign-up for the queue. The customers are not even required to be physically present in the queue, they can wait anywhere. The WhatsApp queue management system also provide live queuing information and on-demand info requests are also available. This queuing method significantly reduce the wait time, improve customer flow, prevent crowd formation at the branch and reduce work load of the employees as well. The employee’s performance also got improved and consequently the service quality also improves. The WhatsApp queue management solution are a very cost-effective queuing solution and it can significantly improve customer happiness and overall business’s productivity and profitability. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE, if you want to upgrade your customer flow management to meet the needs and expectations of your customers, feel free to get in touch with us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below.

Check out this blog: Top 10 Virtual Queue Management Benefits