Reduced queue lengths could increase in-store custom by 25%

New research from Epson Europe into consumer trends in the EU5 markets (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) highlights the vast volume of business being lost by retailers as a result of queue times.

Across Europe, 29% of respondents revealed that they often leave stores without buying anything as a result of long queues at the tills. Additionally, 25% of people said that they often go to a competing store to buy the same items if there is a long queue in the first store. Furthermore, 91% of people responded that fast payment and reduced queuing times were critical or valuable to their perception of a brand.

Adrian Clark, Director of Business Systems, Epson Europe said: “Consumer awareness of available technology has led to a situation in which 20% of people clearly state that in this day and age they will not accept long queues in stores. A number of brands have already successfully introduced self-service and mobile payment systems in Europe as a way to speed up payment processes and we expect to see further growth for these technologies over the coming years.”

In terms of technological solutions, consumers communicated their desire for self-service payment points, with 77% saying they considered them critical or valuable to a brand.  A further 42% of those surveyed said they wanted mobile payment solutions to be available in-store.

Of those that wanted mobile payment systems, 71% cited ‘speed of payment’ and 67% ‘reduced queuing times’ as their main motivations.  Of those that did not relay a preference of mobile payment systems, 59% cited ‘concerns over safety’, with the next highest rational being 40% responding that they ‘preferred to pay cash for better financial management’.

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