Line-Busting Is Easy with the Right Payment Technologies

Developing an effective customer experience (CX) strategy is top of mind for merchants who want to stay competitive, and one of the most basic parts of that strategy is minimizing wait times. A 2022 Waitwhile survey revealed that nearly 70% of consumers associate feelings of frustration, boredom, and impatience with waiting in line – all feelings that businesses never want to be associated with their brands. However, 90% of consumers say they wait in line a few times per month, and 41% say they wait in line most often in retail stores. Therefore, line-busting, aka queue-busting, solutions have become important tools for growth-focused merchants.

What is Line Busting?

Line-busting keeps waiting to a minimum. It requires studying customer shopping journeys and focusing on moving them through each touchpoint quickly and efficiently. Although keeping lines short has been a smart strategy in stores and restaurants for decades, it’s become even more important recently. Technology has raised people’s expectations for service on demand, and consumers have even less patience than in the past. While technology has contributed to this business problem, it also offers solutions for reducing wait times and increasing customer satisfaction.

Payment technologies that can help keep lines short include:

• Mobile payment devices

A proven way to keep checkout lines short is to never require customers to wait in one. Retailers who equip sales associates with mobile devices enable payments anywhere. So, a customer can choose a sweater with the help of an associate, pay for it, and go out the nearest exit, rather than taking time to locate a checkout counter and wait to pay.

Compact, handheld mobile payment devices are easy to carry and feature long battery life. They can join with smart devices, like tablets and smartphones, to process payment and complete the sale. Line-busting mobile devices give sales associates more freedom to interact with customers, make recommendations, and even increase revenues through cross-selling and upselling.  

• Portable point of sale (POS) terminals

Portable POS terminals that merchants can move easily also enable line busting. Retailers can quickly deploy these devices inside or even outside the store for sidewalk sales or pop-up shops or to create additional lanes for checkout or returns at busy times like holiday shopping or back-to-school season. 

Some solutions offer merchants additional functionality, like loyalty reward software or delivery management to enhance efficiency and CX.

• SoftPOS

Merchants may have a line-busting solution in their pockets right now. SoftPOS, sometimes referred to as “tap on phone” or “tap to mobile,” transforms mobile devices like smartphones and tablets into contactless payment terminals. 

With this solution, a consumer mobile device with a near-field communications (NFC) chip can accept payments directly, eliminating the need to invest in and deploy a payment terminal. Once a merchant has a softPOS account, they can configure multiple compatible devices the business already owns, allowing various team members to accept payments with devices the business already owns.

SoftPOS is a great solution for small merchants who want to stay current with consumer demands for contactless payments. However, larger businesses and enterprises will also benefit by complementing their current payment technology with softPOS, allowing them to accept payments anywhere.

• Self-Service/Self-Checkout

A Bluedot survey found 61% of consumers would rather use a self-service option than wait for help from store staff.  Customers like the speed and convenience of using solutions such as self-service kiosks to order and pay for food, check out at a retail store, or check in at the airport.  Multiple kiosks make for even less waiting and more line-busting.

• Buy Online, Pickup In Store (BOPIS)

Another options for giving customers a way to skip the line is allowing them to shop online and pickup their orders at the store. BOPIS allows them to skip delivery fees and get their orders more quickly while minimizing time spent in the store.

Sales associates with mobile devices or self-service kiosks make experiences fast, easy, and positive when customers arrive to pick up their orders.

How to Effectively Execute Your Line-Busting Strategy

Consumer expectations and preferences move in the direction of omnichannel, digital-first advancements.  Providing flexible shopping experiences allows customers to complete their purchases when they want, using the payment method they prefer, in a seamless, speedy manner that doesn’t test their patience. 

Regardless of which line-busting strategy you choose, you need payment technology that enables quick, secure transactions.

Contact Ingenico to learn more about flexible and fast payment technology that is effective for line-busting and enhancing customer experiences however they engage.