Restaurants are always eager to improve queue management. Being a restaurant owner or manager you should know that no one like to wait in a queue when they are hungry, the hungrier customers get the more annoyed they become. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the market is very dynamic and competitive, mostly people live in high-rise buildings and the mostly the cities are very congested. This results in so many similar businesses in a close proximity. Especially in Dubai and all around the UAE mostly a common consumer can find multiple restaurant and eating options in a close proximity. Another bigger difference between restaurant customer and a common retail customer is that the retail customer wants to leave as quickly as possible after making a purchase, however, for restaurant customers they want to sit for longer, to have a meal, to socialize and to spend time with friends or companions. That is why queue management for the restaurants is even more important. If a customer enters in a restaurants or fast food outlet or café, and they found it is fully packed, most probably they will consider going somewhere else where they can easily get a table.
Furthermore the customer experience is equally important. A restaurant owner or manager might think if people are waiting in queues to have their dinner they are successful however, that is not the case, the people who are getting bad experiences are tend to leave the business. Let say you a restaurant customer is hungry and they have to wait for at least 10 minutes, they will become annoyed and most probably they will sit with a negative mindset, in such customers are more likely to post a negative comment or opinion online, and sometimes if a customer starts with a negative interaction and at the end the food is failed to satisfy them, they might post a negative review in social media or Google or they might tell other about their bad experience, which will not only harm your brand identity but it will also repel them. This could have a very negative impact on the business in long term. It will increase customer churn rate, and it will also harm your reputation. For a restaurant whose customers are mostly from the surrounding areas, having a negative brand reputation could be catastrophic. In this blog we will tell you how you can improve your customers experience by improving your queue management.
Improve Customer’s Waiting Experience
A standard queue management system comes with a digital signage or HD TVs. These displays are used to provide queuing information and to run multimedia content. Restaurants can utilize this these large displays for multiple purposes such as they can provide estimated time for the waiting customers and they can run adverts, promotional content or even entertainment media just to keep the customers busy and distracted from the waiting. Studies have shown that more than 85% of the customers would be happy to pay extra if they are getting a good customer experience. Keeping customer engaged and entertaining them improves their waiting experience. Furthermore the restaurants can play sports, news and music channels to distract their customers. If the customers get engaged with the TV they will going to feel less stress of the waiting time. Hence their experience will improve. Restaurants can offer small eateries, appetizers, etc. to further keep customers happy and engaged.
The restaurant staff always know the habits of regular customers and over the time they also become able to estimate how much time someone will going to take hence they can tell the waiting customers how much more time they might have to wait. The problem is when the staff lied to keep the customer waiting, it is important to be truthful. First thing you are just telling them estimated time as no one can know if the customer will leave after finishing the meal or will they order some drinks or maybe tea or something. So, the customers will also understand that fact. Second thing is if a customer know how much more they will have to wait, they will remain more calm and understanding. Without any clear indication of how much time one have to wait, they easily get stressed. So, providing your customers with an estimated wait time can also improve their experience.
Queue Management System Provides SMS Alerts
Restaurant in Dubai and all across the UAE uses token systems, these tokens are physical devices which are being provided to the customers when they place an order. The restaurant staff have control to notify the customers. When their turn came, the electronic device starts beeping or ringing and alert the customers hence no customer misses their turn. The problem with these devices are that they have limited range, and usually the customer will have to physically present at the restaurant all the time. However, the queue management system have in-built SMS alert system. Which offers more freedom and convenient to the customers and allow them to roam wherever they want whether it is window shopping, or they are going to buy something, they can do so without any fear. Whenever their turn will come they will receive an SMS. A queue management system can also be programmed to send multiple SMS and reminders as well rather just a single SMS. Such features and convenience improve customer experience and increase their loyalty.
Integrate Virtual Queuing and Pre-Orders
The virtual queuing is one of the most modern form of queue management. A virtual queue management system comes with features that allow users to sign-up for virtual queues through remote channels which means the customer or visitor is not required to be physically present in the waiting lines. However, the restaurant can utilize the features of a virtual queue management system to further facilitate their customers and to minimize the wait time. Almost all restaurants take reservations and bookings. The customer reserve their table so they don’t have to wait at the restaurant and they can get the table immediately as soon as they arrived no matter if the rest of the restaurant is full or empty. Usually people reserve tables and then arrive at their time of reservation hence they don’t have to wait. However, the virtual queue management system can enable restaurants to offer pre-order facility through the connected channels. Restaurant can utilize their website, mobile application, email, SMS and call center to take reservations and pre-orders.
Restaurant can encourage their customers to utilize online mediums such as website and mobile application which are very convenient and also doesn’t put extra work on the employees. The restaurant can publish their entire menu on their website and mobile application and they can also update it on daily bases. This allows the customers to not only reserve a table but also order their meal. Such orders can automatically sent to the relevant staff with the time of the reservation and as soon as the customer arrives at the restaurants, they immediately get their food. The customer don’t even have to wait on the table. Another upside is that the average customer service time decreased significantly. Because usually customers can take somewhere from two to fifteen minutes to place the order and if it is a big family or a group of friend, they usually take more time to place an order. This time eventually adds up to the waiting time.
But with the help of virtual queuing all this time can be utilized to serve other customers, this also increase productivity of the restaurant and increase their capability to serve more customers in a single day at the same number of tables. The virtual queue management systems help improving customer experience as well as it also help generating more revenue while ensuring a great ROI in long term.
Queue Management System for Walk-in-only Restaurants
Allowing your customers to reserve a table online and pre-order facility offers great user experience however, not every restaurant wants to do that. In Dubai and all around the UAE there are certain restaurants especially the fast food restaurants which always have long queues during the busy hours. For such restaurants and fast food businesses a queue management system can be a great help, by issuing tickets the restaurant can turn tables more quickly by reducing the delay between first customer and the next customer. The queue management system can keep announcing the next in line ticket number and also inform them about their table, which provide them enough time to get ready as soon as their turn came. Furthermore these restaurant can also apply first-come first-serve policy which also help next customer to quickly find their table and prevent unnecessary disputes and management issues which impact customer experience.
Queue Management System can Collect Valuable Business Intelligence Data
The modern businesses are data driven. The technology is integrated deeply in our daily lives. Not only in Dubai, UAE but all around the world the information technology has become an essential part of a business. Restaurant owners or managers know very well about their peak hours. However, sometime they face unexpected scenarios, it is because without a quantifiable data all they are doing is just making assumptions. However, a queue management system can record each and every customer and relevant statistical data. Which provide restaurant owners and managers with a very accurate and quantifiable business intelligence data. The restaurant owners and managers can easily learn various trends form this data which can help them in making strategies and plans and make them ready for all situations.
Furthermore a queue management system can easily get integrated with other business tools and systems which enables it to improve the data quality. For example, if the orders can be relate to the time and number of customers a restaurant can easily understand the ordering pattern and trends. There are so many other possibilitieswhich make queue management system a great tool for collecting valuable business intelligence data.
Conclusion
Restaurants and fast food businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have started realizing the importance of the queue management system and its impact on customer experience. For any business the customer experience is very crucial. A bad customer experience will repel your customers and it will also harm your brand reputation. A good customer experience on the other hand can not only increase customer loyalty but it also help improving brand reputation. Here in Dubai and in fact in the entire UAE the market is very competitive. The customers always have multiple options available. On top of that now a day’s customer put experience almost equal to the service or product quality. That is why restaurants are adopting digital queue management systems. A queue management system helps reducing the customer wait time and it ensures a smooth customer flow. Furthermore a queue management system can also improve customer’s waiting experience by offering them a variety of engaging features.
Restaurants can also adopt virtual queue management system and utilize its features to increase their sales and revenue. The virtual queue management also offer remote sign-up, pre-order and multiple other features which enhance customer experience, reduce wait time and increase overall productivity. With the help of a queue management system the restaurant and fast food businesses can serve more customer in a single day which increase their sales and improve their operational capabilities. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or want us to help you with your queuing problems, 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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