How a Queue Management System Benefits Every Industry

For years, our blog has been the knowledge base for all things queue management: its benefits, different types, advantages and disadvantages, tutorials, and much more.

But still, the common question persists: “How would my business benefit from a queue management system?”

It is a logical question, too, as everybody wants a tool that’s tailored to their unique situation and preferences. While we don’t have the crystal ball to run customer service diagnostics, you can schedule a quick call with us.

We will listen to your specific needs, help you find the best solution — be it us or someone else — and prepare you for the next step.

But as first step, please consider reading the following summary on how each industry uniquely benefits from installing a queue management solution.

If you still have doubts and questions after reading this — and you probably will, as it’s a leap of faith no matter what — then you’d want to sign up for a 14-day full-featured trial of Qminder.

See how a robust queue management system operates, and you will no longer wonder if it’s the right pick for you.

Queue management in the food and beverage industry

When it comes to ordering food, time management is of essence. The longer a customer is forced to wait, the less likely they are to leave a positive review.

Positive feedback is the backbone of any customer-facing business, but for restaurants it is the lifeblood. They live and die by the praise of their customers, and even momentary discomfort may mean a substantial dent in client satisfaction.

Wait time estimates. Without knowing the approximate time it would take them to get seated, most customers assume the worst — that they would have to wait hours. As a result, without a good queue management system in place, a good portion of potential customers churn and take their business elsewhere.

Fair queuing. No customer wants to feel that they’ve been jumped ahead of in a queue. A queuing system with consistent internal logic helps minimize this feeling by establishing and maintaining clear-cut rules of waiting.

Touchless service. In recent times, many restaurants started opting for curbside pickup — a delivery option where a customer’s order is loaded up into a car. This is a convenient option for both parties, but it does put a bigger emphasis on waitline management and customer tracking.

Queue management in government offices and public service providers

Unlike retail and other similar industries, the public sector does not give as much thought to wait times and comfort. Instead, the core problem in government offices is, and always will be, the overhead rate, i.e. how many resources are spent providing the services.

Surprisingly, queue management systems can help with that, too. On the surface, queuing systems manage waitlines and wait times; the implications of those, however, are far greater.

Reduced operational costs. By automating the parts of the check-in process that are usually manual, a queue management system helps save taxpayer dollars. It makes it easy to manage cancellations, no-shows and delays by giving you tools to edit the waitlist on the fly.

Better communication. One of the more common complaints about government offices is the lack of clear, timely communication. A queue system powered with SMS text messages allows to open and maintain a two-way communication channel with citizens.

Data privacy. A digital queue management database is safely stored and handled. Encrypted communication and regular penetration testing ensure that sensitive data is accessible to only those who need it.

How queue management benefits retail

Retail is the logical go-to example of an industry benefiting from a queue management system. No matter whether you operate a brick-and-mortar store, a mom-and-pop shop, or a multi-chain venture, your customers are equally wary of waiting in a line.

The immediate effect of improving the waiting experience — that is, raising the footfall and getting more revenue — is secondary. The primary benefit of a retail queue management system is that it converts a one-time client into a recurring customer.

Fast processes. The math here is simple: the more customers you serve, the bigger your potential revenue is. The less time you make each customer spend in a queue, the more likely it is that they will become your strong advocates.

Customer count. A queue management system lets location managers know how many people there are in a queue at any given time. People-counting allows you to expertly manage the capacity as well as record the footfall trends.

Personalization. A queue management system gives clerks more information to work with, by collecting customer data upon check-in: name, contacts, preferences, etc. This way, any and all interactions can be made more pleasant and personal.

Ridesharing companies and queue management

On-demand ride services, also known as ridesourcing, ridesharing and ride-hailing services, subsist on high employee mobility — no pun intended. The biggest ridesharing companies like Uber, Lyft and Bolt go through thousands of new driver applications every day.

This is where a queue management system comes into play, as managing these registrations the old-fashioned way takes a lot of time and effort. Moreover, it’s extremely costly, and despite being known as billion-dollar unicorns, ridesharing giants can’t afford extra expenses.

Faster application review. By doing away with long, confusing lines at the registration desk, a ridesharing hub can review more applicants per day. A queue system collects essential driver information, which also helps optimize the registration and onboarding processes.

Multilingual interface. The ridesharing community is typically multicultural, with drivers coming in from different backgrounds. A digital queue management system can be set up in such a way as to account for foreign speakers, and make check-in intuitive for every applicant.

Custom signage. On-demand businesses care a lot about their branding. While most of brand promotion is on the shoulders of their digital marketing teams, queue management tools can also help with awareness — by providing on-brand design options for check-in kiosks and TVs to fit with the overall style.

Queue management in airports and transport hubs

Airports and similar transport hubs are extremely, and uniquely, time-sensitive. Queue management is not so much a tacked-on extra feature but a necessity that makes or breaks the entire industry.

Unlike in other industries, you don’t have to explain the benefits of queue management to airport administrators. The benefits of a queue management system, however, are much harder to get across.

But we’ll try, anyway.

Passenger interaction tracking. A cloud-based queue system records each passenger interaction and input, which means a clerk can get to the bottom of their issue in just a few clicks.

Peak times. Digital queue management systems record peak times, which helps find consistent patterns and establish seasonality. Staffing and shifting decisions are based on these patterns, and the more data there is available, the easier it is to make these decisions.

Peace of mind. The fallacy of feeling that the other queue moves faster is common in airport lines. This stems from an unoptimized, inefficient waiting experience that does nothing to alleviate the frustration.

Wait line management in hospitals, clinics and vet centers

Healthcare is an industry with disproportionally high-traffic areas: your typical waiting room is crowded on a 24/7 basis. This has a multifaceted effect on every aspect of the hospital experience, from frustration, to low patient satisfaction scores, to high risks of virus spread.

That’s why a digital queue management system is part and parcel of a truly great healthcare experience. Lines isn’t something hospital administration has second thoughts about, but patients most certainly do.

Touchless service. More than any other industry, healthcare benefits from a touch-free waiting environment. If patients and visitors don’t have to wait in the crowded lobbies, there’s a far lower risk of contagion.

Waiting signage. A readily available waitlist monitor allows patients to always know how far down the list they are. For visitors waiting outside the facility’s premises, there are SMS alerts that notify of their upcoming appointments.

HIPAA compliance. HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, sets standards for protecting patient health information. As a hospital’s subcontractor, a queue management provider must abide by these data principles too, and safeguard the patient info.

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