Brits Will Not Queue More Than Two Minutes
By Alison Steed
IMPATIENT Brits are not prepared to wait more than two minutes in a queue to buy something in a shop, with two-thirds of people walking away from a purchase because they are not prepared to hang on for the bargain.
Young shoppers, surprisingly, are prepared to hang on the longest when waiting in line, a full two minutes more than older shoppers aged 55 to 64.
Women are prepared to queue for just 12 seconds more than men, and more than half of shoppers will refuse to enter a supermarket if they see a queue at the tills, according to research from Barclaycard.
Stuart Neal, Head of UK Payment Acceptance at Barclaycard, said: “While retailers appear to be aware that even their most loyal customers are not prepared to wait in line any more, hiding the evidence of queues is not the way to fix the problem. Consumers have increasingly busy lives and retailers must be prepared to fit in with them by offering innovative solutions to speed up transactions. By embracing technology and installing new payments systems, such as contactless, retailers will stay ahead of the curve and limit the amount of time that people are waiting in shop queues.”
The top frustrations of queuing shoppers were not enough staff serving customers, sales assistants spending too long chatting to customers and people fumbling in their pockets for change. Half of shoppers (46%) favour stores with express lanes.
Brian Cunnington, head of Debit Cards, UK Retail Banking at Barclays said: “The research shows that, particularly for small ticket items, consumers are no longer prepared to wait in line. They know they can go to another shop and purchase what they need more quickly. That is why many of our customers are starting to use contactless payment for goods under £15. It vastly speeds up purchases, while removing the need to fumble for the right amount of cash.”
The study shows that the lower the value of the item the more likely a shopper is to abandon a purchase if a queue is perceived to be too long. The number of people willing to wait no more than a minute triples for lesser amounts, while the number willing to wait around 10 minutes falls dramatically for lower value purchases.
Ever thought you should be able to get better service in a shop? Or simply you want to make money from trawling the shops with a girlfriend, and maybe even get to keep what you buy? Then think about becoming a mystery shopper.
