Research show that British shoppers will queue for just 5 minutes 54 seconds in store before they ‘abandon their basket‘ and walk out.
The study by Omnico, which quizzed 1,344 consumers, revealed that amongst the major towns and cities in the UK, the least patient is Plymouth, with locals willing to wait an average of 4 minutes 55 seconds before leaving the store. Liverpool is the most patient city in the UK with shoppers willing to wait 6 minutes 47 seconds. Londoners are the fourth most impatient, only willing to wait 5 minutes 44 seconds.
Commenting on the research, Bill Henry CEO at Omnico said: “Mobile point of sale (PoS) technology is an answer to the queuing problem, as it can be deployed quickly and has a positive impact on retailers‘ shop floor estate, offering space saving opportunity as well as reduced capital expenditure. It frees sales assistants up to move around the store and answer questions or move to areas that are busiest.”
People aged 16-24 will queue for longer periods of time on average than older people, with young shoppers willing to wait for up to 6 minutes 9 seconds, whilst shoppers aged 55 and over are only prepared to wait for 5 minutes 46 seconds. But 59 per cent of young people said they wouldn‘t return to a shop after a ‘bad queuing experience.‘
The study brings into focus the ever complicated psychology of shoppers in the 21st century. “These findings from Omnico reflect a concept known as Heuristics, which is decision making based on past experience. When it comes to queuing, people use previous experiences to decide whether they will stay in the queue or leave it, said Mark Rackley, Chartered Psychologist.
“In today‘s society when people can buy things within a matter of a few clicks or swipes, without having to wait, they may use a Heuristic and conclude that queuing is inconvenient and thus choose to walk-away. Based on this behaviour and as people increasingly experience instantaneous payment, queuing tolerance levels are likely to continue to decrease.”
