Reduce friction and eliminate queues for just €1

For many shoppers, the most frustrating part of going to a store is waiting in line, whether that’s for a deli counter, a fitting room, a customer service desk, a consultant, or checkout.  

• 75% of retailers say they lose business because of waiting times 
• 82% of customers will leave if they have to wait more than five minutes 

That’s a real problem for retailers. You’ve done all the hard work of getting customers to the store, they may even have found things they want to buy, and then you lose them because they can’t get service when they want it. And nearly half of them will express their frustration by buying from a competitor instead. 

So how can you address this? You could, of course, open more service desks or hire more staff, but that’s a costly solution, and you may not have the physical space.  

Ombori Grid, however, offers a simple alternative that requires no investment in hardware, no staff training, and no complex customization or deployment. It’s so quick and easy that some of our clients have successfully deployed it in under an hour. 

Virtual Queues – no more standing in line 

Our Queue Management app can be configured to work entirely on mobile devices. It doesn’t require any dedicated hardware, and it fits in with the way your staff already work. 

Instead of standing in line, visitors add themselves to a virtual queue. They can do this online in advance or by simply scanning a printed QR code at the location. They receive a message when they are near the head of the line, telling them it is time to go to the location, and a second notification when it is their turn. At any time, they can view their position in line and their expected wait time.  

Once they’re in the virtual queue, they’re now free to continue browsing the store. If they have a long wait, they can grab coffee and relax. This reduces frustration and can reduce perceived wait time by up to 40%. According to RetailBrew, 57% of customers say they’d be happy to use a virtual queue, and 38% said they’d buy additional items while waiting. 

This can be useful in many different contexts. Grocery stores often use virtual queues as a replacement for paper tickets at deli counters. Furnishing and DIY stores use them to manage access to specialist consultants, such as flooring experts or kitchen designers. Other stores use virtual queues for customer service desks. 

All you need to do to implement it is to go to the Ombori Grid Marketplace, sign up, choose the Queue Management app, input some basic config details and branding, and you’re done. It really is that easy. There’s no drawn-out sales process, nothing to download, no coding, just a simple cloud-based SaaS solution. 

Install it in one location in one store, try it, and see what happens. 85% of retailers say that reducing waiting time boosts sales. Some of our clients have reported up to 60% reduction in cart abandonment, 25% increase in impulse purchases, and a significant increase in NPS. You may not get such dramatic results right away, but you should be able to see some immediate benefits.  

And here’s the best bit – it costs just one euro per day per queue, with no lock-in or minimum usage period. You can cancel any time.  

After queues – then what? 

Once your first queue is up and running, you can build on this in several ways. 

1. Add more virtual queues. You can roll the system out to other locations in the pilot store, or to other stores. 
2. Extend the queue functionality. You can use digital signage to display real-time queue status to customers, and the Grid task app to provide real-time information to staff. This may require a small investment in hardware if you do not already have suitable displays available.  
3. Add more apps. Grid includes around 20 different apps, many of which can be deployed directly from the Marketplace without coding or an in-person sales process. You could, for example, add an order pickup system to support BOPIS. Or, if you’re ready to move to a more complex and ambitious solution, our commercial team can help you identify a customized solution that meets your specific needs. 

If you want to address long lines with no upfront costs, no delay, and no risk, Ombori Queue Management is a great first step. 

It’ll only cost you one euro.