How Much Do Customers Dislike In-Store Queues?

Queuing continues to dampen UK spirits with 51% of consumers getting frustrated as a result of long waiting times in-store, reveals Qudini survey  

Long waiting times revealed as the biggest cause of retail frustration amongst UK shoppers

Recent research conducted by Qudini, an award-winning London based SaaS customer experience management platform offering enterprise retail queue management software and appointment booking software, with over 2,000 consumers has revealed that 51% of UK consumers have had an in-store experience ruined as a result of queuing in-store, with Londoners twice as likely to have had more than 10 bad experiences this year alone.

The findings were revealed in Qudini’s latest whitepaper ‘The cause of customer complaints‘, which highlights the frequency and cause of poor customer experiences in the United Kingdom. The survey revealed that waiting in line was the top reason why consumers were getting frustrated in-store, followed by complaints of rude and unhelpful staff (44.7%), unavailable stock (43.1%) and lack of available staff (38.9%). These top 4 complaints were significantly higher frustrations for customers, above complaints about challenging store navigation, poor store layout, lack of available information and messy store environments.

Across the board, shoppers in Liverpool (58.1%), Brighton (57.9%), Birmingham (57.8%), Norwich (57.1%) and Leeds (55%) are more likely to complain about long waiting times. Those living in the North East, London and South West regions are more likely to complain on social media and the least likely to suppress their dissatisfaction compared to those living in Scotland. It went on to highlight that East and West Midland regions who are more likely to complain directly to a staff member with East Midlands consumers are 10% more likely to have had to deal with a poor in-store experience and 17% more likely to have experience it on a regular basis.  

Commenting on the findings, Imogen Wethered, Qudini CEO & Co-founder, said:

“These statistics offer a startling insight into consumer behaviour and issues within physical stores across the country. What is most interesting that the top 4 complaints around long waiting times, rude staff, unavailable stock and lack of available information are all transient and people based issues.”

The issues that arise if you walk into the store at the wrong time of day, when there is a queue or the staff are busy or frustrated and stock levels have depleted. Most retailers are investing heavily in improving their store design and layout, yet our insights are show that resolving these transient people based issues with better systems, processes and colleague engagement would lead to the biggest customer experience wins and solve the majority of customer complaints.”

Download the report